Will Future Applications be Full of DRM?

The blogosphere has been running rampant with talk about Apple’s new toy, the iPad. Some bloggers herald it as a device that will change technology forever, while others feel that it’s just an oversized iPod Touch. How do I feel about it? Well, just like everyone else I’ve not been able to play around with it yet, but to me it represents a disturbing trend in the computing world.

Whenever I think of the iPad, a line from Star Wars Episode III immediately springs to mind. “This is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause.” Let me explain. Right now with all Windows and Linux PC’s, you can download and install any application you want. There are thousands upon thousands of applications available to you on either platform. With Apple’s DRM, you will only be able to access applications that they approve of, and this is not okay.

I cannot understand how anyone can willingly purchase a device that has such restrictions. It’s like buying a new sports car and finding out that you’re not allowed to drive it on particular highways that the dealer hasn’t approved. Who would want to deal with that?

While some people may think that these trends won’t affect computing itself, think again. I predict that in the future, whatever the follow-up is to Mac OSX will more than likely contain Apple’s App Store as an integral part of its design. I may even go as far as to predict that the App Store will be the only way to get applications installed, since optical media is on the way out.

DRM applications represent a future that I am not looking forward to. With all three main computing platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac OSX) currently you can download and/or purchase any application you want, whenever you want. Sure, some may argue that Microsoft and Apple have DRM right now (and it is true) but it’s nowhere near as bad as it could and probably will be.

Will the future be ridden with DRM applications on every front? Maybe or maybe not, but with the way the iPad is, it does make me wonder. I know one thing though, with Linux I don’t have this worry, and there always is the chance that such DRM may have the opposite effect and push people to finally give free and open source software a chance.

Unfortunately, there has been quite a bit of positive responses from both the iPhone and the iPad, which are ridden with DRM and are under full lock and key of the provider. In that sense, liberty is dying with a thunderous applause. The iPad may or may not be a success, but with Apple’s marketing machine, I believe it stands a good chance.