Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by bouk on Saturday June 20, 2020 @01:55PM
(#23585372)
Apple certainly has a monopoly in the iPhone app market.
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Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by kick on Saturday June 20, 2020 @01:58PM
(#23585395)
Sure, and Frigidaire has a monopoly on Frigidaire refrigerators.
I said legally-justifiable antitrust claims. Apple has a minority of the smartphone market. You can make anything into a "monopoly" if you define it narrowly enough but that's not legally justifiable in any way.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by Nullabillity on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:08PM
(#23585505)
But that's not what the discussion is about. Frigidaire doesn't try to limit you to only putting stuff you bought at Walmart into their fridges.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by kick on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:13PM
(#23585544)
Nor does Apple: you can have as many PWAs as you want. As JS is Turing complete, you can then have every sort of app. They've always encouraged PWAs.
Unless you want to legally force every company to surrender their source code (which I enthusiastically would support), there's no legal basis for Apple not being able to have their proprietary feature phone locked down.
Though if you'd like, you can look at Keurig, which does limit what you can put into it to "only Keurig products" or one of the millions of other things that limit what you can put into it.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by anoncake on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:19PM
(#23585616)
> Though if you'd like, you can look at Keurig, which does limit what you can put into it to "only Keurig products" or one of the millions of other things that limit what you can put into it.
Whatabout...
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by bouk on Monday June 22, 2020 @04:50AM
(#23598371)
If I buy a house I can put any fridge in there. If I get an iPhone, I can only buy through the App Store.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by anoncake on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:12PM
(#23585534)
What use case is there for Fridgidaire refrigerators that cannot be fulfilled by other brands?
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by kick on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:14PM
(#23585556)
What use case is there for Apple devices that cannot be fulfilled by other brands? Literally none.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by bouk on Monday June 22, 2020 @04:48AM
(#23598352)
There are no other options for Apple devices besides the App Store. This is not about a monopoly in the smartphone market.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by anoncake on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:16PM
(#23585589)
> iPhone app market
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by derision on Saturday June 20, 2020 @02:02PM
(#23585440)
That's not a monopoly nor is that how monopolies work. iPhone is their device and creation, they can lock it down as much as they choose. They could only allow apps they develop if they wanted.
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by bouk on Monday June 22, 2020 @04:47AM
(#23598346)
That's debatable. Just because the Play Store exists doesn't mean the App Store isn't its own market
Re:Ask HN: Why can't we solve the app store monopoly problem?
by derision on Monday June 22, 2020 @12:14PM
(#23601890)
The app store is not a free market. If I set up a card trading store, I'm free to set any constraints I want. Maybe I want to only allow users to trade cards that were purchased at my shop. That's my right as a private enterprise. Maybe everyone will hate it and go to a different store, and that's the free market. If I somehow prevented any other card stores from existing, then we would have a monopoly