It's already here- and has always been- on Mac. Where's the doom & disaster with the ability to buy apps from anywhere on Mac? Is there some? Yes. Will there be some cases for side loading on iDevices? Yes. Will the EU be destroyed by facilitating it for about 400 Million people? Nope. Again, see the entire planet's experience with Macs in the last 4 decades or so.
Along with competition driving some app prices lower, select developers getting to make more money on their apps (even if selling them for lower prices than in the App Store) may then be motivated by making a little more money for their own creations... to make more apps. That's great for developers and us consumers.
If someone in the EU wants to install perfectly good apps that the corp has refused for whatever reason- aka Epic games being a very obvious one- they'll get to buy & install & enjoy them on their iDevices... because- and brace yourself for this revelation- the
owner of the tech will get to decide what they can install on
their device instead of the maker of the device. I know, I know. Who in the right mind would want that? Again, see all Mac owners, among who there is probably only a tiny percentage who have never installed at least ONE app purchased from a source other than the relatively new Apple Mac App Store. If so, almost all of them suffered no cataclysm, no disaster, no malware, no loss of their first born, no locusts, fire & brimstone.
All that added functionality that motivated lots of phone owners over many years to "jailbreak" so they could put other things on the iDevice will now be simpler- no jailbreaking required. Why did so many do that vs. just allow the corp to decide what they can and cannot do with their phone? Because they wanted other benefits that the corp wouldn't allow from THEIR store.
And in spite of such tangible consumer choice benefits and money savings, those who swallow the whole security/doom spin will
still have the option of continuing to buy from the Apple store and refusing to engage in any alternates, which means their own iDevice should never be at any added risk.
Those who can appreciate this extraordinarily important, core function of capitalism (perhaps the
most key variable that specifically benefits the
BUYER side of the equation) can take advantage of better prices, alternative apps the corp refuses to make available in their store, etc.
Throughout all of history, ANY seller with a 100% lock on the source of any product pretty much ALWAYS exploits that lock. Customers
never benefit from only a single source of supply. Introduce competition and it strikes a much better buyer:seller balance for consumers. Competition almost always means lower prices, greater range of offerings, etc... even pressing the former sole seller of anything to get competitive to try to maintain share... which means there is even a direct benefit for those who swallow the spin spun by the very company making a fortune off of their lock as sole supplier now.
The richest or near richest company in the world shouldn't need this kind of thing to continue to prosper. Make "insanely great products" and broaden the lines into new spaces to grow revenue & profit. This kind of stuff is exactly what ultimately inspires GOVs to take action to force change... which is exactly what is driving it in the EU.
