Open Standard, Insert Foot

There are times when some companies just make it too easy to bash them for what is obviously a bonehead comment or blunder. Today, Apple did just that.

"Viewing requires either a Mac® running Safari® on Mac OS® X version 10.6 Snow Leopard®, an iPhone® or iPod touch® running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad™."

On what planet is the requirement of a specific OS type and version, browser, and hardware platform considered to be open?

I will rightfully criticize anything that deserves it; I have no partisanship towards any particular operating system, or hardware. I personally use multiple platforms in home and business; the best tool for the job is my motto when it comes to technology.

This one just takes the cake. In the past, Apple has been upbraided by many people--including me--for exaggerations, half-truths, and outright lies. This one just makes my head spin.

Open means ALL platforms have access to it. Open means that you can use it on any hardware, any browser, any device. It means that it can be ported to those platforms without restriction.

Apple's "open standards" are as open as RIM's encrypted email, where India wants access to the decrypted messages. It's as open as what goes on behind closed doors at the NSA, what goes on in offshore CIA prisons, and as open as the secret Vatican archives--If Dan Brown says they exist, then that's good enough for me!

Come on, Apple. You're just coming off of the fiasco of the iPhone 4 antenna debacle, and now you pull this for your next song and dance--sorry, I mean your next press release event. At least kiss us first this time.