4 ms·

The EU Is Reaping What It Sows with the DMA: Uncertainty

9 points by coloneltcb 2y ago

talldayo 2y ago
> Fortunately, because Apple is delaying Apple Intelligence and these other new features in the EU, all of the thriving EU-based smartphone and OS makers can jump in and compete on merit now, without Apple the gatekeeping bully in their way. He says it ironically, but there's literal merit here. No, you cannot announce a $CORPSOFT integration without an escape hatch or reasonable alternative for third parties. Apple can act brazen in places where they won't be scrutinized, but they know their current integration won't pass a smell-test by a rational and unbiased third-party. Plus, I hope Gruber doesn't need to be reminded that Apple chose to exclude these features for the time being, not the EU. Apple could very well release a compliant version of the feature when it eventually exists, they are specifically saying they won't to try and get people to be upset. Minor problem; AI-assistance features are the least-desirable type of software since Clippy and Bonzi Buddy.
- bwb 2y ago
  Lots of people are excited to try these out too. I understand you are not but just wanted to mention that. I am looking forward to seeing how they make the integration helpful and what it might allow.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    Can you not go use ChatGPT now?
    - wmf 2y ago
      It doesn't have access to your data, for example.
    - bwb 2y ago
      I do, but i am curious what Apple can do with integrations and if there is something there.
drooopy 2y ago
To me that is a sign that Apple is about to violate privacy and monopoly laws in order to make their AI tech work. And to be honest, not only do I have next door to zero interest in having generative AI technology integrated into any operating system that I use but I also find the prospect utterly horrifying. I should also add that john grubber's opinion on apple is completely useless and irrelevant as he's been acting as an unofficially PR agency for the company for decades.
- thomassmith65 2y ago
  Gruber certainly is wired differently than some. How he manages to continue posting so regularly is hard to comprehend. Post-Steve Apple gets progressively duller and, on the whole worse, year after year. In olden days, an Apple keynote was the highpoint of my week; now, watching one is as joyful as a traffic jam. Yet, there's Gruber, still churning out awestruck blog posts every week - some 1000 word comment on how the new Airpods Emoji is a stroke of genius; some treatise on why it's in fact a stroke of genius to ship power chargers with shoddier cables, etc. He generally seems like a decent guy, but what he has written for the past decade doesn't seem like the best use of his time.
lxgr 2y ago
> So how is Apple (or Meta, or Google) supposed to launch new features Like any other regulated industry: In a way that complies with regulations...? > Fortunately, because Apple is delaying Apple Intelligence and these other new features in the EU, all of the thriving EU-based smartphone and OS makers can jump in and compete on merit now, without Apple the gatekeeping bully in their way. Apple has a long history of launching features in the US, or even the en_US locale, months or years before the rest of the world, doubly so when they have anything to do with language processing. In my view, they're largely using this opportunity to dunk on EU regulators in a way that they probably hope will agitate EU consumers against them. Not too dissimilar from what Meta is doing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40702886 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40702886 And generally – I realize this puts me in dangerous proximity to an ad hominem, but hopefully my point above can stand on its own – I'm getting more and more frustrated with him lately, so here goes: Gruber is such an insufferable Apple shill. There's literally nothing Apple can do that he won't find a way to spin in a way that makes it look pro-consumer, rather than anti-competition. Here he is on Apple Pay anonymizing payments somehow, when it does no such thing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39844960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39844960 Or here, on Apple "high-quality" Lightning DACs, which he asserts are somehow much more expensive to make than (non-Apple-licensed, and accordingly without access to the Lightning port for anything other than power) aftermarket adpaters/headphones including a Lightning-powered Bluetooth SoC, which by necessity also includes the same kind of DAC... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40539762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40539762 I'd take anything he writes on contentious topics such as this with an appropriate grain of salt.

9 points by coloneltcb 2y ago

> Fortunately, because Apple is delaying Apple Intelligence and these other new features in the EU, all of the thriving EU-based smartphone and OS makers can jump in and compete on merit now, without Apple the gatekeeping bully in their way. He says it ironically, but there's literal merit here. No, you cannot announce a $CORPSOFT integration without an escape hatch or reasonable alternative for third parties. Apple can act brazen in places where they won't be scrutinized, but they know their current integration won't pass a smell-test by a rational and unbiased third-party. Plus, I hope Gruber doesn't need to be reminded that Apple chose to exclude these features for the time being, not the EU. Apple could very well release a compliant version of the feature when it eventually exists, they are specifically saying they won't to try and get people to be upset. Minor problem; AI-assistance features are the least-desirable type of software since Clippy and Bonzi Buddy.

bwb 2y ago
Lots of people are excited to try these out too. I understand you are not but just wanted to mention that. I am looking forward to seeing how they make the integration helpful and what it might allow.
- talldayo 2y ago
  Can you not go use ChatGPT now?
  - wmf 2y ago
    It doesn't have access to your data, for example.
  - bwb 2y ago
    I do, but i am curious what Apple can do with integrations and if there is something there.

drooopy 2y ago

To me that is a sign that Apple is about to violate privacy and monopoly laws in order to make their AI tech work. And to be honest, not only do I have next door to zero interest in having generative AI technology integrated into any operating system that I use but I also find the prospect utterly horrifying. I should also add that john grubber's opinion on apple is completely useless and irrelevant as he's been acting as an unofficially PR agency for the company for decades.

thomassmith65 2y ago
Gruber certainly is wired differently than some. How he manages to continue posting so regularly is hard to comprehend. Post-Steve Apple gets progressively duller and, on the whole worse, year after year. In olden days, an Apple keynote was the highpoint of my week; now, watching one is as joyful as a traffic jam. Yet, there's Gruber, still churning out awestruck blog posts every week - some 1000 word comment on how the new Airpods Emoji is a stroke of genius; some treatise on why it's in fact a stroke of genius to ship power chargers with shoddier cables, etc. He generally seems like a decent guy, but what he has written for the past decade doesn't seem like the best use of his time.

lxgr 2y ago

> So how is Apple (or Meta, or Google) supposed to launch new features Like any other regulated industry: In a way that complies with regulations...? > Fortunately, because Apple is delaying Apple Intelligence and these other new features in the EU, all of the thriving EU-based smartphone and OS makers can jump in and compete on merit now, without Apple the gatekeeping bully in their way. Apple has a long history of launching features in the US, or even the en_US locale, months or years before the rest of the world, doubly so when they have anything to do with language processing. In my view, they're largely using this opportunity to dunk on EU regulators in a way that they probably hope will agitate EU consumers against them. Not too dissimilar from what Meta is doing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40702886 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40702886 And generally – I realize this puts me in dangerous proximity to an ad hominem, but hopefully my point above can stand on its own – I'm getting more and more frustrated with him lately, so here goes: Gruber is such an insufferable Apple shill. There's literally nothing Apple can do that he won't find a way to spin in a way that makes it look pro-consumer, rather than anti-competition. Here he is on Apple Pay anonymizing payments somehow, when it does no such thing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39844960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39844960 Or here, on Apple "high-quality" Lightning DACs, which he asserts are somehow much more expensive to make than (non-Apple-licensed, and accordingly without access to the Lightning port for anything other than power) aftermarket adpaters/headphones including a Lightning-powered Bluetooth SoC, which by necessity also includes the same kind of DAC... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40539762 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40539762 I'd take anything he writes on contentious topics such as this with an appropriate grain of salt.