6 ms·

It's a crying shame that it's the EU that upholds a remnant of competition and consumer rights while the “free market” in the US gets more corrupt by the day an

It's a crying shame that it's the EU that upholds a remnant of competition and consumer rights while the “free market” in the US gets more corrupt by the day and the power of the big monopolies gets ever more cemented.

yakubin 3y ago
You can’t have free market without regulation. The very beginnings of it were about guaranteeing a free market through the use of cannon.
tagitfast 3y ago
[dead]
Pingk 3y ago
The free market will always tend towards monopolies/duopolies/oligopolies - it's the most efficient way to make money, which is exactly what capitalism incentivises. If you want to push for openness and transparency, you need strong government intervention and without a culture that pushes for it, it'll only get worse (see also right-to-repair).
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- illiac786 3y ago
  Short/medium term maybe, long term monopolies are definitely producing less revenue, I can't find a good study about this but I read this multiple times.
a-user-you-like 3y ago
You’re encouraging regulation of the iPhone and calling it the free market. You’re confused. Android exists. Other phones exist. Use one of those. No one is twisting your arm. [predictably the communist wing of HN is out on the downvote]
- withinboredom 3y ago
  Can I take my purchased iphone apps to Android? I can take my purchased Windows games to Mac/Linux, as well as many applications. If they run there, my license works. Until this problem is solved with iOS and Android, this isn't a valid argument.
  - salzig 3y ago
    Unless the seller has different licenses for different OS. Something about justifying the investment for that platform.
    - withinboredom 3y ago
      I haven’t run into that for nearly 20 years…
      - NLPaep 3y ago
        It’s fairly common with video games, no? Besides Microsoft sharing games on PC and Xbox Microsoft Office does this currently. The Mac version is extra…
        withinboredom 3y ago
        I'm not paying anything extra to use Mac vs. Windows on my office license... or Visual Studio either. In regards to games on Steam, you don't pay anything extra to play on Windows/Linux/Mac if the game has support for that platform -- haven't since it became a thing almost a decade ago.
  - a-user-you-like 3y ago
    You understand this is a limitation going in. No one forced you to buy the iPhone. You seem to like to unnecessarily use force. You can buy multiple phones that support fdroid and get what you want.
littlecranky67 3y ago
> “free market” in the US gets more corrupt by the day The US has a strong history of antitrust laws and splitting up companys for free markets sake. The globalization as well the digital markets change this, and its perfectly rational for the US to do nothing. Breaking up big tech would be in the interest of the consumer due to increased competition, but its not in the interest of US citizens. In the digital world we live in, competition could come from within the EU or China and that's worse, also due to geopolitical interest of the US. It is just smarter to live with the few oligopolists, as long as all of them are American.
- singularity2001 3y ago
  So the US is becoming more like china where all big companies are inseparably tied to national interest?
  - dzonga 3y ago
    it has always been that way though, hasn't it ? whether from boeing, howard hughes, lockheed, at&t, ford and general motors. the pharma companies. case in point united fruit company -- resulted in many coups in latin american countries due to banana wars
- robin_reala 3y ago
  Out of interest, when was the last time a company was split up in the US? I can’t think of one in the last ten years.
  - xref 3y ago
    I think AT&T in 1982 was the last company actually broken up. It seems like the DOJ tries to keep companies from getting too big in the first place now, with mixed results. In recent times Penguin/Random House/Simon & Schuster was blocked, AT&T/T-Mobile was blocked, but Microsoft/Activision succeeded https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/01/judge-blocks-penguin-random-house-simon-schuster-merger.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/01/judge-blocks-penguin-random-... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_T-Mobile_USA_by_AT%26T# https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_T-Mobi...
6510 3y ago
I find it hilarious! Imagine those US law makers still interested in organizing the country, they probably tried, or didn't even bother to. All the cosy deals made back stage rendered null and void(); Also funny is the much hated EU still having to prove it's usefulness. I'm sure 100 years from now they will be selling out with the best of them but today it ain't in the cards. Even more hilarious was that the current phone was suppose to be my last iphone. I might even make some apps. Under the current TOS that's just never going to happen.

