The Perfect Phone Storm? 567
peter deacon writes "Is the iPhone the next Segway, the next Zune, or the next iPod? The Perfect Storm offers some iPhone details that aren't secrets, but tend to be lost upon the analysts and journalists cranking out hit pieces on the iPhone. Why is everyone from Gartner to Gizmodo calling for a boycott of the iPhone? An interesting take on how Apple's new mobile phone will push to open up the web as a mobile platform for every mobile device on the market with a standards-based browser, and how Apple 'hacked the hackers' by releasing Safari for Windows in advance of its new phone."
Re:slashdotted alrady? (Score:4, Insightful)
Good article, shows up quite a bit of bias on the part of certain 'reviewers'... But if you actually believed they were impartial in the first place, I've got a great bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
Is this a joke? (Score:1, Insightful)
AT&T (Score:5, Insightful)
wow... (Score:1, Insightful)
Hype hype, buzz buzz (Score:2, Insightful)
It's from Roughlydrafted? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, I know, ad hominems are bad, but every Roughlydrafted article is like that. That guy is probably minting AdSense-gold from people who get too worked up about Apple (both pro and contra).
Just. Fucking. STOP. (Score:0, Insightful)
Apple zealots (Score:5, Insightful)
He was caught gaming Digg, you know. [googlepages.com]
Re:wow... (Score:2, Insightful)
Watch the latest video (Score:5, Insightful)
While the product may or may not succeed, you will see much of it's functionality stolen by Microsoft and the Symbian crew.
The iPhone interface makes UIQ, S60 and Windows mobile seem like dumbphones.
Re:Is this a joke? iPod? (Score:5, Insightful)
We all know how great the iPod is. This is about the iPhone. You may want to re-read the article.
As a mac user who doesn't want the damn thing (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:slashdotted alrady? (Score:4, Insightful)
That was quick.
There are a lot of Apple haters, mostly with their fortunes tied to its failure. That's not going so well. TFA is just a response to the avalanche of bought-and-paid Microsoft FUD reporters who can't seem to get the term "unbiased" right. Call for an iPhone boycott? You can always hope - suckers. This article is biased toward outing those buffoons with nothing else to do except panic. I cringe at some the venom this guy has published, but as uppity and fanboyish as Dan is, he's mostly right.
It's not just about the interface (Score:5, Insightful)
As much as Apple would like to believe the interface can swing it, it appears the only way to code for it right now is to write browser apps (please someone tell me I'm wrong here, I'd love to be). So your apps need to be connected. And costing you money. And limited by the need to be in the browser, so no local caching of information like google maps or live maps for mobile does. No manipulation of files store on the phone. No games outside the browser.
Nokia has the symbian sdks and java, microsoft has the .net compact framework (and in the HTC phones java as well). Apple are restricting everything to the browser (and if we're lucky, they may support flash in the browser).
So why would Symbian or Microsoft steal a restrictive programming framework? The interface may be nice, and it will sell it to end users, but it's not a phone for developers or even corporate users.
Here be drama queens (Score:5, Insightful)
You didn't read. (Score:5, Insightful)
There are moments in the article where he intelligently breaks down aspects of the hatred being tossed around, possibly in conflict of interest scenarios. It seems much of the article points out that the iPhone gravitates heavily toward open standards, which I find to be a very good thing.
By the way, the article is not about AT&T. It's about the Apple iPhone. Thanks for registering your complaint, but please troll elsewhere.
Re:Just. Fucking. STOP. (Score:2, Insightful)
The bad news for Apple is that I sincerely doubt it'll be able to live up to the hype. Even if it's a decent device; even if it's best of its class, it can't live up to the absurd hype, and no matter how good it actually is, it'll be a disappointment.
If it does by some miracle live up to the hype, that hype would be all the more potent if it came after the device came out and people just couldn't stop talking about them at that time. As it is, there won't be that much new about it to talk about, and it'll lose some of its buzzworthiness to people already being sick of hearing about it.
I thought it was useful (Score:3, Insightful)
I found it useful in several places. Recently my father forwarded me an email from his boss (IT email/blackberry support) saying they were taking a wait-and-see approach on the iPhone, and refusing support for the moment. The reasons for doing so were basically a copy and paste of Gartner's assessment--including the fact that there was no Notes/Exchange support.
