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The stupidness of all of this boils down to defining Apple‘s ecosystem/platform as a „market“ in which everyone is entitled to compete. The competition ought to be between ecosystems/platforms (in Apple‘s case: Mac vs. Windows/Linux, iOS vs. Android etc.) If Apple was sabotaging other ecosystems/platforms, they should be punished; but they don‘t. And how could they: they don‘t have anything approaching a monopoly in any of the markets they compete in. All those leeches like Spotify, Tile, Epic et al. just want to reap what Apple has sown by building their ecosystem from the ground up for two decades now. So much easier than to build their own, I guess.

They do have too much power because of how much they’ve grown in size. That only two companies, apple and google, control all the cellphones in the world (except for iphones, every single other commercial smartphone uses android) is too dangerous and limits have to be set.
 
As consumers we would all be better off having many companies competed not one company dominate, bully, and steal from the rest while eliminating competition.
Here’s the deal, though. I’m absolutely certain there’s millions of folks that feel that way. However, in the end, it’s the customers that eliminated the competition. Well, I guess we could also say those companies that felt their lead in the market was a given, like Nokia and Blackberry… they eliminated themselves from the competition by, well, not competing. Even Microsoft decided not to compete and gave everything up to Google’s Android platform.

Apple didn’t force Nokia, Blackberry and Microsoft to give up on cellular phones, they were just the one left standing at the finish line when everyone else sat down when the starting pistol went off.
 
I'm well aware of the choices I have and I've made the choices I've made for specific reasons.
While no less valid on an individual basis, as a MacRumors contributor your opinion is probably not all that generally held and not one I would sweat too much if I were in DoJ and looking at this anticompetitive behavior. In other words...

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Being in direct contradiction to the judicial ruling in Epic v. Apple and with no new supporting evidence goes a long way toward undermining "for sure".
Does it? It depends on the judges, no? Recent judicial approach on this has not been especially aggressive. But in previous historical moments, judicial regimes would have cracked down harder. So it's an open question. If Biden admin presents an aggressive case, and the right judges hear the case, you never know.

The "for sure" in my initial post was my opinion. The law isn't written in the heavens. It changes, depending on the era, and the interpretations of the powers that be. The law itself is just an opinion. Inherently political that way, and subject to change.
 
They do have too much power because of how much they’ve grown in size. That only two companies, apple and google, control all the cellphones in the world (except for iphones, every single other commercial smartphone uses android) is too dangerous and limits have to be set.
The same could be said for citizens wealth then, surely? What would you suggest is the maximum worth a citizen could hold?
 
Communism doesn’t work, but socialism does, just look at Norway or Sweden.
The same could be said for Capitalism. It doesn't work either, but still the US and the rest of the western world suffer it. Communism works very well in Communist countries!
 
  • How the Apple Watch works better with iPhone than other smart watches do.
    • Do Chevy engines work better with Chevys than Fords?
    • Or... does the Chevy Infotainment system work better with a Chevy than a Ford?
They work exactly the same if you interchange the parts.
  • How Apple locks competitors out of iMessage.
    • No one is "locked out", Apple simply doesn't have app for other platforms. Platform independent apps exist in good numbers.
Beeper is ringing any bells?
  • How Apple blocks other financial firms from offering tap-to-pay services similar to Apple Pay on the iPhone.
    • Fair enough
  • Whether Apple favors its own apps and services over those provided by third-party developers.
    • Who doesn't? I am sure most consumers know how to find apps that provide additional functionality if the Apple app doesn't provide.
Because everyone else does it doesn’t make it defensible. Everyone else beats their children, is that a good defense for why you do that?

But everyone else also uses child/slave labor in their subcontractors in Asia… why are you complaining about me doing it😮🙄🙄🙄
  • How Apple has blocked cloud gaming apps from the App Store.
    • Fair enough
  • How Apple restricts the iPhone's location services from devices that compete with AirTag.
    • Fair enough, not sure if this is anti-competitive or protecting customer location data
Well more that I can’t develop the nutt Tag for consumers to track their keys and use the same functionality as the AirTags can leverage.
  • How App Tracking Transparency impacted the collection of advertising data.
    • Shouldn't user privacy come first?
Well if Apple have access and uses the information then that’s not good
  • In-app purchase fees collected by Apple.
    • All retailers mark up.
Amazon doesn’t take a markup on apple devices sold at target just because the goods are sold in the Amazon store as well…
 
It wouldn't hurt for there to be an accessory interface, so that any software-driven watch (or other devices) could interact with iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, or Linux. The Bluetooth interface isn't quite enough.

We know that Apple wants everything and for those who are buying into that, they should be able to have that. Just because not everyone wants that, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be available. Versatility and flexibility should be part of any hardware's experience.
 
