Other people (Martha included), are more than welcome to not share those opinions, and I don’t expect that everyone will.

Most people aren’t really interested enough in the technology itself or its history and/or future implications, and I’m not putting anyone down for that.

Just don’t blame me when those matrix robots (running proprietary software) eventually take over the world.

However, if you’re asking whether I would discourage everyone who buys Apple products from doing so, I’d say yes, but with varying degrees.

For the general consumer, I think in many cases Apple devices are the most logical choice at the moment, given their combination of desires and abilities.

Let’s assume for the sake of this point that Apple devices are usually easier to use than the more open (or “free” as in freedom) alternatives. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that statement across the board, but it’s an adequate generalization for the basis of my next statement.

I usually tend to give a lot more grief to the people who are smart (in the technical sense) enough to make the non-proprietary alternatives work for them (just as well or better), because part of me feels like they’re just being lazy and feeding into the proprietary model in the way that Mark describes in the last paragraph quoted above.

I’m not trying to make a big deal about it, or really accuse anyone of anything. I’m just saying that as a general rule, I feel that as people who are more familiar with both the technology and the potential consequences of enabling a non-free or proprietary platform to gain a monopoly share of a particular emerging market (think early 90’s Windows), it is our obligation to look towards the future and try to guide things (as much as we are able) in the direction that we feel is better for society in the long run.