The title is misleading. This is related to app store
All capitalist countries have anti monopoly laws to be fair. Monopolies arenāt good for a capitalist system.
Tis true.
Though in the UK āchoiceā for most is a decision between 3 or 4 big companies rather than a dozen of varying sizes. Small businesses are dying off like never before while the big boys monopolise each sector.
I speak as an insurer of small businesses. The number filing for bankruptcy seems to be at an all-time high. We were eaten up by a global insurer ourselves thus depriving our customers of more choice.
This is definitely true, at work we are seeing this too and it is even worse than the credit crunch. However I have also notice a lot of phoenix companies cropping up with same or similar ownership and directors. I think the Covid loans put a lot of pressure on businesses cos they are not doing better than pre covid but now have debt too. That combined with inflation and brexit is a perfect storm for many businesses.
According to the article itās these three points, of which I can only see the Apple Pay as remotely valid.
Fucking green bubbles 
ah yeah always been upset and thinking normal messages are lower quality!
God forbid I buy an Apple Watch and its works with errrā¦an apple phone.
The US got nothin better to do? Maybe find a half decent politician (oxymoron I know).
Yes, bankrupt on Friday, back in business under a slightly different name on Monday, often with a new Director thatās clearly related to the former director.
There are so many ways of legally fiddling the books these days. It makes me so angry but I guess Iām part of the system, providing these firms with insurance cover.
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Green bubble is not just about quality. While Apple did create a good messaging product that could combine IP messages with SMS, GSMA has established RCS, which now provides the same level of functionality and more. It is a standard that can be applied across all mobile handsets. Apple, for a long time, used their position to delay the complete integration of RCS. They did the same with USB-C by sticking with their lighting technology, creating inconsistency in the market.
They finally agreed to move to RCS in 2024, but in the interim, they deliberately reduce the video & message quality received from Android RCS. Telecommunication standards are defined for a reason and Apple should be forced to adhere to them. They have a massive say in building these standards, so they should raise their concerns during the definition process. -
I thought Apple Pay was regarding in-app purchases but itās POS purchase. I donāt see that as a problem.
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Not a problem for me.
Iām not sure if I actually care about this or Iāve just become sick of the media talking about it without talking about it -
What is actually going on with Kate Middleton?
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she went into hospital couple months ago an know one has seen her since. Which is why everyone is asking where is she.
Thought she was seen a couple days ago anyway so should all be over now. People are lunatics looking for conspiracies everywhere.
Why would they bin their proprietary technology they invested millions in? USB-C didnāt even exist when lightning came out, now they have old stock and processes gone to waste because āwe must have standardisationā.
If theyāre breaching a defined standard on the quality side, fine. Otherwise donāt see an issue, every company should be able to establish itself some competitive advantages.
Usb c is now known to be faster and more reliable than lightning I think.
Might be now (iāve no idea tbh) but a company isnāt gonna invest so much in their own tech then go āah yeah lets throw that down the toilet without a fightā.
Wasnāt the changeover to USB-C on a ruling by the EEC so Apple had no choice?
They are given enough time to phase their cables out and they can have both connectors on their devices like it does on my MacBook.
This logic is used by lot of companies especially Pharmaceutical to keep their patent valid and continue charging customers a high cost.
Thatās why it is necessary to democratically govern capitalism. Standardisation is necessary and in case of USB-C, it offers better service to end consumer, creates market consistency and reduces need for additional charging cables since a single cable can be used for laptop, mobile and other peripheral charging.
Companies absolutely shouldnāt get to define their own terms. There should be governance and policy enforcement, even if you think itās unfair on their proprietary technology - which is also an argument against Apple watch.
It is really easy for tech giants like Apple to create a new port or charging mechanism, label it proprietary and then start creating market nuisance. We didnāt reach the consistency of our home plugs, equipment designs by letting the likes of Philips, GE dictate the standards. The technology needs to be adoptable by the masses so other smaller organizations can adopt and create alternative services.
But your point was that they delayed it for years, of course they would. The updated lightning charger was released in 2014 and by 2018 they were already charging to usb-c on MacBooks despite the heavy investment in their own tech, so Iām just not really sure that argument stands up.
I donāt disagree with the rest of your post but you canāt expect companies to not aim to create themselves competitive advantages even if those are later challenged, nor can you expect immediate standardisation when they spend millions on tech.
The whole idea is that monopolies damage innovation and service to the customer but so does the exact scenario above, end of the day itās always going to come down to profitability.
This part I donāt fully agree with for the reason above. Why do we need a single cable? Iāve spent 30 years of my life before the standardisation and managed just fine with laptop cables (still diff btw), go pro cables, phone cables, headphone cables all being different. Having them aligned is great but now whereās the incentive for any of these companies to innovate and find better charging solutions? They canāt deviate from the standard lol
Anyway never thought Iād spend this much time debating charging cables on a football forum
tldr: still think the lawsuit is bs
Yep, it was forced upon by the EEC. Apple had to change it or they would be unable to sell their devices here or have to pay hefty fines.
One good thing the EEC did is to standardise the connectors.
I have everything Apple, locked into the eco-system and I cannot understand why people would defend Appleās behaviour. On more than one ocassion I have had annoying run-ins with Appelās monopolistic shenanigans.
How they donāt allow streaming apps like Spotify and Tidal to use siri to operate their HomePods with, only Apple Music for this.
It is plain and simple curbing competition and it shouldnāt happen.
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As I said above, companies need to be able to innovate which is what the lightning cable was when it came out. Apple improved the tech and spent millions on it, they have to have a target and ability to make profit otherwise no incentive for them to do this ever again.
Btw I now have about 15 lightning cables for sale if anybody wants, very good deal thanks x
The cables are one example, they could have been phased out ages ago.
There is no incentive of innovation in curbing competition to use your device the way it should be able to be used: in this case spotify and tidal not being able to use their homepod devices the same way it can be used with apple music. That is unfair competitive advantage.
I hope the EU will force Apple to unlock the same abilities for spotify and tidal users and fine them a hefty sum for their monopolistic behaviour.
And thatās fine, those types of things should be challenged but the post you responded to was re cables and I was giving a reason why the behaviour is defensible.
On the Spotify bit, from a quick read doesnāt sound like itās just Apple being difficult there but I donāt care enough to go deeper into it tbh, seems like with iOS 17 thereās a suitable enough workaround.
Also this is where you get google dot and play Spotify just fine 