But actually, there is a big difference - I can buy jeans anywhere. I can buy Levi jeans anywhere.
If I had to go to Macy’s so that I could get a shirt (with no alternative), and then had to go to Nordstrom to get socks (with no alternative), and then..... then yeah, that would be crippling.
There is a reason amazon and Walmart are so powerful - you can get anything in one stop.
Bundling is important. It’s why people buy Comcast xfinity cable + internet or have all their family on one cell phone plan - it’s reduces effort, stress, and cognitive load.
Apple vs Android is good choice. Having to go to ten app stores to get my apps is not - it’s just a pain in the butt masquerading as “choice”.
It's not when they actually have to compete on price. Then you pick the one which offers you the lowest price for what you're looking for.
Both apps are free. Now you have to download another App Store to download the messaging app.
Price has no bearing here whatsoever.
I tell the friend to call, text or email me. Price doesn't have any bearing because the market on messaging apps has bottomed out, in part due to Apple's app store policies.
And nobody checks email frequently enough.
But the point was a simple example. Clearly you seem to enjoy complexity more than me.
That's a bit extreme. It's less of a nightmare, and more of an annoyance, that is paid in exchange for competition and innovation.
Imagine the former. No thanks.
I'm discovering a number of people here who see the world very differently than me. I would have taken it as a given that most people would agree that it would be healthy for the US market overall if we shook up the payment industry and got some new options.
A lot of Visa/Mastercard's terms for businesses are really bad. There are entire industries that are being pushed out of the market right now. Not to mention that these cards come with a tremendous amount of user tracking that's basically impossible to opt out of if you want to buy anything online.
That's why people are throwing everything at the wall from Bitcoin to GNU Taler trying desperately to find any kind of Open alternative that might work for online micropayments.
No no no no no no!!!!!!
It's this type of thinking that has caused me to have more freaking messaging and video apps on my phone so I can talk to everyone: Zoom, Skype, Meet, Meetings, Facetime, Messenger, Chime,...etc, etc. etc.
NO. I ABSOLUTELY do not want that. Freaking nightmare.
When that happens I ditch my iPhone and buy a flip phone.
Seriously - stop the insanity. There is no "choice" when we need to have every alternative installed in order to do the things we need to do. That's not choice - it's insanity.