> and at worst an implication that Apple intended at some point to comply with government requests for encrypted information
Apple's backdoor is for straightforward business reasons - they want to retain digital ownership of people's devices to take a cut from app distribution. Plus, keeping control is harder than giving up control. Keeping control allows total flexibility, like the flexibility to undermine security that's under discussion. Removing control requires careful planning to avoid later problems with no flexibility to fix them.
No, they could have made the device actually secure without losing any ability to take a cut from app distribution. Later iOS versions do it (although it seems to be unsettled weather a backdoor is still possible in those versions). The iOS version in question has a very obvious backdoor, which Apple is understandably getting really defensive about and doesn't want that fact made obvious.
I'm not sure I see what you're arguing. Implementing a more secure system is never convenient, but that obviously has nothing to do with whether it's justified.
As for my quoted statement, how can you really disagree? Having a system where "only the good guys" (i.e. Apple, right?) can break the security of any device is precisely what law enforcement has been asking for for years, and what HN users and the tech-savvy in general have been railing against. Now that Apple has completely admitted that this system exists, users are downvoted here for pointing it out?
I'm merely disagreeing on Apple's motives. Yes, the voyeurs want backdoors, and yes Apple has built a backdoor. But I don't think Apple has created this backdoor for law enforcement. I think it's simply due to them, like any other company, having a hard time giving up control and creating open platforms.
Don't sweat the downvotes. There seem to be a lot of Apple customers that don't have a technical clue about what guarantees other systems actually provide or what capabilities are theoretically possible. I surmise they view computing systems solely in terms of productized offerings from companies, and thus Apple is the leader of the pack for privacy and this case is key to preserving that privacy.
Apple's backdoor is for straightforward business reasons - they want to retain digital ownership of people's devices to take a cut from app distribution. Plus, keeping control is harder than giving up control. Keeping control allows total flexibility, like the flexibility to undermine security that's under discussion. Removing control requires careful planning to avoid later problems with no flexibility to fix them.