I'm not in IT (anymore) so I didn't know that Notes/Exchange support IMAP and POP, so the claim of no Notes/Exchange support is a bit of a red herring. At the very least, Gartner should be embarrassed for being professionals in the field and forgetting about that.
the shady past of AT&T is nothing but a weak smear campaign dragging up every tiny thing from the past
See, I didn't get that. I don't feel the article said it was a weak smear campaign--I felt the article gave the shady past of AT&T its due. For me, the most salient point was the fact that Gizmodo didn't hold other companies to the fire like they have AT&T. If that's true, I think they have a point to a point--AT&T's dealings are so much more shadier than other companies.
Re:Is this a joke? (Score:5, Insightful)
iPhone is an extension of the iPod and media business, not the computer business. It's driving feature is that it's an iPod... most business won't sign up for that, Period. Apple is trying to get the Web, music and video features to the PEOPLE, not companies (because they won't use it anyway) The goal of 90% of cell phone at this point is to get companies to buy dozens and lock them their networks. IF you don't have a business network for your smart phone, adding applications, or connecting to email is just a pretty feature, because unless you work for a company that pays, you don't ever get half the features that makes the phones so great.
Apple wants People to have phones.. it's a market 10x bigger than what Windows mobile or Palm have made for themselves with a 5 year head start. Ask yourself, with a 5 year head start, why are "smartphones" still only "Geek" toys? Why aren't they good enough for everybody? Apple is trying to get it's 10% of the market by bringing NEW users into smartphones!! not simply making a phone for the droves of industry pundits and IT managers looking for a new toy. I think a lot of the bad reviews are because Apple is not catering to what the pundits say they should be doing, not passing out previews like candy, not caving to pressure to add every special interest feature under the sun and being ignored makes the big players really upset because their whole business is being "in the loop" and Apple is cutting them out with a vengeance.
hype and interest isn't a suprise (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:AT&T (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm going to get an iPhone unless the service is too expensive. I have Wi-Fi at home and at work. I don't anticipate using EDGE unless I'm pulled over to the side of the road loading a map. In which case I'll be so happy to have it that I won't really give a shit if it is slow.
As a side-effect, the typical iPhone could end up putting substantially less strain on the EDGE network than the typical non-iPhone EDGE device, since, for example, most email syncs will happen over Wi-Fi. (Consider that my phone spends at least two-thirds of every week day either at home or the office. That's half the hours of the week, assuming I never go home on the weekends!)
It think that this is a master stroke on AT&T's part. They're going to ding every iPhone buyer for data every month, and nobody is going to use it!
-Peter
Don't misconstrue why reviewers bash products (Score:5, Insightful)
We see this on slashdot all the time... we call it 'trolling'.
As for the iPhone we'll have to wait and see. While I can find things to criticize in Apple's products (as the saying goes.... you can't please all of the people all of the time) they do have a reputation for good products.
Did anybody *really* have high hopes about the Microsoft Zune? Maybe fan-boys did, but most people in the industry have come to expect that getting software from Microsoft is almost like getting software from the former KGB (it's loaded with 'bugs' and they maintain more control over your device than you do -- why should the Zune be any different.)
The high expectation about the iPhone is because so far most phones suck. It would be really nice to have a phone that sucks less than the one I have now. That phone is a Treo 650 that used to crash 3 times per day. Now it only screws up a few time per week and for some strange reason I am happy with this because I fear that every *other* phone will be just as bad and I'll just end up locked into another contract.
Speaking of contracts... AT&T (Cingular) says they plan to reelase "new phone plans" on June 29th which go with the iPhone. Having a very low opinion of phone companies, my assumption is that this will be a plan intended to rape buyers, but make up for the high price tag by offering poor service. (Please God tell me it isn't so) My hope is that since Apple was successfully able to keep the music industry from charging more than
iPhone? More like iHype... (Score:3, Insightful)
I wouldn't buy an iPhone because of that reason alone. I have two or three batteries for all my phones, and usually carry a second freshly charged one with me, because I'm not always sure I can go home everyday, or will be able to find a place to charge the phone.
