Apple Facing Imminent U.S. Antitrust Lawsuit

[ThunderSkunk]

Man, I hate this garbage. Sure as a consumer, it be nice to have some of this stuff more open, but this is Apples product. The government attempting to control how they operate it is insane. It's not like there isn't an alterative to iOS and the Apple Ecosystem. If I ever created an incredibly successful business like Apple I would want to be able to operate it how I please. This is nuts.

I created a successful business once. I had to follow thousands of other peoples regulations and laws and rules and best practices. Insurance companies, investors, distributors, competitors, customers, international trade law, and the government too. Business would be so much better if we could just take money all day and never have any of those people around to tell us what to do. and next year I want a birthday cake with TWELVE candles on it!!!

 

[MacGekko]

Just how could they improve? Just what are you looking for? Is it something that is on another product? How do you know that they are not working, behind the scene, on this right now? Maybe the BIG improvement comes in smaller, increment, steps, allowing for adjustments along the way.

Iphones are great but there are unintuitive things that makes me wonder if Apple employees actually use them in the real world, small things but they make you wonder, why does it work this way, one example, you were listening to Spotify, through your home stereo, volume cranked all the way up on the Iphone, stop playing Spotify, volume goes to medium, where it was before, for anything you are doing natively on your phone, talking to people, whatever, now you put your headphones on, go to Spotify, you forget that you had the volume cranked yesterday or five hours ago on that particular app, you are thinking, no, my volume is in the safe range because why would it suddenly change from where it currently is, you go to play whatever music, and you are met with 120 decibels tearing at your eardrums.

If you know a way to solve this, please report back, because it makes no sense for the phone to operate this way, there are other examples like this, just don't remember them right now.

 

[SFjohn]

Just your opinion, as all theories go, conspiratorial or otherwise, I welcome evidence of this behind the scenes conspiracy by the U.S. government.

Give it time and the lie will be exposed. 🤬

 

[MacGekko]

Their heart is already in China 😂🤣

Interestingly Tim Cook is in China right now on one of his annual ass kissing China retreats, joking, of course it is smart business sense for him to break bread with one of the largest smartphone buying populations in the world, for all of my Apple complaints, we are fortunate they are based in the USA, but I think some people here think Apple is their friend, in Jon Gruber's case, they might be his cousin, Youtube shills are extended family as well, zero cares for us mere mortals.

Oh and "vote with their wallets", how many companies get free Youtube advertising from dbags pretending to be tech reviewers, Apple has earned the right to be a tech killer, but make no mistake, they will do everything in their power to limit an upstart smartphone company if they sense they are threatened.

 

[AdonisSMU]

if there wasn’t literally a gazillion other phone options I’d be like ok. But there is plenty of competition in the phone market.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Because it is within the national interest to ensure a healthy marketplace, which means ensuring competition exists. This isn't a new concept. The government has been going after monopolies since the 1890s in case you weren't aware.

Microsoft had an outright monopoly and still does in the PC market, but the government’s not going after them.

 

[allenvanhellen]

If the Apple watch works better with iPhone because it is a better product, then it is fine. However, if the AW works better with iPhone because Apple allows AW access to some APIs that it denies Pebble watch access to, then it is a problem. They will have to provide the same access to Pebble as they are providing to AW. Otherwise, they are being anti-competitive.

OK, but let's think of iMessage, for example. How in the world is iMessage going to work on a cellular Galaxy Watch? The government has no right to tell Apple to give iMessage to Samsung. If consumers want a cross-platform, less secure messaging platform, they can use WhatsApp or other apps.

 

[Beautyspin]

OK, but let's think of iMessage, for example. How in the world is iMessage going to work on a cellular Galaxy Watch? The government has no right to tell Apple to give iMessage to Samsung. If consumers want a cross-platform, less secure messaging platform, they can use WhatsApp or other apps.

They are not asking Apple to give iMessage to Samsung. If WhatsApp wants to have interoperability with iMessage, then Apple should enable the interoperability without compromising their security. This is done by exposing some suitable APIs. The result of this interoperability is that, if an iPhone user wants to shift to Android, the user should not be held hostage because all his messages are in iMessages. The user, through the APIs, will be able to move them to the messaging client of his choice. Then, the only reason a user will stay with an iPhone is because it is good, not because Apple held the user hostage.

 

[mrochester]

They are not asking Apple to give iMessage to Samsung. If WhatsApp wants to have interoperability with iMessage, then Apple should enable the interoperability without compromising their security. This is done by exposing some suitable APIs. The result of this interoperability is that, if an iPhone user wants to shift to Android, the user should not be held hostage because all his messages are in iMessages. The user, through the APIs, will be able to move them to the messaging client of his choice. Then, the only reason a user will stay with an iPhone is because it is good, not because Apple held the user hostage.

