"ordered to disable JavaScript" - Untrue! Register Journalist FAIL!
The writer makes a significant distortion by stating that Apple ordered the developer to "disable JavaScript". They did no such thing. Check the developer's blog post which this article quotes.
They asked him to stop allowing users to download 3rd party JavaScript modules. He now includes all of his own modules in the app by default. Users just cannot download JS modules from other iCab users. I'm not sure if they can still create their own or not, I think he said they can.
The developer apparently made it really easy to create and use these JavaScript modules, thereby effectively creating an open scripting platform for iPhone. That's why Apple didn't like it: it would have kind-of competed with the App store.
The dev is of coure right in suggesting that Apple should philosophically speaking ban download of webpages too, or indeed actually do what the journalist claimed: ask the dev not to allow JS code to run in his browser. But Apple don't mind people developing iPhone apps for the web; that still involves a slightly higher bar to development. And you can't tell people not to browse the web. But most users wouldn't associate webpages with the idea of creating or sharing their own JS applets with other iPhone users.
The point is, not just the fact that you can do something, but how easy it is to do it, makes almost as much difference. One commenter already pointed out that you can program whatever JavaScript app you like in the address bar of almost any browser on the iPhone or on a computer. This is true, and that's great, but of course it's very cumbersome.
It's a bit of a shame, but Apple want to protect their market just as much as the next company, and they want to do that - and maintain quality and performance on iDevices - by ensuring that iPhone apps are only created using Xcode and Objective-C and distributed through the App Store, which they control.
I'm a programmer and I love my iPhone 4. I would have loved to have an easily programmable JavaScript scripting engine on it, but I can get by without one.
Safari is actually a pretty damn good mobile browser. It's amazing compared to my last phone, an HTC Diamond Touch, running Win Mo 6.1. On that phone Opera Mobile was pretty much the best browser available. Safari is much better than Opera Mini even for iPhone. The text clarity is superb. I like Opera for PC a lot, incidentally.
Safari might be a bit stripped down - search in the page has only just been added - but the basic job of parsing and rendering webpages and making them easy to move around it does really well. Really well. I've found it great for studying foreign languages, for example. It's easy to use. And if you want any more functionality, buy iCab or Atomic (which also comes in a free version). I have Atomic full version. I still use both browsers.
Children who don't understand that great design is sometimes invisible diss Apple without having a clue what they're talking about. Apple products are ingenious, well-thought-out, resilient, powerful tools.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
