Fact Checking Steve Jobs: Apple's Entire Behind a Free, Open Net

Apple's iPhone system is very locked down, and Apple's historical promotion of tech standards isn't as blemish-free as purists would prefer to think. But it's a strategy that's incredibly, mind-bejiggingly successful, and has shattered the old, broken smartphone paradigm.

In fact, without the closed proprietary nature of the iPhone platform, its unique, user-pleasing "just works" qualities probably wouldn't have been possible. But we're talking about the platform here, folks. The Web and media standards supported by the iPhone platform are open, and as a result of having over 80 million iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads in people's hands around the world, Apple's actively promoting a very open-standards Web future. It's like this: Household door sizes are standardized and regulated for a number of very good reasons...but the upshot is that they work reliably, and you can easily replace a door with a new one, of a different design, at any time you wish. And then you can open the door, and step into a free-form, standards-free world of adventure.