Apple certainly could be hemmed in on clear areas of conflict like Spotify.
Opening the platform is not traditional antitrust because consumers like it this way - it’s more about charity for the competition.
Fragmentation: If Apple competes well there won't be any because their app store will be the best on merit not at gunpoint.
Safety: Don't sideload or install unsigned apps. Keep your phone up to date. This doesn't change much except possibly give you the option to be unsafe.
Payment processing: We already see integration with Cash app, Google wallet, Apple pay, Stripe, PayPal, etc. This is not an issue.
Because if you ask me, my guess is that the average Apple consumer couldn't care less if the platform is opened up or not.
If it helps you sleep at night, keep thinking it’s a very small minority. It’s really not.
When your immediate response is to have an emotional outburst and tell people they’re stupid, it actually shows you lack intelligence.
> if they bowed to pressure so people can execute whatever software on my device
Who is proposing that? Nobody.
Right now I have confidence that anything that can run on my device is signed off and approved by Apple.
That gives me a sense of security and privacy. I don’t have to worry about something being approved or not approved. If there’s an app, I rely on Apple to have signed off on it.
That’s why I buy iPhone.
And all it really comes down to is that Apple has customers who repeatedly give them business each year simply because they like the app ecosystem not being a flea market where anything goes.
No, you are.
> Right now I have confidence that anything that can run on my device is signed off and approved by Apple.
> That gives me a sense of security and privacy. I don’t have to worry about something being approved or not approved.
(Except apparently you do, judging from your previous paragraph.)
> If there’s an app, I rely on Apple to have signed off on it.
That's why people are saying they should allow other app stores beside their own: So they can continue to curate and ban apps in their own one, and still not be (seen as) totally evil monopolists who use their entrenched position to crush potential competition in the app space.
Keep installing apps only from the Official Apple App Store — don't even install another one (they'd probably put up lots of scary warnings around that) — and you'll still be just as safe as now. Just like all the other inmates.
>just like all the other inmates.
You’re arguing in bad faith and launching into personal attacks. :)
No one is crushing competition in the app space. Don’t do bad things and I’m sure Apple will list your app on their App Store. Your exaggerations of monopolizing are merely that — exaggerations. We have 13 year olds selling apps or giving free apps on Apples App Store. They literally brought the idea to the masses and executed it flawlessly.
If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to go create your own phone and your own App Store. No one is stopping you, and no you’re not entitled to run whatever code on peoples phones... especially when those people don’t know what they might be downloading.
Since you’re venturing into personal attacks, I’m not going to engage any further.
You’re calling them anti consumer. But that’s wrong. This is why I give them my business, and if they bowed to pressure so people can execute whatever software on my device, I’d exit the Apple ecosystem and buy a $300 phone instead of a $1000 phone. It’s actually that simple.
Edit: Sitting at -2 votes because people don’t approve of my consumer habits. Censor people you don’t agree with instead of having an actual response. Okay.