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If you want the disappointing answer, it's because the United States government implicitly forces a smartphone manufacturing duopoly where both options are unde

If you want the disappointing answer, it's because the United States government implicitly forces a smartphone manufacturing duopoly where both options are under their control. If you want the slightly-less-disappointing answer, it's because there aren't any other tech companies with 200 billion dollars in liquid cash sitting in their bank account. If you want the bluepill answer, it's because Tim Cook has a secret vault deep within Cupertino HQ that contains the secret, unique texts that describe the highly-guarded technology of Retina Displays and unibody frame manufacturing. Honestly though, quality is subjective. My measure of quality comes from how well the software I use runs on these devices - and unfortunately, it doesn't work well. GNU software is too much of a hassle on MacOS, setting up my sync system isn't even an option on iOS. The phone could feed my cat and make me dinner, but it still wouldn't be a daily driver unless it makes my life easier as a user. Neither one really does, Maybe the most realistic answer is that everyone else has seen what Apple made, and doesn't want to build a locked-down vertical ecosystem. People get frustrated dealing with SMS/iMessage bridging and MacOS/iOS deciding which software they get to run. These people want to innovate beyond what Apple has done, and I think that's a pretty amicable goal. Trying to sell a device as locked-down as the iPhone in 2022 will rightfully get you laughed out of the room.

scarface74 4y ago
> Maybe the most realistic answer is that everyone else has seen what Apple made, and doesn't want to build a locked-down vertical ecosystem Yes because other companies care about “freedom” and your ability to run your gnu tool chain. > Trying to sell a device as locked-down as the iPhone in 2022 will rightfully get you laughed out of the room. What bubble are you living in?
- smoldesu 4y ago
  > Yes because other companies care about “freedom” and your ability to run your gnu tool chain. All companies don't give a shit about user freedom, that's the entire reason why GNU exists. It exists outside of these corporate interests and gives people a platform to do their work away from the horrors of beaurocratic bikeshedding and pointless roadblocks. MacOS is simply not the best operating system for my software and workflow. I'm hardly the only one who shares that sentiment, especially among developers. > What bubble are you living in? The one where people understand arbitrary technical limitations? The criticism against Apple is justified. The criticism against all hardware manufacturers that don't respect user freedom is justified. Maybe you don't care about it (which is fine), but you can't pretend it doesn't exist.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    So which companies care about “users freedoms”? And most of the Linux contributors are large tech companies…

scarface74 4y ago

> Maybe the most realistic answer is that everyone else has seen what Apple made, and doesn't want to build a locked-down vertical ecosystem Yes because other companies care about “freedom” and your ability to run your gnu tool chain. > Trying to sell a device as locked-down as the iPhone in 2022 will rightfully get you laughed out of the room. What bubble are you living in?

smoldesu 4y ago
> Yes because other companies care about “freedom” and your ability to run your gnu tool chain. All companies don't give a shit about user freedom, that's the entire reason why GNU exists. It exists outside of these corporate interests and gives people a platform to do their work away from the horrors of beaurocratic bikeshedding and pointless roadblocks. MacOS is simply not the best operating system for my software and workflow. I'm hardly the only one who shares that sentiment, especially among developers. > What bubble are you living in? The one where people understand arbitrary technical limitations? The criticism against Apple is justified. The criticism against all hardware manufacturers that don't respect user freedom is justified. Maybe you don't care about it (which is fine), but you can't pretend it doesn't exist.
- scarface74 4y ago
  So which companies care about “users freedoms”? And most of the Linux contributors are large tech companies…