Here's the big difference. Once you have a stranglehold on digital retail (Amazon), or digital data (Google), who in the world is going to be able to step in and compete? No one.
I don't fear Apple because they sell me gadgets. They will never have a monopoly on gadgets. I could walk away from Apple right now - sell my iMac, sell my iPhone, buy some plastic heap from Dell or Samsung, and go on as normal. Dell, HP and RIM are proof-positive that there's no iron-clad control of the hardware market.
The digital world is a different beast entirely. Try walking away from Google. Apple tried - with Maps - and look what happened. And in 5 years' time, try walking away from Amazon, when the Best Buys and the FutureShops of the world are gone. These companies will have you by the shorthairs and there won't be anything you'll be able to do about it. We're creating monsters and we don't realize it.
Amazon eBooks were already more expensive than paper books without Eddie Cue's involvement.
No that's not the case at all. They were considerably cheaper. Please, this is sheer disinformation.
As to the rest you are saying, I don't necessarily disagree with some of it, but it's a broader discussion, on the merits of free market capitalism as it manifests itself in the digital age and the concentration of power. Esp. so with data, see facebook and google. There I agree 100%. But that's something too broad to tackle here, hundreds of millions of people around the globe live in poverty and a lot of them starve to death, it's a very unjust world, and unfortunately, the worldwide commerce and politics are blind to a lot of that and kinda take us along without are better judgement...
The attempt to portray apple in the clear, or the even more ludicrous claim that they were actually doing us a favor by colluding though is simple absurd. They are inexcusable for using their clout to pull such **** against the consumers and the competition.
Still b&n, kobo bookstore, blackwells in the uk, other eu retailers are perfectly able to compete with amazon in ebooks. If amazon decide to raise prices guess who these customers are going to turn to. I see a lot of smaller enterprises competing with amazon, I also see amazon having rasor sharp profits... I also see apple doing something intentionally illegal. Even having by far the widest margins in their industry (and among a lot of other industries too) they wanted to play dirty to stop all competition in a particular market amongst all the parties involved, enter the market, and swallow it hole. What a gargantuan monster!
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Oh please. From by Charles Schumer (D-NY) arguing against the DOJ suit, as published in the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303740704577527211023581798.html
I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of where the real threat to your wallet lies.
I got better things to do buddy than read planted pr copy bs from apple buddy. I have made up my mind on this one.... one has to be delusional to support apple in this.
As an aside, apple better get their **** together because their legal cost have started to outweigh their r&d costs by far recently, and the various -gates, poor software offerings and general sense that they are cruising on Job's genius aimlessly while overpricing, being complacent and offering average products, is getting them nowhere.
Maybe others have wised up to the fact that apple can't bully them into negotiating under unfavorable terms any more and hence the radio service deal is nowhere near to be completed...