2 ms·

It's a bit of a stretch to be comparing using a different smartphone (you don't even need to use ANY smartphone) and moving the place where you live, work, etc.

by d1zzy 6y ago

It's a bit of a stretch to be comparing using a different smartphone (you don't even need to use ANY smartphone) and moving the place where you live, work, etc. Next, we'll see people complaining how google.com should be displaying alternative search engine links on their frontpage because it's too hard for people to type bing.com.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> you don't even need to use ANY smartphone You don't even need to live indoors either. You don't need a telephone, you don't need oil, you don't need to make things out of steel. You can live without any of it. Antitrust isn't about how much you need something, it's about competition. It's illegal to abuse a monopoly on cotton candy, regardless of the fact that nobody actually needs cotton candy. Moreover, the point of the analogy is to demonstrate switching costs. Phone platform transitions are costly. You not only have to replace your device but all your apps, your operating system (which incurs training costs), any services that are only supported or well-supported on one platform including those with network effects that are used by other people, etc. It's not at all trivial and can involve tens of hours of labor. So if that's what you have to do in order to have a choice in where you can buy a $1 app, that isn't really a choice. It's not anywhere close to cost effective to do it even if the competitor is charging $0.70 for the app instead of $1. And you would have to do it every time. Even if you switched to Android, now you're stuck in a different market -- Google Play doesn't have to worry about you buying the next app from Apple, because to do that you would have to pay to switch back. > Next, we'll see people complaining how google.com should be displaying alternative search engine links on their frontpage because it's too hard for people to type bing.com. Does Android only work with Google and if I want to use Bing I have to buy an iPhone? How many hours does it take to type bing.com?

by d1zzy 6y ago

AnthonyMouse 6y ago

> you don't even need to use ANY smartphone You don't even need to live indoors either. You don't need a telephone, you don't need oil, you don't need to make things out of steel. You can live without any of it. Antitrust isn't about how much you need something, it's about competition. It's illegal to abuse a monopoly on cotton candy, regardless of the fact that nobody actually needs cotton candy. Moreover, the point of the analogy is to demonstrate switching costs. Phone platform transitions are costly. You not only have to replace your device but all your apps, your operating system (which incurs training costs), any services that are only supported or well-supported on one platform including those with network effects that are used by other people, etc. It's not at all trivial and can involve tens of hours of labor. So if that's what you have to do in order to have a choice in where you can buy a $1 app, that isn't really a choice. It's not anywhere close to cost effective to do it even if the competitor is charging $0.70 for the app instead of $1. And you would have to do it every time. Even if you switched to Android, now you're stuck in a different market -- Google Play doesn't have to worry about you buying the next app from Apple, because to do that you would have to pay to switch back. > Next, we'll see people complaining how google.com should be displaying alternative search engine links on their frontpage because it's too hard for people to type bing.com. Does Android only work with Google and if I want to use Bing I have to buy an iPhone? How many hours does it take to type bing.com?