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I actually don’t yield. What is the point of antitrust law? Of policing anticompetitive behavior? My naive hope is that it is a service of our government to pr

I actually don’t yield. What is the point of antitrust law? Of policing anticompetitive behavior? My naive hope is that it is a service of our government to protect consumers from companies who use their considerable power and influence to otherwise abuse or extort money from them. The way the App Store and apple’s ecosystem is structured, they are able to extort as much money out of their users as they care to. Let’s suppose they get crazy and jack their fees up to 100%. Will people stop buying iPhones? Not likely — many people now have a lot of their life stored on iCloud. Will they stop buying their apps? I guess they could, but where the hell else are they going to get apps for their phone? Will developers switch platforms or ignore iOS altogether? Probably not, since really their bottom line wouldn’t be affected. They’d just pass the fees on. This is yet another big blow to the consumer. And I can’t understand why _populace_ isn’t the primary focus of these decisions. Companies don’t need protection. Epic is not threatening apple’s position in any way and whatever resultant requirement from the court wouldn’t have substantially hurt Apple, only made them work a bit harder. I know, boo hoo for the $3 trillion company.

teolandon 4y ago
What do you mean their (developers') bottom line wouldn't be affected? Their revenue from iOS would go to 0. They would definitely jump ship, and users would follow. If you think Apple could do increase their fees to 100% without any consequences why are they not doing it? Do they not like money?
ubermonkey 4y ago
You don't yield, but neither do you understand antitrust law. Apple has no monopoly. Apple is not abusing its market dominance. It doesn't have enough of the market to come CLOSE to the kinds of chicanery that has typically generated antitrust interest from DOJ. Think back to Microsoft in the 1990s, or read up on it if it was before your time. They had a stranglehold on computing. You literally couldn't buy a PC without paying for a Windows license, even if you didn't want it. All this grousing about Apple's closed platform is just grousing. If you want what Apple has built in their garden, work to make YOUR garden better. Most people use something else.

teolandon 4y ago

What do you mean their (developers') bottom line wouldn't be affected? Their revenue from iOS would go to 0. They would definitely jump ship, and users would follow. If you think Apple could do increase their fees to 100% without any consequences why are they not doing it? Do they not like money?

ubermonkey 4y ago

You don't yield, but neither do you understand antitrust law. Apple has no monopoly. Apple is not abusing its market dominance. It doesn't have enough of the market to come CLOSE to the kinds of chicanery that has typically generated antitrust interest from DOJ. Think back to Microsoft in the 1990s, or read up on it if it was before your time. They had a stranglehold on computing. You literally couldn't buy a PC without paying for a Windows license, even if you didn't want it. All this grousing about Apple's closed platform is just grousing. If you want what Apple has built in their garden, work to make YOUR garden better. Most people use something else.