5 ms·

Oh hey it's the "you should leave him" guy. As with abusive spouses, there are usually circumstances trapping people there. Not least the unequal power relation

Oh hey it's the "you should leave him" guy. As with abusive spouses, there are usually circumstances trapping people there. Not least the unequal power relationship. This is a circumstance where society, in the form of government, needs to weigh in to force tech giants to behave more sanely, because only society as a whole is a bigger fish than Google, Facebook, etc.

sneak 5y ago
No one is forced to do business with Google.
- girvo 5y ago
  So I’m going to say “yes they absolutely are” And you’re going to argue with me on the semantic definition of “force”, ignoring the sheer power Google (and a few other tech companies) wield over the technological word, which now encompasses basically all commerce and industry to varying degrees. The smartphone market alone means you’re forced to deal with Google. Single line pithy comments set up these situations. They’re not good communication really, in my opinion.
- Zak 5y ago
  If you want to sell Android apps, you are. Yes, I know Android allows installs from sources other than Play Store, but if you want to be popular, you have to be in Play Store. I'm actually surprised/impressed with how successful that strategy has been for Google. I've always considered sideloading and alternate app stores to be an advantage for Android, but Google's store is effectively a monopoly anyway.
  - sneak 5y ago
    > If you want to sell Android apps, you are. No one is forced to sell Android apps, therefore, no one is forced to do business with Google.
    - JulianMorrison 5y ago
      Well sure, they could go flip burgers instead.
      - Joker_vD 5y ago
        The parent's comment is so infuriating: yes, you can chose something else instead of Google, but it hardly matters because all of them are more or less equally terrible. Which, I guess, only makes sense in the competitive market: way too terrible or way too pleasant entities go bust (for slightly different reasons), what's left are entities that are just "good enough", and there is not much reason for them to try and improve the quality.
    - Zak 5y ago
      Statements like this are technically correct, but not very useful to discussion of the problem of Google and other large corporations being in control of such large pieces of widely-used infrastructure that they effectively decide what kinds of things others will create.
- JulianMorrison 5y ago
  It is absolutely possible to make an app that doesn't support iOS or Android and runs on weird unpopular Linux smartphones, and thereby bow down to nobody. Except your landlord when rent comes due.

sneak 5y ago

No one is forced to do business with Google.

girvo 5y ago
So I’m going to say “yes they absolutely are” And you’re going to argue with me on the semantic definition of “force”, ignoring the sheer power Google (and a few other tech companies) wield over the technological word, which now encompasses basically all commerce and industry to varying degrees. The smartphone market alone means you’re forced to deal with Google. Single line pithy comments set up these situations. They’re not good communication really, in my opinion.
Zak 5y ago
If you want to sell Android apps, you are. Yes, I know Android allows installs from sources other than Play Store, but if you want to be popular, you have to be in Play Store. I'm actually surprised/impressed with how successful that strategy has been for Google. I've always considered sideloading and alternate app stores to be an advantage for Android, but Google's store is effectively a monopoly anyway.
- sneak 5y ago
  > If you want to sell Android apps, you are. No one is forced to sell Android apps, therefore, no one is forced to do business with Google.
  - JulianMorrison 5y ago
    Well sure, they could go flip burgers instead.
    - Joker_vD 5y ago
      The parent's comment is so infuriating: yes, you can chose something else instead of Google, but it hardly matters because all of them are more or less equally terrible. Which, I guess, only makes sense in the competitive market: way too terrible or way too pleasant entities go bust (for slightly different reasons), what's left are entities that are just "good enough", and there is not much reason for them to try and improve the quality.
  - Zak 5y ago
    Statements like this are technically correct, but not very useful to discussion of the problem of Google and other large corporations being in control of such large pieces of widely-used infrastructure that they effectively decide what kinds of things others will create.
JulianMorrison 5y ago
It is absolutely possible to make an app that doesn't support iOS or Android and runs on weird unpopular Linux smartphones, and thereby bow down to nobody. Except your landlord when rent comes due.