Google certainly put in hard work and makes great products as well. They've also recently been accused of bid-rigging the ad market with Facebook by several state attorneys general, an offense so serious that the Sherman Antitrust Act calls for criminal prosecution of the actual executives rather than just civil penalties against the company if the Federal government decides to prosecute it as well.
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Dutch Regulator Says Apple's Plan for Third-Party In-App Payments is Insufficient, Fines Apple 5 Million Euros
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as of last year, Apple has about $190B in cash/cash equivalents. The $5M/week is just about the weekly interest at 1% annual.
Yes, great point. In fact, Apple should just remove all apps from the app store. Problem solved. Who needs apps anyway.
The results would be that everyone there would move to Android, and you would discover what the dutch court already knows, the iPhone needs the apps just as much as the apps need iPhone. It's a two way street, with a one way power disparity.
At only 5M Euro per week, Apple would still come out ahead from the extra profits from it's 15/30% Apple Tax rort. They've probably already factored in the 50M maximum fine, and have decided to eat it.
Yeah, but this fine is just the beginning. How many of these court rulings can Apple handle before it becomes more profitable to remove the monopoly. The more they dig their heels, the more likely we are going to see laws mandating side loading. Apple are playing a dangerous game.
As a man, I have to admit, I'd rather pay for dates than put up with Gen Y's version of "equality". Thankfully, it seems that Gen Z are rejecting this failed idea, and a return to sanity is dawning.
By that logic, there is zero need for any iPhone apps, and everyone should just stick to the web.
Yep, Amazon are thieves too. Make no mistake, Apple is the biggest fish, thus why they are the one's in the spotlight. Once Apple's monopoly falls, the others will come tumbling down too.
Right, so can you explain how macOS works, and how devs can sideload macOS apps, paying absolutely $0 to Apple, and yet Apple still make a wonderful profit from selling Macs?
Imagine you tried the tactic folks here suggest with your employer. You can demand X, Y, and Z from your employer, or you’ll quit. And most employers would tell you to pound sand. An individual has next to no power against their employer and a dev has next to no power against Apple. At least a worker has an innumerable number of places to possibly work. A dev has but two mobile platforms to develop for.
I think apple can handle a lot. It was ready to pull out of the UK for $7B in patent fees. They aren’t going to give away their IP for free. Like google(or Facebook) pulled out of Australia for a bit, they must have to show they are not going to be extorted.(which is what this is) Having said that not clear on the issue, and why they were fined.
Plus web apps… plus the manufacturers that have their own stores. Free market at work. Legal monopoly all the way.
Wait, are all devs ONLY developing for mobile platforms? It just seems to me that, at one point, there were MORE than just mobile platforms.
Not all apps are appropriate for use as a web app. Take my $60 astronomy app for instance. What happens when I go to a dark sky site and have little to no cell service? Are web apps capable of interacting with and controlling devices connected to the phone through both wifi and Bluetooth?
Technically I don’t know about web apps interacting with b/t. However they can interact with location services so maybe yeah they can. But that’s not the point….apple has not been found to be an illegal monopoly(in the iOS app store), although they’ve been called anti-competitive.
As far as this latest Dutch ruling is there a strong lobby presence that represents the dating apps?
I’m sure the answer to that is no. Though mobile apps have continued to only become more and more important, especially at the consumer level. How many consumers primarily rely on their iPhone and/or iPad these days rather than a desktop or notebook? I’m a tech geek and even I find my self using my MBP only a few times a month.
Apple Reports 4Q 2021 Results: $20.6B Profit on $83.4B Revenue
Apple today announced financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021, which corresponds to the third calendar quarter of the year. For the...
www.macrumors.com
Look at how Mac net sales over the last decade and change is relatively stagnant compared to iPhone and iPad net sales.
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I mean I think we need a definitive answer to the question if your proposed alternative is “just make a web app.” Regardless of whether or not Apple is a monopoly, web apps aren’t always a feasible workaround to actual apps, as you purport.
What does the presence of a lobby matter or not? Do you think Apple doesn’t have lobbyists lmao? You realize Tim Cook was on the phone with Ted Cruz over the bill in the Senate for 40 minutes just the other day?
Tim Cook spent 40 minutes on the phone with Ted Cruz over antitrust bill
Senator Ted Cruz has revealed he spent forty minutes on the phone with Apple CEO Tim Cook talking about the Senate's new antitrust bill that could impact Apple's iPhone and the App Store.
www.imore.com
The CEO of the most valuable company in the world was directly lobbying a sitting U.S. Senator. So what was your point exactly with regard to dating app lobbyists?