Don't like it? Buy Windows/Android/whatever. Remember a few years ago when suddenly everyone in the current administration was eager to remind us that you don't have a "right" to post on Twitter or even own a bank account? Guess what, you don't have a right to have Apple build out special integration for your smartwatch either. They need all the money they can get, what with debt issuance skyrocketing and no end in sight.
I don't want to buy windows or whatever. I want to use the Apple stuff. Consumer choice matters. This isn't the age of the robber barons. The services these mega corporations provide are great, but their use is so widespread it gives the corporations effectively the power of government. There is nothing inherently wrong with the people taking a modest chunk of that power back. This is simply the real government using its power, "by the people and for the people," to get mega-corporations to do better things.
 
We have had open computing systems for years, and we were open to viruses, spam, etc. Apple, with iOS and iPad OS in particular, envisioned an alternative model that was less open and it guided their App Store policies. Some like the walled garden. In this case, the "wall" helps with privacy and security. People who are outside the wall don't like it, and many of those simply want a bigger piece of the Apple pie or access to Apple consumer data. Why can't a company try the walled model if they want to? There are other options in the marketplace, many other options. And the whole thing about locking in consumers... stop treating consumers as stupid. Most consumers know they are buying into an Apple experience when they shop. Apple is a successful company primarily because they make products that consumers love.
 
Welp... that's what happens when you build your product on someone else's platform.

The platform owner can change their rules at any time.

Imagine if all carriers decided tomorrow that they want 30% of all of Apple's iPhone revenue, including services, because it runs on their networks. I am very confident that most free marketeers on this forum would have a very different opinion on just letting business be business.

The problem with the ecosystem argument is that most people don't make an informed decision about how ecosystem lock-in will affect them, nor will they change their ecosystem over individual issues.

At the same time, it's completely ridiculous to expect every service provider to create their own platform for things that don't need their own platform.

So in the end Apple, or any of the big platform providers, will always have an automatic leg up by being able to offer a service that is more integrated and more seamless than they allow their competitors.

In the short term that's good for consumers because it provides for a better experience, but I'm sure that in the long run it will stifle innovation and lock good products out of the market because the Apple's and Google's of this world use their market power and ecosystems to steer you to their solutions.
 
In the short term that's good for consumers because it provides for a better experience, but I'm sure that in the long run it will stifle innovation and lock good products out of the market because the Apple's and Google's of this world use their market power and ecosystems to steer you to their solutions.

I dunno...

There are 2,000,000 apps in the App Store.

Apple makes about 30 apps

:p
 
If Apple was required to be more open, yet I lost nothing that I like about Apple products and the Apple ecosystem, then why would I care? I do not want third party tracking turned on obviously, but if iMessage was open, or there were other app stores, or tap to pay had to be allowed for other apps, and I am not impacted by those things being made possible, why should I care? Personally my wish would be for there to be a third major mobile system in the market, I sure do not want to use Google products. But Apple could be more open than they are without hurting my experience and maybe occasionally I would actually want the openess. I just want the choice to opt out and not have to have an alternate store, or alternate payment apps preloaded, or any of that crap. The worst thing would be if Apple was forced to allow carrier installed bloatware that could not be removed like Android users are forced to deal with.
 
I feel like that’s not Apple’s fault. No one HAS to use those programs. If they cave to societal pressure, isn’t that kind of their own problem?
I mean, that’s the big picture isn’t it? I met someone I know from awhile back at a conference. I wanted to keep in touch with them after, and they gave me their Telegram information. At that point, it was on me whether I wanted to use it or not and, eh, I guess that connection to me is worth whatever minute amount of effort it takes to launch the app.
 
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You’re assuming, once you give government the power to make these decisions, they’ll only do things that you want. I don’t make that assumption.
Oh, I do not assume that won't happen. I just assume it can't be stopped. I am employed by the government and fully understand their ability for requiring ridiculous stupid stuff and thinking they are doing good (while pleasing lobbyists and special interests). I think Apple needs to be planning how they protect their ecosystem when they are forced to open it up.
 
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The same could be said for Capitalism. It doesn't work either, but still the US and the rest of the western world suffer it. Communism works very well in Communist countries!

Extremes are bad. Extreme socialism aka communism is terrible, extreme capitalism such as the US is bad too. Something in between such as Norway or Sweden would be best.

And no, communism doesn’t work very well in communist countries. People have no freedom and have a very limited coverage of their basic needs.
 
They want the transaction data. They want "Apple Pay" to go through them for data mining and being able to on sell that data. It has zero to do with what is better for consumers.
What has more pull with elected officials? The good of the user or the good of the finance companies claiming that they are missing out on a revenue stream? I ask that question fully believing that Apple will eventually be forced to open up.
 
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