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Many who voted leave were taken in by false promises and BS from Boris and his ilk. Out of curiosity, how are things going outside the EU although you are not really out until January? Looks like things are going very well:oops:
I am not British but the idea that the UK cannot make it on its own after all the UK has done in its history? Ridiculous. They will be fine. The EU will be fine.
 
Understand the idea of consumer choice. But how will any device be useable without any installed software. A computer without software is a paperweight.

how does my Mac work without software preinstalled. I wonder what genius am I, to have so may fabulous apps on it without any help from Apple!
 
I used to cheer EU initiatives on the environment, privacy, etc, but over the last few years I feel they’ve completely left the rails. People used to complain that EU regulations were really about economic protectionism, and I felt they were just overreacting to a regulation they didn’t like. Then there were a few that made me feel like maybe there was something to the complaints, but I figured I just wasn’t familiar enough with all the justifications. Now I have no doubt.

I’m not at all clear how this is expected to work, and there are some clear contradictions in the MR article that I’m not sure I understand (can’t preload apps, but preloaded apps must be deletable?), but the goal seems pretty clear: totally eliminate any accumulated value the current tech companies have in this space to make it easier for companies starting from zero to compete.

I‘m all for reducing barriers to entry, but I also value well developed ecosystems. I like to be able to delete Apple apps that I don’t need, but I value the fact that my devices come with a set of apps I expect. I feel like this is going to send us all back to the Internet Explorer days where companies are arguing that certain apps aren’t “apps” at all, they’re technically part of the operating system.
 
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This is dumb. Installing whatever apps you need or want is two clicks away. Having preinstalled services and apps doesn’t mean people aren’t signing up up other apps and services. The EU keeps showing its ignorance on tech issues.

I’m not having my data handed over to companies I don’t want to deal with. It’s bad enough they try to get it anyway.

this article was Witten misleading on purpose by paid Apple rumors!
Your data is safe by gdpr only what’s agreed should be shared equally.
Nowadays we can combine that big tech violates massively against gdpr for internal use!
 
I think Apple should deliver some iPhones to the folks at the EU who are writing these proposed rules - iPhones with NO software on them - no web browser, no email, no App Store, and then ask them to demonstrate how they plan to use such phones, when they can't get any software onto them.
 
Politicians don't understand tech, therefore they always come up with ridiculous stuff like this that will make purchasing new tech nothing but an unnecessary headache. Absolutely terrible experience in the making for end users.

this was definitely not written by politicians- and it sounds actually compelling, go EU.Am just concerned they will not put it through.
It would be a great law for the 21st century platform wars!
 
They are US owned subsidiaries or did you think they were started in Brussels?

they are not US owned, but public companies. The EU has decided to leave the whole tech to an us lead but that doesn’t mean everything is us owned and directed. That a huge misunderstanding of you American friends!
 
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And how does this act achieve that? How does forcing a company to share the data more widely protect it better?

I agree with your statement, but I don’t see how this act achieves that goal in any way.

I believe it would reduce the abuse potential. Basically, as I understand the proposed legislation, companies must make it clear how data is collected and they cannot collect the data to their own benefit (like Google does for example). It's might be a step towards raising awareness of how much data is collected and how it is treated.

On a more fundamental level, legislation of this type will help to create more transparency about the product. Is a company selling a product X because they want to sell that product or is it just a front-end for a more shady data collection service?
 
I think it's very logic. When you will first start and configure your new iPhone you will be asked what app you prefer for mail, browser, etc. I can't see the problem here, E.U. is just trying to protect it's citizens from greedy corporate machines.
 
I think Apple should deliver some iPhones to the folks at the EU who are writing these proposed rules - iPhones with NO software on them - no web browser, no email, no App Store, and then ask them to demonstrate how they plan to use such phones, when they can't get any software onto them.

send them a Mac ... oh wonder it works - you need no Browser but a browser selection screen at the startup, like windows had it.
And this would work with an iPhone too - so please don’t be ridiculous
 
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This is EU ONLY so the rest of the world will get the current system. This will leave the EU behind in the technical Stone Age compared to Asia and the Americas. Also the data would only be EU consumers.

