FYI, I am also an OS X user.  (MacBook, iMac, iPhone)  The fact that you felt you had to mention this and a few other things make me think you didn't completely comprehend my idea.<p><i>It's still a jail, and if Apple officially removed it - you can still say 'jailbroken' but that's a minor point.</i><p>I never said about <i>removing</i> the jail.  Just building a cozy luxe visitors center just outside the wall.<p><i>Not true. I can't officially run OS X on non-official Apple hardware with official Apple suppport.</i><p>In my idea, people would be running non-official Apple <i>software</i> without Apple support.<p><i>iPad will eventually have the same 'freedom' as OS X and iPhone. Nothing less, and nothing more; and certainly nothing new.</i><p>You're dead wrong.  If the iPad is to become as pervasive as they would like it to, Apple is going to have to open it up enough so that it can operate as a general purpose computer <i>for the small segment of the populace that wants it.</i><p>The key is in the italics.  There is no technical reason why Apple can't have their "walled garden" and still let a few people do dangerous things if they want.  Will it be what the FSF calls "free?"  No way.<p>Actually, they are already doing some of this.  It's called the "iPhone SDK."