We love Apple stuff. Andy and I both run Macs as our main machines (at last count, I have 8 Macs in my home). When the App Store was announced, we were keen to spread the word. We have a new book on iPhone software development. We have a brand new section in Bill Dudney's Core Animation book. And Mike Clark has a set of screencasts on how to write code for the little fella.

And we can't show you any of them.

Why? Because in order to get the iPhone SDK, you have to agree to the terms and conditions?you know, that standard box of legalese that you skip over before pressing I AGREE. Except, in this case, the legalese has some unfortunate consequences.
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So, to write a book about the iPhone SDK, you have to download it. In order to download it, you have to accept the agreement. And the agreement says that the download will contain confidential information that you can't pass on to third parties. That makes it hard to publish the book. And, if that wasn't enough, it also appears that you can't even use the word "iPhone" (for example, in a book title).

Apple, through its marketing and visual design techniques, is manufacturing an illusion that merely buying an Apple makes you part of an alternative community. But the technology they use is explicitly chosen to divide people into separate digital cells, and to position Apple as sole warden. When your business depends on people paying for the privilege of being locked up, the prison better look and feel luxurious, and the bars better not be too visible.