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Senator Elizabeth Warren Accuses Apple of Trying to 'Snuff Out Competition,' Spotify Agrees
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Yes, she's trying very hard to annoy the wealthy and powerful, and the fanboys who worship them. Looks as though she hit her mark.
This is really funny, because the "create your own operating system/ecosystem" is the EXACT same argument Android fanboys make when people complain about the EU investigating Google for antitrust issues over forced bundling of Google Services. Or "it's Googles OS/store - if you don't like the terms go somewhere else".
And how many people in that Google thread were supporting Google but are now in this thread against Apple. Hilarious.
Nope I think Google needs a few billion in fines, to have Android decoupled from GMS, and Have google search suspended in the EU for two years. Google can go for a long walk of a short pier.
/RANT
Normally, I would get mad about this. However, in this case, I have to laugh. Apple and the Valley routinely support technocrats like Warren, Clinton, Obama, etc that hate free market economics in favor of European styled socialism. I hope they're starting to reconsider their political affiliations.
Elizabeth Warren did not attend Harvard University. She was educated at GWU, U Houston, and Rutgers.
From the same cadres of dumbasses in Washington that believe what Apple did with books is pure evil but Amazon can do the same thing all day long and nobody says a word. Warren is such an obnoxious see-you-next-tuesday. Oh, really, I didn't build that? Eff you, lady. I don't see you showing up for work at my company every day. Oh, we use the roads that other people pay for? Bullsh*t. Have you SEEN my shipping bills for the year? Where do you think THAT money goes, biatch?! By that measure, I own more of the road than you do.
No, it's disgusting to call her that name for any reason. It is elementary school bully. It's also been proven that she did not benefit from any affirmative action policies at Harvard, no disclosed it on any documentation or to anyone who would provide her with such benefit. There's murkiness about other factors, but not in those regards.
But I don't care about that in this context, because to justify name calling while belittling of a historical figure who was exploited until her death, while also claiming Warren earned it, is disgusting.
You can call her a liar, you can call her unaccountable, but to call her nicknames while saying she's earned it is nothing more than the elementary vomit that is tearing at the fabric of our political system and polluting and polarizing people.
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Um, well. Any business runs anticompetitive. You have to do what it takes, of course staying legal.
The whiners need to just uncouple from iOS and seek their luck on their own.
(Hint: Can't do it!)
I believe that if you sign up for Spotify outside the App Store, it is still 9.99 per month and you still get access on your phone. So the smart thing to do is to sign up outside the App Store.
You're incredibly confused here.
They don't want to use Apple's infrastructure. Look at how Spotify Desktop works - you download it from their website, whether you're on OS X or Windows. They don't distribute Spotify Desktop through any app stores. Spotify Desktop is self-updating. It automatically checks their servers for updates and updates itself as necessary - the updates don't rely on anyone else's infrastructure. Payments are processed by them, not by Apple or anyone else if you subscribe through Spotify Desktop.
They use Apple's infrastructure not because they want to, but because Apple forces them to. They can't allow you to download the app through their own website, because Apple forces all apps to be installed via the App Store. They can't facilitate an autoupdate, because again, Apple forces all apps to be updated through the App Store. They can't process payments themselves, because Apple forces all IAPs to go through Apple's servers.
They have to pay to use Apple's services because Apple forces them to use Apple's services - they have zero interest in actually using their services, or else Spotify would choose to distribute the Desktop version of Spotify via the Mac App Store.
Apple isn't driving the price for the consumer down. They're driving the price of Spotify up by sticking their own fingers in the pie. Processing payments yourself costs around 2%. Hosting the app for download is completely negligible (especially when compared to streaming the music files, which puts strain on Spotify's servers, not Apple's.) So Apple is charging Spotify $3.90/month/customer for services that cost Apple around $0.26/month/customer. Which means for every Spotify customer who subscribes on iOS, Apple makes $3.64 in net profit, while Spotify's revenue (not net profit) is around $1.30/customer/month after paying all the labels and Apple. Spotify is literally making nothing because Apple is charging them outrageous fees for trivial services that Spotify would much rather do themselves.
