Apple Rivals Unite to Promote Open Ecosystems Using EU Law

[redheeler]

What is obvious here is that the top tech firms in the world are all US based. Yet, of course, they go to the Marxist EU to try and reign in Apple because the capitalist system that made them successful in the first place, isn’t giving them the competitive advantage on a silver platter.

The customer should be the ultimate decider, not some overpaid government bureaucrat.

I don't trust the customer to be the ultimate decider on issues like this. It's like taking someone randomly off the street, showing them two functions that do the same thing, and asking which one is more efficient. What are the odds that person has written a single line of code in their entire life?

People need to be able to focus on their own lives rather than be an expert in things like the amount of heavy metals in their food, or whether the companies selling products at their local department store are using ethical labor practices. Or things like what the article is about. Regulation is a necessary part of life.

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

Then keep doing that. Absolutely nothing in this article is suggesting otherwise.

Just because something is available doesn't mean you have to use it.

You don’t know that and don’t tell me what to do.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

You don’t know that and don’t tell me what to do.

I'll do as I please, thank you.

Just as you can continue to do as you please with your phone, regardless of what the EU does.

 

[koil]

Apple chose a business model where sales and subscriptions were the revenue drivers so cheap developer accounts encouraged adoption. If IAP revenue drops significantly, Apple will no doubt find ways to make up for it, and that will likely hurt smaller developers who will either face higher costs or have to go to third party stores which don't have the suer base Apple does.

If Apples business model can't survive competing with others then they have a bad business model.

But in o doing you accepted Apple's terms becasue they offered the best environment for you.

And I'd do it again, even if I don't get 3rd party app stores.

I suspect piracy will become an issue; I remember the heyday of jailbreaking where it was easy to pirate apps.

I highly doubt it, piracy is most efficiently fought with convenience, and the App Store model is convenient enough that most won't bother, those that do bother are already jailbreaking anyway.

Also, frankly, if people are pirating your stuff en-masse, there's a good chance your price is wrong...

Linux? Real programmers learned on punch cards.

Given the push towards cloud computing I suspect the next generation will be using the modern equivalent of the VT-100 to learn computing skills.

Sorry for the disappointment but they were out of mode by the time I grew up 😞

The problem with cloud computing is you're using someone else's computer, and that can never be free forever. Corporations want nothing more than for everything to be cloud-driven (Apple being maybe the closest thing to an opponent to this because they make the best mobile hardware), because then you're paying subscriptions and they can extract more money from you that way, driving prices up when they should be going down.

A good way to fight that is by further enabling local compute, like Apple already does by making kick-ass hardware, they just need a bit of a push to get aligned on the software side. 😂

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

So you’re saying that companies want the government to regulate their competition?! I’m shooketh to my core.

 

[I7guy]

Apple is one of only two major players (part of a duopoly) in the app store market and generates more app store revenue than any other company. Apple is one of only two major players (part of a duopoly) in the mobile OS market. Apple has the largest share of the device vendor market for tablet and mobile. Etc. Yes, Apple is a dominant company.

What are the players? Apple, oppo, huawei. How do you want to define your universe? By manufacturer or by licensed o/s (the same way the EU threaded the needle). The same thing Epic tried, but didn't quite get what they were after.

 

[JimmyHook]

Ah, use the government as your thug when you are unable to compete in a free market. Apple will leave the EU before they comply with some of these demands

 

[I7guy]

If that was the case, then I, as a customer, should be able to do what I want, without exception, on any device I've bought. No company (Apple, Google, Ford, Tesla, John Deere, or otherwise), should be able to dictate how I use or run my devices.

Customers are not the deciders. Apple is.

And you bought the device knowing that. You voted with your money.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

And you bought the device knowing that. You voted with your money.

You're right, therefor I will continue to tell Apple what I think, and continue to push them to open up.

I'm also voting with my money. I haven't bought an app or subscription/service via Apple in almost two years..

 

[Sevendaymelee]

"What I care about is the reality of goodness, not the perception of it. And what I see all over the place is people who care about looking good while doing evil." - Elon Musk.

The fact that all these companies are cloaking their motives, which are straight-up capitalism for capitalism's sake, is disgusting. I'm not against making money. If that's what you want to do, go right ahead. But lying to the public under the guise of philanthropy to do it is just... no. And that's what's going on here. Absolute lies.

 

[sleeptodream]

And "forced closeness" (restrictions on sideloading, alternative app stores, alternative browser engines, etc.) is not openness either.

Apple aren’t forced to be closed, it’s a choice. Customers aren’t forced to buy Apple products, that’s also a choice.

Some like the closed environment and it’s a selling point for them.

If you want the ability to sideload, go to android. By forcing this they’re taking away choice from those who don’t want such an open ecosystem.

 

[I7guy]

You're right, therefor I will continue to tell Apple what I think, and continue to push them to open up.

That’s the way it should work not by regulating competition for lifestyle products.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

That’s the way it should work not by regulating competition for lifestyle products.

If Apple refuses, and it looks they are, I'll push for regulation.

I'm the customer, I decide, and I'll use all venues available to me, including pushing for government regulation.

 

[Sevendaymelee]

Apple's sales are near US $100 billion/year in the EU. They aren't going to leave..

You're not recognizing the other side of it. Apple has more leverage, not the EU. If Apple announced today that they were pulling out of the EU as a result of BS politics, the public would be in total meltdown and would demand the EU back down. At that point, Apple wins, because those in charge of this crusade against them are only doing so for personal power and wealth, and the public would have their necks if they were responsible for them not having their iPhones, iPads and Macs.

