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But it's not like you can choose in China either :)
by mathverse 2y ago
But it's not like you can choose in China either :)
- TeMPOraL 2y agoIt's not like you can choose in the West either, either :). Number one goal of any software service today is to make its offering exclusive in some way - exclusive content, exclusive deals, exclusive integrations, exclusive set of participants (network effects), going super-broad super fast because infinite VC money lets you keep operating at a loss indefinitely, etc.
- YuukiRey 2y agoYou're making it sound as if the difference in choice between China and western countries is negligible. Surely that's not the case? If every VC company tries to pull you into their walled garden, I can still choose from among a variety of said walled gardens. I could be wrong of course, since I don't know how many AliPay and WeChat competitors there are.
- z2 2y agoThe competitors at the consumer-facing super app level (with mini programs of varying awkwardness) include Meituan, XiaoHongShu, and to an extent, Toutiao, JD.com, and Baidu. But you don't need those gardens as a publisher if you're on Android--ironically because Google services are banned, there are over a dozen app stores to competing to fill the void. Compare that with the western duopoly of Apple App Store and Google Play.
- TeMPOraL 2y ago> If every VC company tries to pull you into their walled garden, I can still choose from among a variety of said walled gardens. When they play it right, you're forced to choose all of them, or at least a significant subset of them, so that their partially overlapping offering add up to the actual thing you need.
- herewulf 2y agoAh, modern video streaming services and every restaurant's special snowflake app.