This is an amazing thread. Senator Warren throws down a challenge to the tech industry, and the robots respond with the tired and overused "Pocahontas" meme.
I don't wonder for a moment why Trump has so many fans insisting he "tells the truth", even though the guy clearly lies continuously, 7x24. Trump tells some people what they want to hear, regardless of the facts, and they find that comforting. Alternatively, if a public figure challenges their pet notions, the same people respond with grief and insults.
So in the spirit of this, let me just say: ice cream and chocolate are the healthiest foods in the world; those people telling you to eat a balanced diet are communists and ISIS sympathizers. Now, let's have those the accolades for speaking that "truth" that the MSM and government don't want you to hear.
I don't wonder for a moment why Trump has so many fans insisting he "tells the truth", even though the guy clearly lies continuously, 7x24. Trump tells some people what they want to hear, regardless of the facts, and they find that comforting. Alternatively, if a public figure challenges their pet notions, the same people respond with grief and insults.
So in the spirit of this, let me just say: ice cream and chocolate are the healthiest foods in the world; those people telling you to eat a balanced diet are communists and ISIS sympathizers. Now, let's have those the accolades for speaking that "truth" that the MSM and government don't want you to hear.
I didn't realize that "a capitalist economy" means no one can criticize business.
I don't entirely disagree with some of what she said, but at the same time Senator Pocahontas doesn't have any credibility, and all the bitching is really moot.
If no actual laws are being broken, then the free market will sort this all out. If Apple was really so overly influential, then they'd be selling more iDevices than Android, and selling more music subscriptions than their competition, which they are not.
Some of what Apple does is brilliant, some of what they do is pretty stupid. If they do too much stupid ****, they'll end up shooting themselves in the foot. Right now I hear a lot of whining.
If no actual laws are being broken, then the free market will sort this all out. If Apple was really so overly influential, then they'd be selling more iDevices than Android, and selling more music subscriptions than their competition, which they are not.
Some of what Apple does is brilliant, some of what they do is pretty stupid. If they do too much stupid ****, they'll end up shooting themselves in the foot. Right now I hear a lot of whining.
Don't sign up through iOS, case closed.
But ultimately Apple has to end the extortion of having companies pay them a cut when someone wants to subscribe to a service through an iOS app. Sure, I can see buying DLC through an iOS app they need their cut because people are leveraging the iOS platform, but things like signing up for Netflix or Spotify, or even buying a book through the Kindle App (which Amazon stopped doing for this reason) should not be forced to pay a premium to Apple. These signups or content purchase do not require iOS or Apple R&D to accomplish, therefore Apple is extorting the competition in this way to enhance their own services.
Apple has gotten too much of a free reign to do some schemey and anti-competitive practices, and as the shine starts to wear off the Apple brand, I think there will be a lot more people questioning Apple's questionable business practices.
But in the long run, don't sign into a service through an iOS app, go online the old fashioned way and sign up first, then use the iOS app with an existing account.
But ultimately Apple has to end the extortion of having companies pay them a cut when someone wants to subscribe to a service through an iOS app. Sure, I can see buying DLC through an iOS app they need their cut because people are leveraging the iOS platform, but things like signing up for Netflix or Spotify, or even buying a book through the Kindle App (which Amazon stopped doing for this reason) should not be forced to pay a premium to Apple. These signups or content purchase do not require iOS or Apple R&D to accomplish, therefore Apple is extorting the competition in this way to enhance their own services.
Apple has gotten too much of a free reign to do some schemey and anti-competitive practices, and as the shine starts to wear off the Apple brand, I think there will be a lot more people questioning Apple's questionable business practices.
But in the long run, don't sign into a service through an iOS app, go online the old fashioned way and sign up first, then use the iOS app with an existing account.