I go through a new mobile maybe every two or three years, but I buy new batteries yearly or less. My phone is very important to me, I just checked and my five and a half year old Nokia 6310i has a little over 715 hours of talk time; my three year old Nokia 6230 has a bit over 482 hours; and the new Nokia 6233 I bought in December to retire the 6310 already ranks over 230 hours. Even with the 40% increase in battery time (what, it'll last 45 minutes now?), the fact I can't change the battery is still makes it a toy. Thanks, but no thanks.
Well, that, and the piss poor data rates are also laughable. What is this, 2002 all over again?
And besides, what idiot had the brilliant idea of leaving out 3G in a handset marketed towards hip, young, urban people? That's the key demographic target of 3G! Leaving it out is an egregious mistake if I ever saw one.
A level of bullshit I can barely comprehend... (Score:2, Insightful)
But, like everything unintentionally funny, it gets even better. He argues, and I quote, "Apple hacks the hackers." (How clever, did he think of that himself?) He issues a hand-waving argument about how the bugs weren't really in Safari (just in the shared libraries, which, *technically* isn't in Safari.exe. Yeah, let's try that argument for IE, shall we?). But, he then claims that by having the hackers find these bugs, they got free QA. I bet all those hackers are sitting around now and thinking, "BLAST! Our plans have been thoroughly foiled by Apple once again! We have been unfairly tricked! I call foul play!"
It looks like I need to up the ante when it comes to making jokes about RD. And I encourage you to do the same.
Price. (Score:4, Insightful)
Just as the original iPod was outlandishly over-priced for my tastes, so too is the iPhone. Give it a few years and the price will drop and the design and UI will be perfected, just like the iPod.
Re:wow... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Is this a joke? (Score:5, Insightful)
"given that it's [iPod] technically inferior to products from rivals"
I am sick of hearing this. Technically inferior? Why, because it doesn't have worthless features like wi-fi or an FM tuner?
Sure there are ways to improve the iPod, but all in all, it is very well designed. Apple seems to have the sadly unique ability to choose a relatively small set of options and make them all the right options. I have had an iPod for two years now, and I have never wished for features that don't exist (with the possible exception of an easily replaceable battery.)
Re:slashdotted alrady? (Score:5, Insightful)
Article worked for me too.
So is it that the article itself is biased, accidentally wrong or just written by a bitter Apple-supporter who can't stand people laughing at this overpriced, yet-to-come non-news? Either way: It's written by a moron or a zealot and this is pretty obvious.
He complains that "Installing Palm OS software on Windows requires admin rights, forcing an administrator to install the software on every machine that syncs with a Palm.", then follows up with this:
You seriously can't mean that this is a good article.
I could go into more details, but really. If seeing that ain't enough to convince you this guy is a overly biased Apple-zealot, then nothing will.
An SDK (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple could have killed about 20 birds with one stone if they had polished their internal SDK up a bit and released it with the iPhone. Instead they chose to massively insult their developer crowd at WWDC by passing off AJAX as a "sweet solution." What happens to their "sweet solution" when there is no network available?
Ballmer may be a whackjob, but he's right about four things: "Developers, developers, developers, developers." Without those, your "smart" product looks pretty dumb.
What is the upshot of all this? A closed box with fancy tricks is not worth $499. An open box with OSX running underneath it that can run a Skype client (appealing to personal users), a variety of media players (appealing to personal users), games that actually make use of the hardware (appealing to personal users) and other things we haven't even thought of yet *IS* worth $499.
Re:AT&T's snail-paced internet access (Score:1, Insightful)
The speed of a network can be improved by adding/fixing hardware. The willingness of the people running a network to allow for new features they haven't thought of, can't.
Besides, if I had a penny for every slashdot comment claiming to know how to manage Apple's product line better than Steve Jobs...
Stupid... (Score:2, Insightful)
"Apple's AirPort introduced a mainstream audience to WiFi wireless networking."
I'm sorry, what? I would wager that 80% of people using WiFi today have never seen an AirPort or used one knowingly. What percentage of the home WiFi (not to mention business) access points are Linksys (Cisco) or Netgear? Is Apple AirPort even in the top 5 behind Belkin, D-Link and the other two big guys?
Re:Is this a joke? (Score:3, Insightful)
User interfaces are nothing special. Just pixels and events. Computers are nothing special, just carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, silicon and other elements we can find easily in the world around us. Electricity is nothing special, it's just using natural phenomena to produce power.
