China’s government excluded Apple Inc. iPads and MacBook laptops from the list of products that can be bought with public money because of security concerns, according to government officials familiar with the matter.
Windows 8 was already banned from Chinese government computers.
I can’t really blame the Chinese government. American companies have cooperated very closely with the US intelligence industry, so it was only a matter of time before the Chinese government started doing to American companies what the American government did to Chinese companies.
The several billion dollars question formulated in one word: iPhone?
Edit:
Um de dork. Didn’t read the summery very well. Must not be awake. Need more coffee…
Edited 2014-08-06 13:37 UTC
Microsoft had such big usage in China as a result of ‘allowed’ piracy. This is basically how XP managed such penetration into emerging markets. Now MS have killed XP without a ‘free’ successor. They dont want to end up in the same/similar monopoly position with tablets and phones. Especially with Apple’s product support history (latest model or two only)
Windows 8 isn’t significantly harder for pirates, maybe it doesn’t have the total fire-and-forget method of Windows 7 and SLIC 2.1, but certainly nothing that just ends OS piracy.
This is most likely about the control that Microsoft and Apple have enforced on all the apps that are running on iOS/Metro. Every Metro/iOS app is sent down from their respective Central Command based in the US. Both of them share this new world of total App Store control, where it’s really difficult to know that the apps that you’re loading haven’t had additional backdoors injected at HQ. Updates to the apps are all controlled remotely so even if it’s currently secure, at some point it could be automatically updated with some monitoring system.
Having every application you use be passed through and checked by US companies (and potentially modified, updated or remotely disabled) is going to scare the hell out of any country that wants to remain in control of its own software destiny.
It helps people to understand the benefits and transparency of open source. It will also help smaller local companies in their own country to develop their own products and market it successfully when population stops relying on glorified US products from companies like Microsoft and Apple.
Eh, more diversity in implementation would be better, but a greater attention to specifications for inter-operability would be necessary.
The best thing that Microsoft did by having a monopoly was to enforce a default method of operating a computer and basic office programs. I kind of laugh at applicants to jobs that list ” Microsoft Office” as a skill. But, back in the eighties and early 90’s, word processing ability wasn’t necessarily transferable between systems. There were in depth classes and certifications for secretaries on wordstar/ wordperfect/ MS word/ Clarisworks. Floppy disks from one Computer wouldn’t work in another. Transferring data between two systems was a pain in the behind.
So yes to diversity and competition, but no to proprietary formats.
I don’t keep up with Apple news often. Wasn’t Apple the only company that has unequivocally said they don’t have an NSA backdoor? As far as I remember, every other company either gave hand wave sidestepping PR releases, or found to have been infiltrated already.
I think it’s not all about the NSA. Apple has a lot of back doors in their products. Whether they call the NSA or Apple is not the problem. The problem is they leak data.
I personally believe that the Chinese government wants software conformity on government systems for many reasons, and was there not a story about how they enforced that conformity already a few years back here on OSAlert?
Ease of administration would be one reason. It also happens that Windows 8 has a bad rap among IT admins.
As an IT admin for 1500-2000 users i say that you’re wrong.
Edited 2014-08-07 00:19 UTC
Windows 8 to my experience is really a pain to configure.
You and Stabby could still both be right.
It may be a pain for you, or anyone, to configure and still be easy for him, or any good IT Admin, to administer once is is configured.
http://companies.caixin.com/2014-08-06/100713823.html (Article in Chinese). Basically, the more likely scenario was that Apple did not submit all the paperwork required to remain on the list of energy-saving products enforced for certain (not all) procurement processes. If security was a concern, the list would have excluded Dell, Acer etc. as well.
Edited 2014-08-06 16:46 UTC
I can’t read Chinese, so I can’t comment on your link. But the primary security concern would presumably be the OS, not the hardware. Hence, the focus on MS and Apple, over strictly hardware companies. (E.g., the Dell computer would still be banned if it ran Windows 8.)
Well the hardware is made in china anyway, regardless of who’s brand gets stamped on it.
Seems like a step any non-US government should take?
Would you really want to run the risk that everything you create could potentially be read by the NSA or summoned by law to be handed over? Better take no chances.
And private persons can of course still buy the software, if they wish to…
Edited 2014-08-06 16:59 UTC
This move is not about the NSA stuff, do you think that came as a shock to the Chinese, especially as they operate a vastly more intrusive and extensive spying operation of their own?
This is a move against the US because of the exposing of Chinese cyber intrusions. Plus it fits in with building a national economy and encouraging Chinese alternatives to non-Chinese products. Given that Apple and the iPhone are such sought after aspirational consumer brands in China it will be interesting to see how much of an impact this has on Apple’s growth in China. Not much I suspect but time will tell.
Sure, China seems to have vast numbers of people ‘spying’. I quote the word spying because I see several attempts to logon to my linux server per day seemingly to originate from China but I suspect script kiddies, not professionals.
The whole alleged cyber war is much more difficult to comprehend, it is hard to establish facts by now because of all the media warfare. But I know a couple of things:
1) The NSA seems to spy on everything, spying on allies like the German cancellor. Heck it spies on its own people. It even includes raising inferior cryptology into standards for encryption.
2) Chinese companies like Huawei were incorrectly but deliberately accused of backdoors. Ironically they found backdoors in Huawei products but they were planted by the NSA!
See: http://news.techeye.net/business/huawei-products-do-have-backdoors
3) The US government thinks it has the godgiven right to examine any file, email, data if it is hosted by an American company, no matter where the servers are, without a public warrant.
See: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/us-usa-tech-warrants-idUS…
So if your file is hosted by Onedrive, Dropbox or some Apple product, say sayonara to your privacy.
Any sane government would not procure any American software until this has been addressed.
Edited 2014-08-06 21:02 UTC
The title of this article states China bans Apple products from government use, but the article states that China prohibits the use of government money for Apple product purchase.
I appreciate this could amount to the same thing, but there is a subtle and important difference.
The Chineese government spies as much as anyone!
Not only that but then they own the companies that sell us products!
But China does not want a trade war! They still make all their money off us and their economy can not operate with out the US and Eroupe!
Surely the problem with back doors sanctioned by security agencies, is that they can end up getting used by all sorts of people. As horrid thoughts go it is almost enough to get me across to OpenBSD full time.
I hope Indian Govt take some lessons from this NSA back doors and Chinas strict action on its own product usage. China is big time adopting OSS model. In Linux world slowly but surely lot of new Chinese distros are piping up. Few days ago they have moved their documents to libreoffice.
Unfortunately Indian IT industries survival is on US software industry and it is bonded to use whatever OS us companies will detect it. But Indian govt can at least adopt it.
Reports saying that China has banned Apple products are false.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http~*…
Edited 2014-08-06 23:13 UTC
Except for pirated copies of Windows 7?
http://appleinsider.com.feedsportal.com/c/33975/f/616168/s/3d452fe2…][/i]