App-ing Out

Virginia Heffernan says that what’s happening on the Internet since the introduction of the App Store is akin to urban decentralization and white flight. Tired of the unsafe and unsanitary conditions of life in the “open” Web, people are buying iPhones or iPads and “pricey and secluded apps” as a way of moving to more pristine estates. “I see why people fled cities, and I see why they’re fleeing the open Web. But I think we may also, one day, regret it,” she warns.