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Re:You download the app and it doesn’t work by twicetwice on Friday June 19, 2020 @11:27PM (#23581340)
How so? Seriously. There seem to be lots of people who don't consider Apple to have a monopoly in any market, and I just don't get it. Can you explain the argument for that position?
Re:You download the app and it doesn’t work by nodamage on Saturday June 20, 2020 @12:04AM (#23581552)
Because there are meaningful alternatives to the iPhone on the market.

If I claim that a gas station has a monopoly within a three block radius, that might be technically true, but only because of the constraints I applied. It's not actually a meaningful distinction if the consumer can drive down a bit further and find another gas station.

Re:You download the app and it doesn’t work by twicetwice on Sunday June 21, 2020 @11:55AM (#23592707)
Right, but when it comes to selling software to people who have iPhones — there's a market for that, right? — Apple clearly has a monopoly in that market.

Imo it's more like saying, "Foocorp in the US doesn't have a monopoly, since you can always move to Canada and buy from BarCo or one of its competitors there!" Well, Foocorp is still the only seller in the US, so they have a monopoly in that market.

Re:You download the app and it doesn’t work by nodamage on Sunday June 21, 2020 @05:53PM (#23595715)
> Right, but when it comes to selling software to people who have iPhones — there's a market for that, right? — Apple clearly has a monopoly in that market.

Sure. I also have a monopoly in the market of "selling lemonade on my front lawn". Is that a meaningful distinction?

> Imo it's more like saying, "Foocorp in the US doesn't have a monopoly, since you can always move to Canada and buy from BarCo or one of its competitors there!" Well, Foocorp is still the only seller in the US, so they have a monopoly in that market.

No one would consider moving to another country a realistic alternative. So in that situation, yes, there is a monopoly because the consumer does not have a realistic alternative. If a gas station is the only gas station in the city, then it too would have a monopoly in that city, because driving to the next city every time you needed gas is not realistic.