[QOTD] Steve Jobs: Evil Dictator or Saviour?

There was an article on Forbes.com today about a Finnish cyber securities firm discovering malware for the iPhone,”Mobile Spy”. For $99 a year, you can monitor logged calls, mobile web activities, and SMS this piece of software is installed in, through your Mobile Spy account.

But fret not, Mobile Spy is not a security risk since it needs to be physically installed in your phone. So unless you have a psycho stalker that has access to your actual phone, you’re safe. Now Spyware/malware, or what have you, is not breaking technology and has been around since I was an Internet n00b.

But this got me thinking.

People always complain about Apple and how it is outright stupid that Steve Jobs controls who has access to our hardware. I would be lying if I said I didn’t say at one time or another: why can’t Apple be more like PCs, where we don’t have to search for ‘authorized dealers’. Not only is it a) a pain in the ass to look for one but b) EXPENSIVE. The less retailers that sell Apple, the more pricey hardware/software and services are.

On the other hand, could one of the main reasons Apple products are less prone to malware/spyware/viruses be because Jobs is looking out for the consumer by keeping close tabs, and because of that, we are at less of a risk to be exposed?

What do you think? Is Jobs simply a dictator or is he looking out for us (consumers)?