6 ms·

But definitely an iOS monopoly.

by jp555 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago
And Nintendo, Somy, and MS have monopoles on their stores. Just like if you don’t like what one console offers you are free to buy another one, if you don’t like what’s available for iOS, you are free to buy an Android.
- tokyodude 8y ago
  4 wrongs don't make right. Nintendo, Sony, and MS should also not be allowed to have monopolies on their stores.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    And now we are redefining “monopoly”. This has been going on for 30 years. The console manufacturers have had lock out chips on their cartridges, specially made disk, etc forever.
    - kd5bjo 8y ago
      Not forever. This all started with the death of Atari, which was commonly blamed on poor-quality 3rd-party games ruining their reputation with consumers. I haven't looked into the history enough to judge whether this perception is accurate in hindsight. Like most things, I expect it's a lot messier than the popular narrative.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        As I said, “for over 30 years”. It started at least with the original Nintendo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo)
- jimktrains2 8y ago
  > Nintendo, Somy[sic], and MS You don't need to purchase games directly from Nintendo, nor music or games or video directly from Sony, nor are Sony Videos only playable on Sony devices, nor do you have to only install Microsoft "blessed" executable for Windows.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    No, but every game that you buy that runs on any of the consoles have been preapproved by the console manufacturers and each game has been cryptographically signed by the manufacturer - even those sold on disc. You don’t have to buy music from Apple. Music you buy hasn’t been wrapped with DRM for a decade. You can buy movies from Google, Amazon or Vudu, download the Movies Anywhere app, connect the app to your various accounts and they automatically show up as iTunes purchases (completely legally), there is an Amazon Video, Google Play, and Vudu app available for iOS. You can go to the Amazon store in your web browser and buy a digital video just like you can buy anything else from Amazon. We are talking about consoles. Just like the other console manufacturers, you can not sell a video game on disc that has not been approved by MS and without paying MS a licensing fee to run on the XBox.
  - dwaite 8y ago
    You realize that Nintendo controls the title signing keys, their own App Store, and the physical manufacturing of cartridges right? They also require merchants to sign contracts saying they will not have a posted price below the retail sale price without approval. I fail to see how saying you don't have to purchase "directly" from Nintendo matters. FWIW, a similar setup to Playstation (you seem to have conflated Sony, which makes your point confusing considering that Sony has other subsidiaries that publish music and video). Playstation has a music and video store which will give you media DRM locked to your console. Finally, Microsoft has an App Store which distributes "blessed" executables. There have been several editions of windows which only allow applications distributed through this store to run, such as the first iteration of the Microsoft Surface that ran ARM. There is speculation that this move is what prompted Valve to release their own Linux distribution, because Steam would be severely impacted if they no longer had an ability to run their own store. Luckily for Valve, those limited distributions haven't made much headway.
- jp555 8y ago
  Yep! Monopoly just means there's only one supplier of any commodity. It does not mean there are no alternatives. A patent is a government-issued monopoly.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    In that case you can define monopoly however you want. You could say that YCombinator has a monopoly on posts to HN.
    - jp555 8y ago
      The definition of a monopoly is when there is only one seller of something. That exclusivity can be achieved in a number of ways such as patents, trade secrets, or some other monopoly moat.
zepto 8y ago
No. Not an iOS monopoly either. Look up the definition of monopoly.
- jp555 8y ago
  Apple is the only supplier of iOS devices. "A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly

But definitely an iOS monopoly.

by jp555 8y ago

But definitely an iOS monopoly.

And Nintendo, Somy, and MS have monopoles on their stores. Just like if you don’t like what one console offers you are free to buy another one, if you don’t like what’s available for iOS, you are free to buy an Android.

tokyodude 8y ago
4 wrongs don't make right. Nintendo, Sony, and MS should also not be allowed to have monopolies on their stores.
- scarface74 8y ago
  And now we are redefining “monopoly”. This has been going on for 30 years. The console manufacturers have had lock out chips on their cartridges, specially made disk, etc forever.
  - kd5bjo 8y ago
    Not forever. This all started with the death of Atari, which was commonly blamed on poor-quality 3rd-party games ruining their reputation with consumers. I haven't looked into the history enough to judge whether this perception is accurate in hindsight. Like most things, I expect it's a lot messier than the popular narrative.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      As I said, “for over 30 years”. It started at least with the original Nintendo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo)
jimktrains2 8y ago
> Nintendo, Somy[sic], and MS You don't need to purchase games directly from Nintendo, nor music or games or video directly from Sony, nor are Sony Videos only playable on Sony devices, nor do you have to only install Microsoft "blessed" executable for Windows.
- scarface74 8y ago
  No, but every game that you buy that runs on any of the consoles have been preapproved by the console manufacturers and each game has been cryptographically signed by the manufacturer - even those sold on disc. You don’t have to buy music from Apple. Music you buy hasn’t been wrapped with DRM for a decade. You can buy movies from Google, Amazon or Vudu, download the Movies Anywhere app, connect the app to your various accounts and they automatically show up as iTunes purchases (completely legally), there is an Amazon Video, Google Play, and Vudu app available for iOS. You can go to the Amazon store in your web browser and buy a digital video just like you can buy anything else from Amazon. We are talking about consoles. Just like the other console manufacturers, you can not sell a video game on disc that has not been approved by MS and without paying MS a licensing fee to run on the XBox.
- dwaite 8y ago
  You realize that Nintendo controls the title signing keys, their own App Store, and the physical manufacturing of cartridges right? They also require merchants to sign contracts saying they will not have a posted price below the retail sale price without approval. I fail to see how saying you don't have to purchase "directly" from Nintendo matters. FWIW, a similar setup to Playstation (you seem to have conflated Sony, which makes your point confusing considering that Sony has other subsidiaries that publish music and video). Playstation has a music and video store which will give you media DRM locked to your console. Finally, Microsoft has an App Store which distributes "blessed" executables. There have been several editions of windows which only allow applications distributed through this store to run, such as the first iteration of the Microsoft Surface that ran ARM. There is speculation that this move is what prompted Valve to release their own Linux distribution, because Steam would be severely impacted if they no longer had an ability to run their own store. Luckily for Valve, those limited distributions haven't made much headway.
jp555 8y ago
Yep! Monopoly just means there's only one supplier of any commodity. It does not mean there are no alternatives. A patent is a government-issued monopoly.
- scarface74 8y ago
  In that case you can define monopoly however you want. You could say that YCombinator has a monopoly on posts to HN.
  - jp555 8y ago
    The definition of a monopoly is when there is only one seller of something. That exclusivity can be achieved in a number of ways such as patents, trade secrets, or some other monopoly moat.

zepto 8y ago

No. Not an iOS monopoly either. Look up the definition of monopoly.

jp555 8y ago
Apple is the only supplier of iOS devices. "A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly