For All the Complaining About Apple...

It seems that Apple's policies toward the iPhone may turn out to actually be rather generous, based on some reports coming out about Palm's own policies towards the Pre (and, I'd guess, future webOS devices). Engadget says,

Even worse for hackers, Palm's taking an unusually aggressive approach to webOS system updates — they're mandatory. According to the support docs, webOS updates are automatically downloaded in the background within two days of being available, and they're required to be installed within a week of the download — after seven days and four install prompts, the phone will give you a ten-minute countdown and then automatically begin installing the update.

Keep in mind, that for all the fuss that Apple's updates have sometimes “bricked” phones, as I have noted before, no one was required to upgrade. Anyone doing something unsupported with the phone should have had the common sense to wait to see what more experienced testers found rather than plunging ahead. If you don't want to play within the rules, don't call the referee when things don't go smoothly.

In any case, many people have advocated the Pre as being a far more open, tolerant, Linux-like answer to the iPhone. It is interesting that in this very context that the Pre has a far more restrictive, big brother styled policy on upgrades. If a Pre ends up being bricked after a forced upgrade… that'll be when people can get upset fairly.

Hopefully Palm will come to its senses. I think the Pre has almost endless possibility, but this sort of thing (and some other misfires Palm has made in recent months) could put at risk its otherwise brilliant strategy.