Patent it and patent all: Apple's closed-wall garden approach

August 23, 2010 11:10 AM EDT

Apple applied for a new patent to block jailbreaking of its iPhone and iPad series of products, in its bid to maintain a closed-wall garden.

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Although jailbreaking of Apple devices was legalized, Apple intends to patent its mechanism which allows it to detect a jailbroken iphone, iPad or iPod and restore it to factory settings.

Apple has vehemently opposed jailbreaking citing destabilization of its device once broken as a primary reason, though Apples' aggressive stance buttresses its core strategy - to keep a tight rein on its operating system iOS.

Apple's policy to maintain strict standards to monitor its App Store applications whereby it holds complete discretion to keep or remove an application from its profit generating App Store further adds to Apple's dogged resistance to maintain a proprietory portfolio.

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Incidentally it's been a year since Apple officially barred Google's Voice-enabled applications from the App store and continues to "ponder" over the FCC's questioning of this matter.

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The aforementioned acts extend weight to the argument that Apple is possibly creating a parallel web-world controlled by Apple. By creating products that can only sync with its software, it is limiting consumer experience beyond its products. However, creating such a system makes it difficult to wean users to other platforms. Apple provides all its products around its software like iPod, around iTunes and the upcoming Apple TV will also be an iTunes-based device.

In the near feature there will be a host of users who lack the flexibility to shift to other platforms. This could limit innovation of products as only Apple will be able to meet the demands of Apple-dependent users.

In such a polar world, apps developers will be limited to creating iOS-based applications, thus further limiting customer experience.

Keeping users in a cloistered atmosphere will also assist Apple to get away with errors like "antennagate" with greater ease as users will prefer to stay with what they are conversant with than move to something better but new.

The closed-wall garden approach raises the age-old economic question of capitalism vs. socialism. Post-recession, many governments have given approval to a closed economic set-up to curtail any future financial contagion, but what contagion is Apple afraid of?

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times, the business news leader