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It’s Scary How Dominant Apple Has Become. But How Scary?

5 points by carlycue 5y ago

janandonly 5y ago
Interesting take. Apple has only 10-20% worldwide market share so doesn't fall in the original Robber Barron definition of a "monopoly", but since they get an outsized share of profits one could argue that, they are very much a monopolist. What self-respecting app builder or company could possibly ignore the iOS/iPadOS ecosystem?
- eternityforest 5y ago
  That's one nice thing I do enjoy about solo personal projects. I can pretend Apple doesn't exist.
- eimrine 5y ago
  > Apple has only 10-20% worldwide market share 10-20% from what? I do not sure that the cheapest possible Android phone worth of $20 and flagman Android/iOS devices share one market despite of having some similar features. > What self-respecting app builder or company could possibly ignore the iOS/iPadOS ecosystem? Any self-respecting one?
- rektide 5y ago
  It's amsuing to think this through as a hypothetical fr the other side: of a freedesktop/open source world where open source has taken over, has huge marketshare, but still doesnt factor in here because there's so little money being made. Huge public good, but if it's ot making money, would we notice? This sounds like it might be distracting from your point about considering profits, but I feel exactly thr opposite. Profits & profit margin matter a lot, are a very explicit representation of market power, of how competeable & competitive an area of the market is.
eternityforest 5y ago
Apple has a way bigger influence than their market share implies. They do one really great thing and that's network protocol design. Other than that they seem to have an influence I don't like, extending way beyond tech. They're almost like the new Bauhaus, constantly trying to simplify everything, not just make things easy, but actually add real simplicity anywhere they can, and use real "luxury" materials any chance they get. Phones with glass backs instead of plastic, cables without strain relief, and all kinds of stripped down design seems to be pioneered be them. They basically try to turn everything into a swiss watch rather than following the true high tech philosophy. It seems like they've gotten better lately though, and tech in general has moved on from trying and failing to just copy their design.

5 points by carlycue 5y ago

Interesting take. Apple has only 10-20% worldwide market share so doesn't fall in the original Robber Barron definition of a "monopoly", but since they get an outsized share of profits one could argue that, they are very much a monopolist. What self-respecting app builder or company could possibly ignore the iOS/iPadOS ecosystem?

eternityforest 5y ago
That's one nice thing I do enjoy about solo personal projects. I can pretend Apple doesn't exist.
eimrine 5y ago
> Apple has only 10-20% worldwide market share 10-20% from what? I do not sure that the cheapest possible Android phone worth of $20 and flagman Android/iOS devices share one market despite of having some similar features. > What self-respecting app builder or company could possibly ignore the iOS/iPadOS ecosystem? Any self-respecting one?
rektide 5y ago
It's amsuing to think this through as a hypothetical fr the other side: of a freedesktop/open source world where open source has taken over, has huge marketshare, but still doesnt factor in here because there's so little money being made. Huge public good, but if it's ot making money, would we notice? This sounds like it might be distracting from your point about considering profits, but I feel exactly thr opposite. Profits & profit margin matter a lot, are a very explicit representation of market power, of how competeable & competitive an area of the market is.

eternityforest 5y ago

Apple has a way bigger influence than their market share implies. They do one really great thing and that's network protocol design. Other than that they seem to have an influence I don't like, extending way beyond tech. They're almost like the new Bauhaus, constantly trying to simplify everything, not just make things easy, but actually add real simplicity anywhere they can, and use real "luxury" materials any chance they get. Phones with glass backs instead of plastic, cables without strain relief, and all kinds of stripped down design seems to be pioneered be them. They basically try to turn everything into a swiss watch rather than following the true high tech philosophy. It seems like they've gotten better lately though, and tech in general has moved on from trying and failing to just copy their design.