Having different software features to the competition (such as a messaging service) is what makes one product better than the other. The hardware is commoditised and has been for years; it’s the software and the differences between software and services available on different hardware products, that makes a product desirable or not.

 

[1129846]

Microsoft had an outright monopoly and still does in the PC market, but the government’s not going after them.

The government did go after them..... They were under government oversight for quit a while and they cut deals to keep it from going into court.
You can thank the government oversight and them going after MS a lot time ago for your iPhone as MS is a key part to what kept Apple from being a footnote in history well before the iPod was thing much less that iPhone you love so much.

 

[1129846]

OK, but let's think of iMessage, for example. How in the world is iMessage going to work on a cellular Galaxy Watch? The government has no right to tell Apple to give iMessage to Samsung. If consumers want a cross-platform, less secure messaging platform, they can use WhatsApp or other apps.

Apple can provide API that would allow the Galaxy watch to tie into imessage and read iMessages. If say Galaxy watch wants to read iMessage the watch can get access to it on the phone.
Expand it farther Also grant access to send SMS threw something other than iMessage.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It’s incredible how many people in this thread don’t know much history

 

[AhRiHmAn]

Apple should stop selling devices in US 😁

 

[Octavius8]

Finally!.
We need some basic kevel of interoperability between brands!.

 

[Octavius8]

I am sure others couldmmake a better or comoetitive watch if Appke allowed it, but the tirany and greed forbidss.

 

[contacos]

Agreed. I’m so tired of this garbage. None of this is an antitrust violation if you can simply choose Android or, dare I say it, a flip phone.

This is not about what YOU and I or any end user for that matter can buy. I don’t understand why people keep going on and on about „just buy an android“ on here. It’s not about YOU!

It’s strictly business to business related. Same in the EU btw

Let’s say you are a small independent company and you want to come up with your own great new messaging solution but no one is willing to invest or bother with you because there are already the big players A and B and you have no way to catch up. Therefore, we are looking at attempts to level the playing field right now. Again, for BUSINESSES. this isn’t about end users at all. Does the Journal App come pre-installed on iOS now? I don’t even want to imagine how many small businesses it destroyed over night.

Why do you think it’s called „Digital Markets Act“ in the EU for example

 

[svish]

Not surprised. Was expecting this to happen.

 

[maerz001]

Good. I hope Apple leaves the USA

and EU cos of the same points,
and India cos they force Apple to built there what they sell,
and China cos they cripple apps.
in sum just 4 billion people market...

 

[Beautyspin]

Having different software features to the competition (such as a messaging service) is what makes one product better than the other. The hardware is commoditised and has been for years; it’s the software and the differences between software and services available on different hardware products, that makes a product desirable or not.

Having feature parity is not a requirement. iMessage can have features that are not available in WhatsApp. For example, WhatsApp and Messenger, whose whole business is messaging, have complied with interoperability. They will work with any messaging client to provide interoperability. They have to ask them, that's all.

Making messaging interoperability with third parties safe for users in Europe

To comply with a new EU law, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into force on March 7th, we’ve made major changes to WhatsApp and Messenger to enable interoperability with third-party messa…

engineering.fb.com

Apple can definitely do better.

 

[hagar]

Oh no... after all the backlash the EU got right here in this forum, being over-regulating and trying to protect EU companies. How will people spin this news now?

 

[@Brett]

except governments are allowed to impose regulations and laws governing how a company can operate, and if they break the rules, then penalties can and should be imposed.

Rules set by government. For the benefit of government. Price the companies they have been talking to are the same scum from the EU. That want a free ride on Apple’s hard work. This is going ahead because they were paid to go ahead.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Where can I get this wallpaper?

 

[nitrobear]

Let's goooo

 

[Zest28]

This one is damning and which they will fall on, which is:
- How Apple has blocked cloud gaming apps from the App Store.

Apple had no business screwing Microsoft by blocking the xCloud app.

 

[Zest28]

why should the government tell a company how to operate?

why does the government know better than the people purchasing the product(s)? if people don't like it, they can vote with their wallets.. as they do with LITERALLY every other company.

don't like something? don't buy it.

What Apple did to Microsoft and xCloud was pretty much illegal as hell. They blocked it because it would kill mobile games and Apple Arcade.

Apple deserves to be punished for this one.

Apple is fine charging a 30% fee and rejecting apps because they are not of sufficient quality, but blocking it because you and the mobile apps which you make money of cannot compete against it is not a good reason.