The iPhone is nothing special.
"Frankly, being associated with Apple gets a negative mark in my book."
Ah. A zealot. Why didn't you say so earlier?
Re:Is this a joke? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, clipping anything to your belt, whether it's a sliderule, calculator or phone looks stupid.
Re:AT&T (Score:2, Insightful)
Absurdity (Score:4, Insightful)
Look, I've done mobile development. I want an SDK badly.
But an SDK not being a "special interest feature"? Come on, you know 99% of phone buyers are not going to be developing thier own applications.
As for buying or using other apps, that's where you get into the greay area of how many apps people buy today are replacable with web based versions, how many Apple will bring to market for third parties, and how useful the internal applications are (since Windows Mobile users I know are mostly buying apps to replace built-in phone applications which are terrible).
As SDk is delightful but there are other ways to fulfil the general needs an SDK addresses without offering an SDK to everyone.
In time, I'm sure we'll have a fuller SDK - but in the meantime the compromise offered will be good enough to fill many application needs, at least all the ones I had ever bought for the Palm.
Re:What? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:An SDK (Score:4, Insightful)
Hence most web developers writing "for Firefox first", thanks to Firebug, the Web Developer extension, and more respect for standards, and "testing and fixing for IE after". The end result - far more websites work perfectly in Firefox than you would expect strictly given IE's market share and broken standards.
It IS a bit off-topic, but seems to me like a valid parallel to the release of Safari for Windows. Despite Ballmer's "Developers" war chant, this is one area in which Microsoft is clearly missing the point.
Re:Not enough time to hack the hackers (Score:3, Insightful)
There's absolutely no reason whatsoever that there can't be an "iPhone 1.01 update" awaiting every iPhone user upon their first connection through iTunes.
As a rabid mac fan myself... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm a big fan of Apple's products, and have been almost exclusively using apple PCs since the 90s. Granted, I'm not loaded with cash, and don't rush to the nearest store anytime Apple releases a product (the longevity of their machines perhaps the biggest selling point for me. My 1999 450mhz PowerMac G4 is still chugging along, running the latest release of OS X 10.4. It's outlived my car.)
But I digress. The level of press coverage the iPhone is receiving is insane and disproportionate. I could easily deal with a flurry of press coverage around the time of the announcement, and shortly after the release (reviews, and first impressions). However, the level of hype and idle speculation building up is absurd for a product that hasn't even been released yet.
Yes. I appreciate that the iPhone is one of the first smartphones to get a properly-designed UI that wasn't created by a group of telco accountants (anybody who's ever had to deal with Verizon's "standard" UI knows exactly what I'm talking about). It could even very well revolutionize the mobile phone industry, (finally) bringing it into the data age.
It's also extremely expensive, and there's no way in hell I'll be able to afford one, or even remotely justify the cost. Remember that the iPod didn't achieve massive widespread popularity until the prices dropped considerably.
However, none of this has happened yet. It hasn't been released. Let's just hold onto our horses, wait a week, and conclusively answer these questions once the damn thing is in stores. You're all setting yourselves up for a massive letdown.
Re:Is this a joke? (Score:4, Insightful)
I would like my iPod to play OGGs. For all this talk in TFA about 'open standards', the iPod and iPhone don't support the most open standard of all.
(Of course, this is only important to me because I've ripped all my music to Ogg and don't want to have to convert lossy to lossy or re-rip.)
You make my head hurt (Score:3, Insightful)
The SDK is not for the 99% of phone buyers. It is for the 1% of people who know how to use it. That way that 99% of phone buyers has other applications to use on their phones.
What the hell are you talking about? (Score:4, Insightful)
From what orifice did you pluck this phantom boogeyman? There are about 12 applications on my Cingular 8525 and none of those "bricked it." There is a huge market of 3rd party applications for Palm and WM and none of those brick phones. Get real.
They aren't as numerous as you think. (Score:5, Insightful)
The number of people who actually install 3rd party applications onto Palm OS/WM smartphones has been GROSSLY over estimated. The bare basic PIM functions of these smartphones is all most of these folks are looking for. With the Smartphone we had gone from 2 devices to 1 but then the iPod came out bringing us back to 2 devices. For some folks who haven't upgraded to Smartphones yet they're actually still at 3 devices now. The iPhone is THE convergence device that will bring nearly everyone back to having just one device. And Apple will be able to intice more people to install 3rd party applications onto their iPhones than all other smartphones COMBINED.
