abstractions to the

There’s a small point to be made here, insofar as it suggests the FBI is being disingenuous. They’re saying that it’s not about precedent, it’s just about this one phone, this one investigation. But the real reason they’re making a big deal out of it is that it’s politically useful. The phone itself likely isn’t important but the situation surrounding the phone — “terrorism” and the tragedy of 14 innocent people being killed — lends sympathy to their desire for access to encrypted devices all the time.
- John Gruber, daringfireball.com

The iPhone debate reminds me of a hot button issue like abortion or climate debate where the two sides are speaking different languages. Strangely the one semantic argument that the other side understands has yet to be made: economics. Forget what you know about encryption and the absurdity of security back door. These are purely intellectual abstractions to the other side.

Want a sure-fire way to sink potentially hundreds of thousands of American jobs slowly? Set up the precedence that the US Government has backdoor access. What foreign government or foreign firm or even foreign citizen wants to use systems that the US Government can trove at will? We've shown a complete and utter disregard for intelligence gathering on our allies, even our closest, why assume anything else even when wrapped in the best of intentions?