Steve Jobs as a Ratchet of Openness

Normally, I would hawk and spit at the mere mention of the iPhone, since it's not exactly an open platform. But here's a more measured analysis of what's going on:

This is, in other words, a one-way ratchet in the right direction. Every time a handset maker wrings increased openness out of one wireless carrier, and thereby produces a handset that's superior to what's already on the market, that device will set a new baseline for the capabilities a phone should have. And the other carriers will have little choice but to follow suit by allowing similar features on their own networks. It may take a long time, but de facto open networks will get here eventually.

Put this way, I suppose we can say that more generally Jobs has been a ratchet of openness - for example, there's no doubt that it was the iPod that paved the way for DRM-less music, even if, ironically, it has not itself eschewed DRM. Perhaps we need individuals like Jobs, who, though outside the open world, are important catalysts for change towards openness.