So to recap, the lack of an SDK here is a non-event. Its totally immaterial. It just doesn't matter at all in the grand scheme of things. The iPhone is going to sell like hotcakes, out selling all other smartphones individually and combined because of its INTERFACE, not because you can or cannot install 3rd party apps on it from launch.
Random thought (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:You make my head hurt (Score:3, Insightful)
Then in what way is that not a special interest? Is not 1% the very definition of special interest? I would love my car to actually be amphibious as well, should all car makers insure each car meets this special need because one man proclaims if of use?
That way that 99% of phone buyers has other applications to use on their phones.
They already have applictions. It ships with them.
They will have other applications too, Apple will sell them.
They will have even more applications beyond that, web applications along the lines of other more advanced tools like the Google spreadsheet.
As I said, I would personally like an SDK for my own ideas. But that does not keep me from realizing the iPhone does not NEED and SDK at this moment in time, that the desire for same is truly a special interest need, because many needs will be met entirely without it.
I'm not sure how this very clear statement of what the iPhone actually is at this point in time, confuses you in any way.
plusses and minuses (Score:4, Insightful)
+ nice UI
+ nice screen
+ small
+ nice music/video player
+ looks good
- very expensive compared to other phones
- no 3G
- no unlocking or portability to other carriers
- no GPS
- forced to use, and register with, iTunes
- no touch typing
- bad camera
- two year lock
- very limited programmability
- I don't like being lied to by Jobs about why the iPhone isn't programmable
Lack of programmability means that I don't get a number of things I have had on every phone for the last several years: an open source password safe, an SSH and VNC client, and a good e-book reader.
I expect that there will be a whole range of really exciting new phones coming out, some of which have been in the pipeline, and others inspired by the iPhone. I think this is the wrong time to lock myself into a 2 year contract, in particular at that price.
Re:Is this a joke? (Score:3, Insightful)
Because they are:
A) Expensive (iPhone: check)
B) Huge (iPhone: check)
Most people prefer a basic little phone that does the job, cheaply. Nah, I don't need a touch screen to call someone.
Maybe "Enterprise" is not ready for the iPhone (Score:4, Insightful)
I certainly agree with you that there may be some deficits, particularly in early versions. I'm not spending my money on the 29th, at least. But I'm also glad to see the end game of this creativity: other smartphone makers will be forced to step up their games.
From the extensive needs you have of specific functions, it's probably true that you won't be well served by an iPhone. I think, frankly, Apple has its eye on a broader public than enterprise. MS keeps its eye on you and your needs. But there are, right now, a billion people who use cells; the market is very large. Maybe Apple will develop cheaper phones, iPods really, and more business-oriented software, I don't know. But I absolutely love the way they shake up a market. Whatever kind of phone you want -- and are you sure you don't want a small notebook? -- you're more likely to get it after the iPhone hits.
Re:A level of bullshit I can barely comprehend... (Score:3, Insightful)
Here's why your complaints above were undeserving of an insightful moderation:
You said I had the "gall to label some bloggers as 'impassioned.'" The gall?
While I describe a lot of people as impassioned (you're at the front of the line), its not the worst thing a person can be. What I have criticized in some of my articles is bloggers who rant on about a subject with highly emotional rhetoric without really trying to make a point, just using emotionalist language (like gall) to portray a sensationalist position and smear others without using any facts or reasoning. I hope my articles express some passion about what I think, but I also try to back up everything I say with reasonable logic. I do not intend to spread emotionalist fear.
I wrote a half dozen articles about the Zune because the CNET universe was shamelessly gagging on it in anticipation with regurgitated Talking Points. I pulled it apart as a bad product with a poorly conceived strategy at a time when nobody else was saying much of the same. Only after it failed miserably did it become fashionable to point out what a pile of crap it was. It was quite obviously a bad product, I just pointed it out first.
You rag on me for calling a spade a spade, but you didn't present any errors or falsely emotional appeals I made to inflate the iPhone beyond what it really is. I merely tore apart the baboonery that sits in for honest criticism these days. If you're going to post hate mail about my impassioned style, make sure you do it in a way that is at least as factual and logical as I try to be in my articles.
