I just read an article over at Forbes.com titled “The Lonely Apple Repairman?” that detailed the recent travails of the author, David A. Andelman, who had to wait 60 hours for his Mac to be repaired at the Apple store in NY. I can sympathize with his angst over the temporary loss of his ‘Net umbilical cord, even if I thought the article was a bit overdramatic.

The end of the article posed a question that routinely pops up from tech writers: shouldn’t computers be more stable by now? He points to one of the usual (straw man) suspects for comparison: the modern automobile. I have two arguments or comments for Mr. Andelman in response to his story:

First, cars haven’t changed all that much since they showed up a century ago. Every piece that has been added went through years of research and careful integration into the car. For safety reasons most people would argue that is a good thing. But from the standpoint of innovation, it really sucks. Computers, on the other hand, are all about innovation. Not only does the hardware continue to develop at an amazing rate, but the software may actually be outpacing the hardware.

I’m sure if we were to just stop making new bits and pieces for our computers and just spent all of our time refining what we currently have that we would have much more stable machines. But what a waste that would be. Stability is great, don’t get me wrong. And the software and hardware industries (but especially software) could certainly do a better job of creating more stable products, but there will always be a balancing act with innovation.

Second, knowing how to take care of my computer much better than I know how to take care of my car, I tend to experience more problems and sink more money into my automobile than I ever will on my computers. So it’s a spurious analogy at best.

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I must be the only person who looks at the CIA leak case and doesn’t see an infringement upon free speech. There was nothing newsworthy or of value in publicizing the name of a CIA operative. It was, however, a federal crime that not only endangered the operative herself but U.S. national interests.

Had there been something newsworthy in the publication of that information, I could see an argument for protecting the source of that information.

Imagine the entire press core standing up and defending someone for yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater (the most overused example of why there are some limits on free speech). That is basically what is going on.

I understand the fear that reporters are standing on a slippery slope and that if the issue isn’t kept black and white that the government will come charging into the gray area and attempt to coerce more reporters to give up their sources in cases where the national security of our country hasn’t been jeopardized in some fashion. But this issue, like most others, is not black and white and they’re just going to have to live in the “reality based community” with the rest of us.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I do not know the exact text of the law, but my understanding is that it is a federal crime to release the name of an undercover CIA operative. That being the case, a better solution would have been to charge Robert Novak for that crime. Then there wouldn’t have been any issues about protecting sources. That didn’t happen and it may be that a strict interpretation of the law didn’t allow for it. Since it didn’t happen, we have to deal with the situation as it stands.

If that means that Karl Rove ends up going to jail, well, that’s even better than Robert Novak. Of course, I wouldn’t expect that to happen in my wildest fantasies. I’m fairly confident that Rove could stand up at a press briefing and start reciting from a list of undercover operatives, thumb his nose at the reporters before leaving, and be held above the law by his boss. I don’t mind being a realist because I’m equally comforted by the fact that his entire party would suffer consequences at the voting booths commensurate with their actions. All it takes is a little patience.

In the meantime, I hope Miller enjoys her time in jail. I really do.

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