4 ms·

Switching phones or OS or computer is not cheap or free for consumers. It's anticompetitive and should be flagged by the FTC. But they're toothless in the curre

Switching phones or OS or computer is not cheap or free for consumers. It's anticompetitive and should be flagged by the FTC. But they're toothless in the current era.

tshaddox 4y ago
These policies aren't particularly new, so I'm not sure why there would be a sudden need to switch platforms. On the contrary, these policies are part of one of the biggest differentiators between Apple smartphones and their major competitors. And even if someone did suddenly find Apple's policies unacceptable, there are several prominent alternatives to switch to, and switching is really not difficult for the vast majority of people. To be clear, there are some cases where Apple (and competitors) do make switching more difficult, and I do think it's reasonable for regulators to look into that stuff.
- chrisco255 4y ago
  Of course they're new policies. In this case, Apple is asking for 30% match on Ethereum gas fees paid for transferring an NFT. It's an impossible request to follow for a number of reasons. The gas fee is variable with network demand, and the fee may change depending on when it gets executed, the gas fee is paid in ETH (which Apple doesn't support), etc. Nevermind that Apple has somehow arbitrarily determined that after 5 years of Ethereum wallet apps existing on its platform that it now wants a 30% cut of blockchain network fees. Apple does absolutely nothing to maintain the network security or facilitate the transaction. This might merely be for moving an NFT from one address to another. They are completely making this policy up. Like if I use my banking app to pay my electric bill or wire money to my family member, it would be totally unacceptable for Apple to demand 30% of either the bill or the transaction fees associated with such a transfer! Apple is half of an entrenched duopoly in the mobile market. It is reasonable to restrict trillion dollar monopolies (or oligopolies!) from imposing a 30% tax on all web transactions. Not merely to restrict them from making it difficult to switch. It's unacceptable. It's exploitative. It's antitrust behavior. It's got to stop.

Switching phones or OS or computer is not cheap or free for consumers. It's anticompetitive and should be flagged by the FTC. But they're toothless in the current era.

tshaddox 4y ago

These policies aren't particularly new, so I'm not sure why there would be a sudden need to switch platforms. On the contrary, these policies are part of one of the biggest differentiators between Apple smartphones and their major competitors. And even if someone did suddenly find Apple's policies unacceptable, there are several prominent alternatives to switch to, and switching is really not difficult for the vast majority of people. To be clear, there are some cases where Apple (and competitors) do make switching more difficult, and I do think it's reasonable for regulators to look into that stuff.

chrisco255 4y ago
Of course they're new policies. In this case, Apple is asking for 30% match on Ethereum gas fees paid for transferring an NFT. It's an impossible request to follow for a number of reasons. The gas fee is variable with network demand, and the fee may change depending on when it gets executed, the gas fee is paid in ETH (which Apple doesn't support), etc. Nevermind that Apple has somehow arbitrarily determined that after 5 years of Ethereum wallet apps existing on its platform that it now wants a 30% cut of blockchain network fees. Apple does absolutely nothing to maintain the network security or facilitate the transaction. This might merely be for moving an NFT from one address to another. They are completely making this policy up. Like if I use my banking app to pay my electric bill or wire money to my family member, it would be totally unacceptable for Apple to demand 30% of either the bill or the transaction fees associated with such a transfer! Apple is half of an entrenched duopoly in the mobile market. It is reasonable to restrict trillion dollar monopolies (or oligopolies!) from imposing a 30% tax on all web transactions. Not merely to restrict them from making it difficult to switch. It's unacceptable. It's exploitative. It's antitrust behavior. It's got to stop.