From the article: "The big thing about the Web isn’t the technology, it’s that it’s the first-ever platform without a vendor" . Somehow he misses that the Web is a big platform on the iPhone, and then goes on to whine about native applications not being as open and free as the web! It's like he totally missed the point of his own tirade: if you don't like vendor controlled platforms, use the Web, it's the first-ever platform without a vendor!
For someone who supposedly thinks deep thoughts about these subjects, he's frighteningly short-sighted.
I think Tim Bray's rant on the iPhone is rather ill-considered & rather short-sighted.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error. -- John Kenneth Galbraith