Funny you mention the iPhone kill switch… Which that was incidentally found by accident by an iPhone dev. They say the only mode of action they notice it doing so far is the download of known malicious URL’s and that it’s possibly for corporate users, however, no one knows for sure. The funny part is more the fact that the iPhone apps go through a rigorous approval process already… so my own speculation like many other sites have mention is that in the case that a malicious app has slipped, it can be destroyed and the developer’s approval to be revoked.

(Disclaimer, I am no iPhone fan… LOL)

At the same right… Google’s Android isn’t a perfect ideal yet as they too have their own kill switch which they did openly disclose to the public, unlike Apple’s silent admission to theirs. Android’s market place allows apps to be published immediately with no approval and certification chain. This is both advantageous and dangerous within reason… Advantageous as apps are published right away, but dangerous as it relies on the community to scrutinize code and if something is missed, then it relies on Google to police the code ASAP.

Google’s API isn’t completely open… unless you’re high on the Google code development chain. Cause the last I remembered… depending on how close you or your team’s ranks are with Google, it could mean the difference between being able to get access to code for reading screen sensitivity and accelerometers or only being able to code simple apps that don’t even touch the core of the phone. There’s an article on ZeroXR.com that speaks on this tangent as it caused a minor schism with some Android coding teams…

Now if OpenMoko or the LinPhone alliance could hurry the fork up, there could be some truly open phones!

PS – My big gripes with Macs are more the restrictive BSD sort of license and also the fact that if you’re trying to do something in that poor sorry excuse of a terminal called “Darwin”… The GUI can completely override what you’re doing via command line!