The iPad and other closed systems (PS3, Xbox) don't magically make Windows PCs, Macs, Linux or the Web go away.<p>As developers we have more choices than we have had in a very long time in terms of picking the platforms we want to develop for. Every platform has its pros and cons, as a developer you get to choose what's important to you when picking a platform to target.<p>People who want to write software will always pick open systems. People who aren't techies or creatives just want technology to serve a purpose (users of information appliances), and just want things to work with the minimal amount of fuss. Locking things down simplifies a lot of things for end users.<p>The panic over every platform that gets released that isn't suitably open, just makes me think of this Alan Kay quote:<p>"In fact, let’s not even worry about Java. Let’s not complain about Microsoft. Let’s not worry about them because we know how to program computers, too, and in fact we know how to do it in a meta-way. We can set up an alternative point of view, and we’re not the only ones who do this, as you’re well aware."<p>Source: <a href="http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1039523" rel="nofollow">http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1039523</a>