This is what it did with Quicktime, Webkit and Webdev which eventually led to the iPod and the iTunes Music store. That what it is doing with the iPhone. It is closing the loopholes — one by one.

Why is it not checking for authentication and serial numbers? Currently, that would do Apple no good because hackers could get around the 32 bit kernel which is the default for the next year. By next year, 90 percent of Mac Applications will have been converted to 64 bit code. When the 64 bit kernel kicks by default, it has some impressive security enhancements. That is when I expect Apple to start tightening the screws.

Apple needs to be careful to avoid abusing its legitimate customers. We Mac users shouldn’t mind if Apple starts checking to verify that we have permission to do tasks.

It is likely it will start with software installs. If we are on a company machine, it could start asking a central data base if we have permission to install software or perform specific tasks. We could be locked out of root mode.

The Snow Leopard DVD, broke common practice, by loading part of itself onto the disk before it started asking us questions. If that installer is in a protected virtual machine, then it could disallow overwriting the system. That could disallow writing the OS on non-Apple computer or a flash disk drive. It could check with Apple or your company to verify your permissions to do this.

This would be transparent to personally owned computers, but it could be extended to jail broken iPhones. I expect this to happen slowly and in areas that do not disturb the majority of Mac users. It will be said that Apple is creating enhancements for Enterprise customers. The IT departments do want to control what you can do with their machines. Eventually, it will be applied to jail broken iPhones and applications stolen from the iTunes store, but not for a couple of years.

It’s more to protect their network partner and the other iPhone users on that wireless network from malware. Said malware could compromise and bring down the wireless network which would affect the iPhone and other phone users on that network. Apple seems to believe that a bad accident such as that has bigger implications for a proprietary network that is monetarily associated with their product than general computers connected to the internet.

The Mac OS has always had no authentication check nor serial number. Apple has a EULA which indicates how they want the product to be used, and most users honor the spirit of that agreement, but multiple installations and now hackintoshes on an amateur level are treated with a nudge-nudge, wink-wink attitude. Only commercial sellers like Psystar are treated to legal orders.

The key difference between the computers and the phone is that with the phone Apple is beholden to a partner who might try to legally extract damages if things go wrong.

As far as “protecting the developers”… The current system hinders and limits developers. True innovation comes in an open market where free enterprise competition can occur. The app store requires approval before your app can be sold, it then promotes those it deems worthy, and takes its cut that it determines. In the retail world, if I am marketing a new product, I get to set my cost/profit margin, MSRP, and can choose to market directly through my website, through one chain exclusively, or wholesaled to every big box store on the planet.

Apple’s decisions are never about the customer or developer, but about Steve Jobs need for control and for the stock holder’s bottom line.