Opened a tech news site today? If so, you're probably up to your neck in buzz about today's Apple keynote. Front and center were Apple's new devices, the Apple Watch and iPhone 6. They're pretty and they're trendy, but, as we've been saying for years, those sleek metal finishes hold some of the most sophisticated and unjust restrictions around. On top of that, the company that sells them is a patent bully solely focused on control of the industry and its customers.
Fight the hype: share this image on your networks today, while the Apple Watch and iPhone 6 are in the news cycle. Right click on it and choose save, then upload to social media. (See our opinions on different social media platforms.)
Apple's devices are chock-full of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). They won't allow you to replace the operating system with a free one, or even to install 3rd-party free software applications. The company uses its massive arsenal of patents to bully software developers that make things that resemble Apple's products, even by accident. Despite all this and more, most people have no idea what Apple's up to.
To learn more details behind the five reasons, and to take action by telling Apple you won't stand for their abuse, check out DefectiveByDesign.org/Apple.
Unlike Apple, we don't have millions to burn on commercials. But we can build a movement for digital freedom and self-determination from the ground up. We need to use tools like this image to show our friends and communities -- and Apple -- that we know what these devices are really all about: control.
With the support of the Free Software Foundation, developers are bringing the free software mobile operating system Replicant to more devices all the time. See the list of currently supported devices or help the project expand it with a donation for more test devices.