Steve Jobs had some interesting things to say in a message during his
F4Q10 Results – Earnings call back on the 18th.

Of course the iPad has continued to sell phenomenally. I expected that.

What I found fascinating was Jobs’ treatment of Apple’s “integrated approach” and its benefits over and against what describes as the “fragmented approach” of competitors, especially Google and Android.

The open vs closed issue, Jobs tells us, is “just a smokescreen to try and hide the real issue”, which he says is “fragmented versus integrated.”

What is so “fragmented” about Android, we might ask? Jobs gives evidence: Android OEMs come up with proprietary interfaces. Multiple versions of Apps exist. Multiple App stores are coming up soon.

By contrast, jobs maintains that Apple is integrated, citing the easy to use iTunes App Store and the speed by which developers are paid.

Jobs builds to a climax:

We see tremendous value in having Apple rather than our users’ be the systems integrator…. When selling to users who want their devices to just work, we believe integrated will trump fragmented every time.

This took me aback the first and second times I read it. Yeah, I thought, all we care about is whether it just works…

So we are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed. And we are confident that it will triumph over Google’s fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open.

The end. So much for Google’s little Android ploy.

Not so fast Steve.

I actually care about more than whether my device “just works”. I care about things like cost, customization, speed…and especially freedom.

Steve, what you’re actually advocating is socialism…the idea that “we the monolithic good-hearted organization have your best interests in mind and will take care of you. Just let us be in charge of your access to the things you need and your troubles will be over.”

My Droid Incredible is not as “integrated” as Steve’s iPhone 4.

But I can tether to both of my computers and use 100GB of data per month.

Socialism would be great in an ideal world. But in the real world, I’ll stick with Freedom.

Here’s a transcript of the rest of the F4Q10 message.