yakubin 3y ago

You can’t have free market without regulation. The very beginnings of it were about guaranteeing a free market through the use of cannon.

tagitfast 3y ago

[dead]

Pingk 3y ago

The free market will always tend towards monopolies/duopolies/oligopolies - it's the most efficient way to make money, which is exactly what capitalism incentivises. If you want to push for openness and transparency, you need strong government intervention and without a culture that pushes for it, it'll only get worse (see also right-to-repair).

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
illiac786 3y ago
Short/medium term maybe, long term monopolies are definitely producing less revenue, I can't find a good study about this but I read this multiple times.

a-user-you-like 3y ago

You’re encouraging regulation of the iPhone and calling it the free market. You’re confused. Android exists. Other phones exist. Use one of those. No one is twisting your arm. [predictably the communist wing of HN is out on the downvote]

withinboredom 3y ago
Can I take my purchased iphone apps to Android? I can take my purchased Windows games to Mac/Linux, as well as many applications. If they run there, my license works. Until this problem is solved with iOS and Android, this isn't a valid argument.
- salzig 3y ago
  Unless the seller has different licenses for different OS. Something about justifying the investment for that platform.
  - withinboredom 3y ago
    I haven’t run into that for nearly 20 years…
    - NLPaep 3y ago
      It’s fairly common with video games, no? Besides Microsoft sharing games on PC and Xbox Microsoft Office does this currently. The Mac version is extra…
      - withinboredom 3y ago
        I'm not paying anything extra to use Mac vs. Windows on my office license... or Visual Studio either. In regards to games on Steam, you don't pay anything extra to play on Windows/Linux/Mac if the game has support for that platform -- haven't since it became a thing almost a decade ago.
- a-user-you-like 3y ago
  You understand this is a limitation going in. No one forced you to buy the iPhone. You seem to like to unnecessarily use force. You can buy multiple phones that support fdroid and get what you want.

littlecranky67 3y ago

> “free market” in the US gets more corrupt by the day The US has a strong history of antitrust laws and splitting up companys for free markets sake. The globalization as well the digital markets change this, and its perfectly rational for the US to do nothing. Breaking up big tech would be in the interest of the consumer due to increased competition, but its not in the interest of US citizens. In the digital world we live in, competition could come from within the EU or China and that's worse, also due to geopolitical interest of the US. It is just smarter to live with the few oligopolists, as long as all of them are American.

singularity2001 3y ago
So the US is becoming more like china where all big companies are inseparably tied to national interest?
- dzonga 3y ago
  it has always been that way though, hasn't it ? whether from boeing, howard hughes, lockheed, at&t, ford and general motors. the pharma companies. case in point united fruit company -- resulted in many coups in latin american countries due to banana wars
robin_reala 3y ago
Out of interest, when was the last time a company was split up in the US? I can’t think of one in the last ten years.
- xref 3y ago
  I think AT&T in 1982 was the last company actually broken up. It seems like the DOJ tries to keep companies from getting too big in the first place now, with mixed results. In recent times Penguin/Random House/Simon & Schuster was blocked, AT&T/T-Mobile was blocked, but Microsoft/Activision succeeded https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/01/judge-blocks-penguin-random-house-simon-schuster-merger.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/01/judge-blocks-penguin-random-... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_T-Mobile_USA_by_AT%26T# https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_T-Mobi...

6510 3y ago

I find it hilarious! Imagine those US law makers still interested in organizing the country, they probably tried, or didn't even bother to. All the cosy deals made back stage rendered null and void(); Also funny is the much hated EU still having to prove it's usefulness. I'm sure 100 years from now they will be selling out with the best of them but today it ain't in the cards. Even more hilarious was that the current phone was suppose to be my last iphone. I might even make some apps. Under the current TOS that's just never going to happen.