 

[Velli]

If that was the case, then I, as a customer, should be able to do what I want, without exception, on any device I've bought. No company (Apple, Google, Ford, Tesla, John Deere, or otherwise), should be able to dictate how I use or run my devices.

Customers are not the deciders. Apple is.

There's a marked difference between you doing what you want with a device, and you requesting the manufacturer to change the design of their product so that you can do what you want with the device.

 

[Velli]

Will these companies also use EU law to promote limits on data gathering for targeted advertising?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

You're not recognizing the other side of it. Apple has more leverage, not the EU. If Apple announced today that they were pulling out of the EU as a result of BS politics, the public would be in total meltdown and would demand the EU back down. At that point, Apple wins, because those in charge of this crusade against them are only doing so for personal power and wealth, and the public would have their necks if they were responsible for them not having their iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Apple doesn't have the leverage, investors do, and they could single-handedly sink the company for doing something like this.

Over 60% of the company is owned for institutional investors, and they wouldn't be on the side of losing $100 billion/year

 

[JippaLippa]

Also, frankly, if people are pirating your stuff en-masse, there's a good chance your price is wrong...

I disagree...pirating is a state of mind.
I always had little money, however I stopped pirating content at least a good 10 years ago.

I'm sure it depends on the country, but where I live piracy has been the normal way of life, so much that I have become the weird one in my group because I have the audacity to pay for services I enjoy...

On the other hand I know plenty pf people who regularly spend 20$ a day for "afternoon drinks", and yet got themselves horrible viruses for cracking stuff that costed a few dollars at max...

Friend of mine who makes at least 3k $ a month, got a ransomware because he cracked the adobe suite, as poor thing he couldn't afford the 50$ it costs...

Some people believe that the entertainment (and by extension all apps) is a human right just like breathing air is, and fail to think that GOD FORBID a cost should be associated to the service.
How dare you telling me TV Shows have to be paid?!?
You think I have to pay for the tools that allow me to earn my income?!? Are you unwell?!?
Paying for music?!? Are you mad?!??!

When you inform them you can listen to spotify for free, with ads, they all act like that's outrageous.

Some people believe that everything should be free, and not being so it's considered an insult.
The only thing they spend a crapton of money on is bling...well...because it cannot be pirated...

 

[AlexESP]

If Apple refuses, and it looks they are, I'll push for regulation.

I'm the customer, I decide, and I'll use all venues available to me, including pushing for government regulation.

That is a very selfish and wrong behaviour.

Some company offers a product, you buy it. The company is free to decide how they want to build it, and you’re free to buy it or not. Both of you hold freedom and responsibility for your behaviour.

Now you want to force someone else to do things the way you like just because you want.

You’re free as a customer to buy or not something, to protest, insist, etc. but not to force someone else to design products the way you want.

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

I'll do as I please, thank you.

Just as you can continue to do as you please with your phone, regardless of what the EU does.

Idc. Don’t tell me what to do.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

That is a very selfish and wrong behaviour.

Some company offers a product, you buy it. The company is free to decide how they want to build it, and you’re free to buy it or not. Both of you hold freedom and responsibility for your behaviour.

Now you want to force someone else to do things the way you like just because you want.

You’re free as a customer to buy or not something, to protest, insist, etc. but not to force someone else to design products the way you want.

I'll consider it selfish when an individual customer and a company have equal power, influence and footing under the market and law.

Corporations only have rights that are granted to them; they have no natural rights. They aren't people, and shouldn't be treated as such.

 

[Velli]

Why is the Watch app not on Mac or iPad?

Apple Watch is largely an iPhone accessory. If you own a Mac or an iPad and not an iPhone, that makes you an Android phone user. It's much more valuable to Apple to use the Apple Watch as a tool to get you to switch to iPhone, than to support you from the Mac or iPad. As big of a business that the watch is, it's main purpose is to get people to use iPhone.

 

[AlexESP]

I'll consider it selfish when an individual customer and a company have equal power and footing under the market and law.

You’re hurting all of us, individual customers, who prefer Apple’s choices. However, I won’t push for regulation to hurt your preferences just because the majority of companies prefer it over mine. And you’re hurting any company (whether it’s Apple or not) that has a business model which differs from your point of view.

 

[0339327]

I don't trust the customer to be the ultimate decider on issues like this. It's like taking someone randomly off the street, showing them two functions that do the same thing, and asking which one is more efficient. What are the odds that person has written a single line of code in their entire life?

People need to be able to focus on their own lives rather than be an expert in things like the amount of heavy metals in their food, or whether the companies selling products at their local department store are using ethical labor practices. Or things like what the article is about. Regulation is a necessary part of life.

A company puts out a product. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.

Why is this so complicated?

Apple was one of the later companies to enter the smartphone market and Apple decimated the competition by putting out a superior product. If people aren’t happy with Apple, don’t buy Apple.

If Apple started charging 90% to developers, that would still be legal. If developers don’t want to pay the fee, then don’t create apps for iOS. Apple is charging 15% or 30% to host, manage, support and provide payment services for developers. You know who else charges 15% - 30%? Uncle Sam!

 

[J InTech82]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

Not even all app stores on the many Android platforms are created equal.

The app store that came on the TVs we bought at my work don’t have all the same apps as that on the Amazon app store. Fragmentation at its best.

Tell me, and I am sincerely curious, how is this fair?