Argument for an Apple Pie Internet

When Dr. Burton talked about open content again in class on Tuesday, I thought of a metaphor, like the English major I am.  What if people who grew apples didn’t let people they gave them/sold them to share with other people or make apple pie?  In other words, what if apples weren’t open?

I’ve decided to share this tasty metaphor with you, in hopes of giving you a little more information about what open is.  I’ve taken concepts from David Wiley’s opencontent.org  and changed them to make them about apples, partly to have fun and partly to make an argument for openness.  Enjoy! 

Apples that Aren't OpenPay to Use Apples-- You can’t have this apple unless you pay for it.
Free Apples-- This apple is free, but all you can do is consume it in its original form. You can’t make it into anything else.  No apple pie, no apple crisp, no apple sauce, no baked apples for you!

The 4R’s of Open Apples
Reuse—you can grow identical apples from the apple’s seeds, but you can’t necessarily alter the apple or its “copies” from its original form.
Revise—you can alter the form the apple takes by blending it into apple sauce or apple butter or baking it.
Remix—you can combine this apple with other ingredients to create tasty things like apple pie or apple crisp or apple Jello or an apple-pomegranate salad!
Redistribute—you can revise and remix this apple and share it with as many people as you want.  You can also share identical apples you’ve grown (copied) with as many people as you want.

Apples are tasty.  Free apples are tastier.  So are apple pie and other tasty apple things!  Life is better because apples are open.  Could the same concept apply to online content?  I realize that there are situations when it might not be desirable for content to be open, but in general, wouldn't more openness be better?  Wouldn’t we find ways to make life better (and tastier) if more online content was open?