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Don't you think it's at least plausible that app stores are natural monopolies like electrical service? And mobile devices really are a key part of almost every
by quotemstr 6y ago
Don't you think it's at least plausible that app stores are natural monopolies like electrical service? And mobile devices really are a key part of almost everyone's life these days: why wouldn't the nearly-exclusive channel for software distribution to these devices be infrastructure important to the public?
When you have a natural monopoly operating key public infrastructure, regulation is a clear and justifiable option.
- supernova87a 6y agoYou are confusing the concepts of a monopoly and a public utility.
- parasubvert 6y agoUtility regulation only works when the product doesn’t change and is a fungible commodity - power is power. It also is about driving prices down for consumers for that commodity. The iOS and Google platforms have barely existed more than a decade, and the platforms + app ecosystem are constantly evolving. New platforms and app ecosystems are emerging too, with Facebook/Oculus, Valve/Steam, Amazon with Fire/Alexa, etc. Enshrining today’s dominant app ecosystems as the government sanctioned ones will surely stifle their evolution and innovation, because that’s what declaring something a utility does: assumes there is no differentiation, so slow government regs / bureaucracy can control it. I don’t believe Apple and iOS are the end of history of ecosystems. Atari wasn’t, Microsoft wasn’t, IBM wasn’t.