4 ms·

Exempting game consoles is funny, because it proves the question is "How much money can a company make from their products?" Because we know that consoles are

by judge2020 3y ago

Exempting game consoles is funny, because it proves the question is "How much money can a company make from their products?" Because we know that consoles are typically sold at a loss or barely break-even point, at least at launch (and some for their entire lifetime - like with Xbox[1]), with their cut of digital & physical sales funding the continued R&D of the consoles. The only difference with iPhones is that Apple both makes money up-front on the hardware and on the backend with app/game sales. If Apple were to cut the price of the iPhone, or fill it with diamonds (or an actually-valuable rare material like Tungsten) to bring the COGS up to the MSRP, would the EU and Cali suddenly bow to Apple and let them off the hook on being a gatekeeper/anti-R2R practices? 0: https://www.thegamer.com/standard-ps5-break-even-profit-june/ https://www.thegamer.com/standard-ps5-break-even-profit-june... 1: https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/322561-microsoft-says-it-has-never-made-a-profit-on-xbox-hardware-sales https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/322561-microsoft-says-it-...

GabeIsko 3y ago
I think legistlators would make the case that while general purpose computing devices should have right to repair laws, game consoles are machines dedicated to frivolous entertainment and that consumers shouldn't mess with them. It's very silly, but I think it does present activists a schism to exploit. Apple believes that it's phones are a closed ecosystem that they have the sole right to distirbute software and, until recently, provide hardware repairs for. But legislators clearly understand that smart-phones serve an important societal function. Thus they should be subject to right to repair. They will come around eventually on electronic entertainment, There is tons of politcal pressure around farming equipment, and consumer alarm systems (think ring) are due for a whole heap of government regulation.

GabeIsko 3y ago

I think legistlators would make the case that while general purpose computing devices should have right to repair laws, game consoles are machines dedicated to frivolous entertainment and that consumers shouldn't mess with them. It's very silly, but I think it does present activists a schism to exploit. Apple believes that it's phones are a closed ecosystem that they have the sole right to distirbute software and, until recently, provide hardware repairs for. But legislators clearly understand that smart-phones serve an important societal function. Thus they should be subject to right to repair. They will come around eventually on electronic entertainment, There is tons of politcal pressure around farming equipment, and consumer alarm systems (think ring) are due for a whole heap of government regulation.