Generative Drama

In Zittrain’s chapter “Cybersecurity and the Generative Dilemma”, the author talks about the advantages and disadvantages of a generative system.
A generative system is a great way for people to express themselves creatively but it also gives a way for people with more obscure objectives: to penetrate other computer systems with naughty viruses.
A generative system’s also thrives on the trust it gives to its users, to keep building things that are useful in a positive way and not in a negative way. Zittrain unfortunately mentions that most people have not been so trustworthy, since many internet users have taken advantage of the generative network to spread viruses and such, which is leading users to prefer security rather than generativity. Furthermore the author talks about “botnets” and how it allows for spam mail to be sent from fake emails to millions of internet users and how spam accounts for 80% of the world’s total email.
Zittrain also mentions that because computers are more and more powerful , viruses spread faster and more easily than just a few years ago. It is mostly the user’s responsibility to be careful when running new software on the computer and probably is common sense not to just download anything from the internet. Of course the program you use can be part of the blame for viruses entering the computer but it is mostly up to the user to make sure they monitor exactly what they are opening on their PC’s.
On another note the article by Timothy Lee “ How To Stop Worrying and Love the App Store” talks about the rise of the App Store and user freedom.
While different people can write apps for the App Store there is a changing set of rules that one most follow in order to be qualified. These rules obviously create problems with people creating useful apps Or even trying to. Which means that some revolutionary apps cannot be created because Of all the guidelines set by Apple. When Steve Jobs first released the Iphone he made it clear that he didn’t want it to be used like a computer but more like a phone. Saying that running three apps and making a phone is not so effective.
Even with all its restrictions the App Store proved to be a success and soon Microsoft and Android followed the App Store model , with the exception of the Android users being able to buy apps from other sources other than Android. Making the Android subject to malware. I think it really comes down to either wanting to own a tethered appliance such as an Iphone and not risk having malware run on your appliance or using something more generative like an Android and having that risk.
I think that as long as we have an option between the two it shouldn’t be a problem, since some people are happy with the apps are given and some need the freedom to create their own with no restrictions.