I find this to be a bit odd. What possible reason could be there to not want to bring in as many accessory makers as possible from around the world, which would only serve to expand and consolidate an already-impressive ecosystem?

What earthly reason could Apple have, to be so ****-retentive about this?!

Luckily, working conditions can be protected, quality can be assured, AND we can still have cheap, officially licensed cables (Monoprice)!

Anan, no one is saying they are restricting whoever wants to be included. Its obvious they are controlling quality, as well as protecting their royalties. Sounds pretty simple to me.

Originally Posted by anantksundaram 

What earthly reason could Apple have, to be so ****-retentive about this?!

Same reason they don't allow Macintosh clones anymore...

It's Apple's port and Apple's ecosystem that will suffer from the use of shoddy third-party equipment. Yes, the third party in question will have its reputation shot by making said shoddy equipment, but Apple appears to be attempting to remove as much of the ripple effect (which always leads back to "it's Apple's fault") from that as they can. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram 

I find this to be a bit odd. What possible reason could be there to not want to bring in as many accessory makers as possible from around the world, which would only serve to expand and consolidate an already-impressive ecosystem?

 

What earthly reason could Apple have, to be so ****-retentive about this?!

to prevent crap accessories from interacting with the idevice. How many times have you bought a third party product and realized it was pure crap. Not all third parties are created equal.

This time, I think Apple went too far. For example, Mophie (and others) aren't allowed to put female Lightning ports on any device. I just purchased a Mophie Helium battery case for my iPhone 5. It's perfect in every way, except due to Apple's stringent controls, it can't work as well as the battery cases for older iPhones.

The problem is that because it can't have a female Lightning port:
1) I have to take the bottom of the case off (which disconnects the battery) in order to plug it in using a Lightning cable. That means carrying around multiple cables for different iOS devices.

2) It won't do data or audio when plugged in via the MicroUSB port. It will only charge.

This is all really messed up. I would've rather taken my chances with 3rd party cables. I never had any problems with bad 3rd party 30-pin cables, certified or not. Now though, we're guaranteed to have problems by design with certified Lightning products.

Grrr...

It just charges the battery, why be so restrictive?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram 

I find this to be a bit odd. What possible reason could be there to not want to bring in as many accessory makers as possible from around the world, which would only serve to expand and consolidate an already-impressive ecosystem?

 

What earthly reason could Apple have, to be so ****-retentive about this?!

Um .. the customer?  

They are attempting to make sure that the products are all made ethically.  Period.  

I don't get why anyone sees anything wrong with that or why it could ever be a bad thing.  The world would be a much better place if *all* companies did this.  

In fact, the world would be a far better place if even a fraction of the companies that exist even went 20% as far as Apple does in making sure they are behaving in an ethical manner.