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Fri, 15 Jun 2007 Safari plan betrays 'out-of-date thinking' - Mozilla

Apple's plans for the web are outdated

Jonny Evans

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Firefox-developer Mozilla leaders aren't happy at some of the statements made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs this week when he announced Safari for Windows.

An angry rebuke on the blog of Mozilla chief operating officer, John Lilly, castigates Jobs for back-dated thinking, and for the Apple co-founder's seeming determination to transform the browser market into one that's dominated by just two companies - Microsoft and Apple.

Lilly writes: "Every so often though, as inspired as he (Jobs) is, he says something that betrays at best a blurry view of the real world, at worst an explicit intent to bring more of the world under direct control from Cupertino, and that happened Monday."

The COO accuses Apple and the CEO of dreaming of transforming the browser market into a two party state, in which the web experience is effectively controlled by the world's two largest software vendors.

He slates this strategy as "not really being how the world is", pointing to the rise of community-based websites and a move away from centrist monopoly, duopoly and cartel dominance across many industries.

As far as Lilly is concerned, such limited corporate dominance is eventually bad for innnovation, self-determination and, ultimately, the consumer experience.

Despite his reservations, Lilly welcomes the debut of Safari on Windows, arguing that a new browser should boost web diversity.

But his final remarks may betray big battle to come: "This world view that Steve (Jobs) gave a glimpse into betrays their thinking: it’s out-of-date, corporate-controlled, duopoly-oriented, not-the-web thinking. And it’s not good for the web. Which is sort of moot, I think, because I don’t think this two-party world will really come to be."

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