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> They are not "hostage" they can leave. Bad choice 1, or bad choice 2 is not really choice. At this point a phone is a utility, as it’s nearly impossible to g

• ben_w 2y ago
  > Bad choice 1, or bad choice 2 is not really choice. While true (and indeed so generalisable that one can say this of e.g. two-party politics), there are phones which ship with other app stores (Samsung's Galaxy Store). Also: so far as I can tell the specific apps you need to get through life are themselves not monetised via the app store — e.g. banking apps, healthcare, and (as I read it) items bought within but not used within apps (such as groceries or travel passes) would not be subject to any commission from Apple.
  • Aeolun 2y ago
    My point was that since most ‘necessary for life’ apps (e.g. corona vaccine app, bank, travel etc) are only offered on one of two platforms, those platforms cannot really be considered a choice.
    • ben_w 2y ago
      Oh, in that case fair point.