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Just because someone uses the phone network platform, cable internet or electricity doesn’t entitle thei phone, cable or electricity company to a 30% cut of any service or product delivered over their lines.
Is there a difference between such infrastructure providers and Apple as a smartphone developer and software store operator? Certainly. But neither is Apple moving sealed boxes of breakfast cereals or software CDs around.
The way their marketplace works, their market share considered and the economics of it, Apple provides a service that in many at least resembles or isnt much different from an infrastructure platform - such as which have long been regulated by governments.
Yeah, incredibly inefficient. So why should Apple be justified to charge 30%, like in good, old brick-and-mortar retail - when we know that online distribution of software is much cheaper? (Answer: they provide the platform and may do as they please. Counter argument: their dominante platform operator status should be regulated).
There is very little hurdles preventing developers from developing and distributing PC games to costumers. You hardly need Microsoft‘s approval for that.
iOS applications though, you‘re forced to submit to one singular gatekeeper (Apple). And their‘s only like one or two relevant other App Stores in most countries, that, along with Apple, divide the market between them. And they work and charge very similarly. That‘s why many care.
There‘s many people, legislators and regulators that believe that whole industries (like app developers) shouldn‘t depend on oligopolies of two or three „gatekeepers“ that divided relevant market and customer access* between them, while doing and charging „as they please“.
* while it is debatable if developers, are „forced“ to develop mobile apps, it can hardly be denied that access to relevant app marketplaces and their user bases is often a crucial determinator to their success or failure.
Why exactly should they offer any service for free? If they are using their APIs and customer services for that matter they deserve to be paid. Apple should just shut down the Apple store in that country to avoid any further violations. They don’t have to offer apps there.
Web Apps are the solutions because they don’t uses Apple’s resources to make a profit. Apple is not a government agency or nonprofit organization, they are a publicly traded for profit corporation. Apple’s model is more than fair and is based on use of their assets, be it customer base, APIs, servers, marketing, customer service, or goodwill. All these have a value and Apple has every right to demand payment to play. When companies offer services that don’t require any of these to succeed, they don’t pay Apple. They can host their app for free. When they use Apple to make money and eat from the garden Apple planted they Must pay.I mean I think we need a definitive answer to the question if your proposed alternative is “just make a web app.” Regardless of whether or not Apple is a monopoly, web apps aren’t always a feasible workaround to actual apps, as you purport.
What does the presence of a lobby matter or not? Do you think Apple doesn’t have lobbyists lmao? You realize Tim Cook was on the phone with Ted Cruz over the bill in the Senate for 40 minutes just the other day?
Tim Cook spent 40 minutes on the phone with Ted Cruz over antitrust bill
Senator Ted Cruz has revealed he spent forty minutes on the phone with Apple CEO Tim Cook talking about the Senate's new antitrust bill that could impact Apple's iPhone and the App Store.
The CEO of the most valuable company in the world was directly lobbying a sitting U.S. Senator. So what was your point exactly with regard to dating app lobbyists?
Free Apps are supported by the others
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Well it would be nice to get a definitive answer to the question about that specific use case, but in general many processes run the gamut of windows apps, web apps, ios apps, android apps...so yeah in general multiple entry points to a function are indeed possible. Dating apps, I would say probably. Since the Dutch singled out dating apps, it makes one wonder why not the entire app store. (at least I wonder)I mean I think we need a definitive answer to the question if your proposed alternative is “just make a web app.” Regardless of whether or not Apple is a monopoly, web apps aren’t always a feasible workaround to actual apps, as you purport.
What does the presence of a lobby matter or not? Do you think Apple doesn’t have lobbyists lmao? You realize Tim Cook was on the phone with Ted Cruz over the bill in the Senate for 40 minutes just the other day?
Tim Cook spent 40 minutes on the phone with Ted Cruz over antitrust bill
Senator Ted Cruz has revealed he spent forty minutes on the phone with Apple CEO Tim Cook talking about the Senate's new antitrust bill that could impact Apple's iPhone and the App Store.
The CEO of the most valuable company in the world was directly lobbying a sitting U.S. Senator. So what was your point exactly with regard to dating app lobbyists?
And publicly traded companies like Apple are subject to laws and regulations regarding anti-competitive behavior. They aren’t allowed carte blanche to simply do as they please.
I didn’t realize apps like Facebook and Netflix didn’t utilize Apple’s resources.