Why Apple iOS is open and Android is closed

By now, even the most ardent Apple haters have essentially abandoned the false "open" marketing slogan that Google has long used as a battering ram to get Android into the hands of developers, handset makers, carriers and users.

Android is not open. 

And if you have version 3, say, of Android and want to get version 4, say, of Android, you probably will have to throw away your old Android device and buy a completely new one.

Are the proponents of "open" so quick to pervert the very spirit and intent of the term just because Google throws them the occasional bone?

Only, here's the thing: open is not open.

"Open" is a term used by geeks for geeks for the benefit of geeks. Nothing more.

I have watched old people who cannot use Windows and can't figure out how to synch a remote control with a television take to iPad, instantly.

I have watched toddlers -- children under the age of 5 -- pick up my iPhone and use it. Correctly.

Why isn't this the definition we use for "open"? 

How many people, of different backgrounds, economic status, nationalities, gender and age can access the product, use it instantly, use it always?

I'm convinced that the primary reason that Android has sold so many more devices than other platforms, yet Apple continues to dominate on web pages, app usage, app downloads, click throughs, searches, etc., is because the devices Apple offers are so much more accessible.

Which is really just another word for open.

The "open" Android platform, despite all Google's billions spent on building it and buying market share, remains far too difficult to use and far too difficult to use regularly.

When I bing the word 'open', the very first thing that pops up is:

not closed or locked: allowing people or things to pass through freely

Is that Apple?

You may quickly say no. You may point to a "locked" app market, for example, of the cost (not free) of many apps. Fair enough. 

Although, I certainly can't claim my device is Android without the proper paperwork from your Google overlord.

But what of "allowing people or things to pass through freely"? 

Shouldn't that include our time? In a world where we are always on, always busy, time is money, time is paramount. I'm thinking of the toll roads, such as those that run throughout Illinois. Anyone can use the 'CASH' lanes but only those with the special sanctioned device can use the special access lanes.

Only the stupid people use the CASH lanes. 

That's what I think of Android, to be perfectly honest. Yes, it works. Yes, it's a solution that can probably reach more people, since everyone has cash. But if there's any way I can avoid it, I will. And it's not about some silly notions that the Apple haters want to foist upon us, suggesting that we want to view ourselves as special.

I just don't want to sit in fucking traffic with everyone else. 

That's what using Android is like. Yes, it's cheaper. Yes, if you want to insist, it's more 'accessible' to others. But for me, the price is simply too high. There's too much I want to do, too many places I want to get to. Apple makes that a reality. Far more so than Android.

If you want to insist that Apple is closed and Android is open, go ahead. Feel free to give me the finger as I drive right past you.