Hackability: the freedom to modify the technology you own, in ways that, for example, make it more useful or more interesting. Is it important? To many, it is not. As computers become more like mere appliances (and appliances more like mere computers), it is inevitable that these devices become less hackable, more tightly controlled, less open. Yet others feel that this is a fundamental right--we're talking about devices that you own after all--and we'll lose something important if it goes away.
The argument is peaking lately with Apple's iPad announcement, which promises to be the first widely purchased device with all computing power of a netbook but all the restrictions of the iPhone and iPod Touch.
I'm going to get to my take on the issue in a roundabout way. First, a case study in hackability: podcasting. Contrary to popular belief, podcasting was not invented by Apple. It was invented by people cobbling together software--hacking--on their computers. They took an open format, RSS, to encapsulate audio files and wrote programs, initially in Python (a free and open source scripting language) to do something novel: automate the delivery of home-made radio programs. One of the originators was Adam Curry who wrote the first working prototypes, despite not being a programmer.
So this is the type of software hacking I'm talking about and it's something you won't be able to do on the iPad. Yes, no doubt people will find a way to "jailbreak" them--crack the security protections, but sooner or later, they'll succeed in completely locking them down. Microsoft's XBOX 360 for example, has yet to be cracked. And, of course, you can write iPad/iPhone software, if you purchase a key and own a Mac to write the software on (presumably, those systems will never be locked down). FWIW, no less a person than the inventor of the personal computer and co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, professed that his "favorite gadget" [quoted in the Gizmodo blog] of the moment is an Android device. So the greatest hardware/software engineer of all time is having fun on a platform that is explicitly hackable.
It's also worth point out that a prerequisite for hackability is the freedom to install whatever apps you want, something that Apple has steadfastly opposed (often citing apps for being explicit, or politically objectionable, or for unfathomable and contradictory reasons).
Luckily, there are hackable alternatives to Apple's mobile platforms, so their closed appliance-like nature does not really bother me, except as signs in a disturbing trend. (I don't want all computers to be locked down).
Ultimately, a great deal of innovation comes from hackable systems, as Apple's own early history perfectly illustrates. We need those people who want to push a device beyond what its software A.P.I. provides, or assemble hardware to create new types of devices. Design, be it hardware or software, is an art. They say there are three types of artists: the innovators who roughly pioneer new styles and techniques, the masters who perfect the art form in stunning works, and the imitators, who work within existing genres but lack the genius to push the boundaries. The iPad, like most Apple products since the Mac, is the work of a master; it wasn't the first tablet PC, but it will be the first to really show what the platform is capable of becoming. But those innovators need the instruments to work with too.