Dumb move. It will cost EU consumers a lot more money as all OS's and apps would have to charge a fee.
 
They could easily implement a setup system that would allow users to search and install the appropriate applications. I say easy, but I acknowledge it could be overly cumbersome to do, but possible, these companies have the talent to make it work.
 
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This is EU ONLY so the rest of the world will get the current system. This will leave the EU behind in the technical Stone Age compared to Asia and the Americas. Also the data would only be EU consumers.

Dumb move. It will cost EU consumers a lot more money as all OS's and apps would have to charge a fee.

I feel like EU citizens pay "taxes" on everything ... this is akin to just another tax on the horsepower/functionality of your device ;-).
 
This ******** of governments forcing companies to do things that will be create a horrible user experience needs to stop. I chose apple because I WANT a closed system, I want Apples Apps and services, and could care less about what all these whiners that already make millions off what Apple built want.

If consumers are so hurt and by this they can simply stop buying iPhones if thats what they dont want...plenty of ****** androids to fill that void, or the companies whining can make something better themselves.

No one is forcing you to buy and iPhone, nor is Apple forcing companies to make apps for them in order to "disadvantage" them. You dont like it GTFO and stop trying to bring down an amazing ecosystem.
 
As usual with the EU they take an idea and stretch it to the very extreme.

Sharing data with competitors? Is this the same EU that made the GDPR, you know, to protect user data from being shared and sold?

I get the idea of not having preferential treatment for first party apps, but we no longer live in a time where we can get a computer with nothing installed on it, go down to circuit city and come back with a CD of AOL and go online.

If they want to allow alternative AppStores and have every app be replaceable then fine. But don’t believe for a second any consumer wants to turn on their new $1000 phone only to find that they have to choose and install every app they need for basic function. Heck even if the EU said any non-essential app can’t be preinstalled would be better than no app at all.
 
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I suspect the part about sharing data with other business users is a reference third party sellers on Amazon and the like, not just any rival business, but partner business on your platform.
 
Understand the idea of consumer choice. But how will any device be useable without any installed software. A computer without software is a paperweight.

I think they mean things like browsers, email clients, etc. I don’t agree with it. I get the reasoning why they would want to do something like this, but part of why we all love Apple products is because the software and hardware work so well together. Sharing data with competitors also sounds awful.
 
Politicians should beware of unintended consequences. An “EU fair competition” surcharge may be necessary to keep products sold in the EU profitable, based on any requirements they might wish to impose.

It’s hard to say how much that surcharge might be, but I don’t think companies would be willing to sell their products in the EU at prices that don’t provide equal profit per device as similar non-EU markets.

If the increased regulations were to deprive the platform owner of €100 in profit over the life of the phone, for example, prices will simply increase €100 per device.

The surcharge might be €100, 200, 300 or €1,000+, hard to say without knowing the extent of the new legislation. To make it more affordable, Google/Apple could just make it a monthly subscription and charge $2-$20 (or whatever) each month for EU device owners.

Then, if the user doesn’t pay before the first of the next month, the phone could simply lock out (or encrypt) everything except for a phone app that would be limited to dialing the local emergency services, and an “EU fair competition” app.

That app would allow payment of the monthly tax directly to Apple, Google or other platform owner. Or actually it would probably be best to pay the EU fair competition authority itself, so they could keep control over the proper surcharge and prevent companies from overcharging customers unfairly.

The fair competition authority would then forward the payment to the appropriate party—Apple, Google or whoever—after taking a small administrative cut. It wouldn’t have to add much, maybe 15-30% or so, to keep the agency self-funding. That way they can continue to keep the playing field level for all.
 
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I also think it’s odd that people are against the idea of banning preferential treatment for 1st party apps. Surely we can see that Apple have an unfair advantage the in the music streaming market compared to, say Spotify, and that this is bad for competition, for example?
 
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