You are sounding a lot like the average Digg user. That is not a complement.
Zune vs. iPhone: Five Phases of Media Coverage [roughlydrafted.com]
Re:Biased, iPhone not ready for enterprise use (Score:4, Insightful)
So what you're really saying is that phones in generall can't be brought on-site -- I don't know of any mobile phone that will connect calls over a non-radio interface.
Re:Biased, iPhone not ready for enterprise use (Score:3, Insightful)
Given relative market penetrations, I suspect that there will be plenty of "enterprise-grade" customers for whom this "basic requirement" can be safely ignored. And probably the vast majority of small and mid-sized businesses as well.
It seems to me that too many people are assuming that everyone else's situation and requirements exactly parallel their own.
IT management (Score:2, Insightful)
iPhone will be a sucess because... (Score:3, Insightful)
The iPhone isn't for geeks (though im sure most geeks will love it). Its for my mum, and my brother and my sister and aunt etc. Its going be simple and its going to work. Why would apple create some complex super phone for the small geek market when it can create a simple but brilliant phone for the masses? I love having lots of features, its why I have the N95 phone, but all I use it for is Voice, Text, Camera and Wi-fi. The 1001 other features it has is never used and the phone is unresponsive and slow and crashes. I just want a phone that can do the main features GOOD, and I'm guessing that most people (non-slashdoters that is) will want the same.
UI is everything. The iPod demonstrated that, and for all the people that complain there is too much hype over this phone, remember that apple didn't create this hype, its the reputation of their past products that did.
for christ's sake (Score:4, Insightful)
1) Company needs OTA groupware. They don't buy an iPhone: they use WM/Blackberry/etc
2) Company doesn't need OTA groupware. They buy whatever phones they can get cheap that work as a basic phone. They don't buy an iPhone.
3) Company doesn't need OTA groupware but decides that it's bored of making money for its shareholders, and buys everyone an iPhone for shits and giggles.
4) Company doesn't need OTA groupware, but does have a pressing need for its employees to be able to listen to MP3s all day, post pictures to Flickr and mess with Google Maps. They buy the iPhone.
I don't know about you, but 3) and 4) don't seem to be a huge demographic...
Re:AT&T (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Admin rights (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually on the mac there is the same issue... individual users should not have the "admin" password so they will need IT support to install software like itunes (if not pre-installed).
The general answer is that Apple doesn't get corporate. This is the reason that Macs are so rare in corporate (> 500 employees) environments.
Re:for christ's sake (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure, a company isn't going to mind if you buy yourself a nice phone and put your work SIM card in it - I've always done this as I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a fork than use a RAZR.
I'm sure it's going to be a lovely, if expensive, device, but it's not aimed at and is not going to be successful in the business environment.
The iPhone is very accurately aimed at consumers.
Oh, and the iPhone isn't going to let you read/edit/email Word docs.
Re:slashdotted alrady? (Score:3, Insightful)
How is it that this is moderated "+5 insightful" when it's basically just a personal attack on the author of the article? I thought Ad Hominem attacks like "It's written by a moron or a zealot.." were more for youth oriented sites Giz and Engadget?
The poster of this comment tries to point out a logical fallacy in the article (that doesn't actually exist), and then follows up with another insult ("... this guy is an overly biased Apple-zealot..") and it comes out +5 insightful?
Please keep the monkeys away from the moderating system!
While it's statistically possible they might end up with Shakespearen critiques, it's more likely they will fling poo around like this fellow did.
Re:Admin rights (Score:1, Insightful)
As for 'getting corporate', it is well-known that engineering departments don't "get corporate" (example, having a 'standard image' is not going to include all of the scientific, math, and laboratory software), but somehow companies manage to find ways to handle that.
I hate the idea of not being able to install my own apps. What about well-behaved apps that don't need admin rights? It sounds like you don't want people installing those, either, but maybe I'm misreading you.
I have to argue that, in a well-designed computing environment, as long as you don't touch the hardware directly and aren't trying to modify the core parts of the operating system, no application should need admin rights to install (unless you're installing 'for every user'). If I want to install my own text editor rather than using whatever is in the default image, I ought to have the ability to do so. If you're worried about user apps having unlimited access to the CPU or network, you should choose/configure your OS (and your network setup) wisely.