Maybe I'm missing something here but what is the attraction to app stores? This all started with the iphone. The only way to get a program on the phone is through the app store. You browse for it and pay for it and than install it through the app store. Apple controls what goes in the app store and sometimes rejects apps for no good reason. Despite this censorship by Apple and the lack of freedom you have to install apps from any where you want the app store is hugely successful. So much so that the new ipad also has an app store and you suffer from the same restrictions. Due to the success of this system you have all kinds of apps stores popping up. Blackberry has one, Palm has one for their OS, Google Chrome OS will have one I just read. This is insane for many reasons.
This is a step backwards not forwards. You lose control over what and where you get your programs. Not only that you can kiss free software goodbye. Most of the good apps cost money and since you can't go else where you are locked in. The most disturbing part is that the user seem to embrace this stupidity. It's unbelievable. Imagine having a Windows machine and the only way to get an app on it was through the app store instead of like now where you can just go to any site you want and install the programs you want and go all free ware if you want. There is talk now that a future version of Mac OS X will be a closed system just like the iphone and ipad. Who knows where this crap will stop but it's very disturbing that it's happening and sickening that there are so many monkeys out there actually embracing this trash.
Does anybody else see this shift happening? Does it disturb you and have you concerned with the future of computing?