It’s Not the iPhone, But the iMan, About Which We Should Worry [OPINION]

We are a world comprised of hypocrites if we applaud the efforts of Anonymous to break into the Twitter accounts of terrorists but enrich the soil of Apple Inc.'s moral high ground when it comes to breaking into the telephone of one who allegedly terrorized a group of innocent, unsuspecting people at a holiday party.

No, the federal government should not be able to require that a private company create something by virtue of a court order.  Regardless of the federal government's apparently pathetic technical capabilities, such a compulsion is morally bankrupt.

However, must we need a court order to do the right thing and, more importantly, do we wish to create something that we ourselves cannot control in the first place?

The parallels that have been drawn between this debate and the historical one between a journalist's right to protect his sources are not without merit.  They are, however, comparing pears and pineapples (sorry, Apple).

Both sides are wrong.  We are allowing ourselves to be distracted by the question of whether Citizen or Government should have more power when all the while Technology is taking over as king.  We are knowingly creating a world where our gadgets possess more information and security than we do.  Does anyone really desire a robot that cannot be turned off?  Do you want a machine that will not comply with the requests and yes, commands, of a living being?  It is not the iPhone with which we should be concerned but the next generation's apparently impenetrable iMan.

And who lives with so many secrets that, especially in our own death, none should ever be revealed?  Instead of creating a more open society tolerant of all, we are building more fortified walls around ourselves.  We want those walls defended anonymously by soldiers whose work we view as dirty but yet on whose compassion we rely.

We may not always agree on who the good guys and the bad guys are but it appears necessary, in this case at least, to remember that both should be on the same side.

Do you agree or disagree?