- Nintendo Switch hardware only runs Nintendo Switch OS -> Nintendo monopoly on Switch OSes

- Nintendo Switch OS only runs on Nintendo Switch hardware -> Nintendo monopoly on Switch OS hardware

- Nintendo Switch hardware and OS only run officially licensed Nintendo game -> Nintendo monopoly on games for Nintendo Switch and OS games

- Nintendo Switch games only run on Nintendo Switch -> Nintendo monopoly on hardware that runs Switch games

(Apple and iPhone are in the same situation)

Compare to the situation with Windows:

- x86 hardware can run any OS, including Linux and Windows -> mostly no Microsoft monopoly, although Windows and Microsoft keys are often pre-installed

- Windows can run on any x86 hardware (and ARM I think?) -> no Microsoft monopoly, although they don't release source to port to other CPU architectures

- Windows can run any software from anyone at no charge -> mostly no Microsoft monopoly, although they can favor their own software

- Windows software can run on any OS, such as Windows or Linux with Wine -> mostly no Microsoft monopoly, although one can argue that having an OS API without an open-source implementation induces lock-in and creates a partial monopoly

you don't know what a monopoly is

Monopoly = you can get a given thing or something equivalent to it only from one producer

I am genuinely asking, what on earth do y'all think "monopoly" and "anti-trust" mean?

It's baffling to me because some users on HN grandstand so much about how making your own product or platform means that you are morally obligated to support any and every third party under the sun. But then the actual tech industry seems to be the direct opposite - if anything companies make lots of fanfare out of achieving basic interop.

This is the theory that people (on HN and elsewhere) have used to argue that Apple's App Store represents a monopoly that should be broken up. It makes no more sense here than it does in that context.

It absolutely makes sense viewed through the lens of early 2000s antitrust cases (esp. those against Microsoft).

The landscape has obviously changed since, but not for any good reason in my opinion.