There are a lot of people in this industry that think that Apple should and will prevail because of the history of this model. We’ve also seen this movie before and it’s not like iOS and Android are the end of history. There will be new platforms.
The last thing we want is for App stores to be declared public regulated utilities. That would be a way to enshrine in law there are no new platforms for 50 years.
> There are a lot of people in this industry that think that Apple should and will prevail because of the history of this model.
I'd argue most of us are fed up with apple.
> it’s not like iOS and Android are the end of history. There will be new platforms.
No there won't be. Apple and Google have won this market for decades. This is why we have to fight for our rights to use our devices and distribute our software.
> The last thing we want is for App stores to be declared public regulated utilities.
That's what all of us should want. Stallman warned about this happening.
Fwiw, I can tell you're typing on an idevice because of the smart quotes. I've noticed this demographic tends to give Apple too much credit and ignores the evils they perpetrate against our industry and computing freedom.
I'm old enough to remember Stallman in the 80's and 90's and, thankfully, his version of freedom is one that the market has rejected in favor of a different sort of freedom: actually usable products and ecosystems. Most people are willing to tradeoff quite a lot for that. That's not evil, that is free choice.
His vision of freedom has worked in one area: where the users and developers greatly overlap, such as server software.
> Fwiw, I can tell you're typing on an idevice because of the smart quotes. I've noticed this demographic tends to give Apple too much credit and ignores the evils they perpetrate against our industry and computing freedom.
Sadly, the other mobile device is slightly more open but comes from the second worst company wrt to privacy.
So if i have to choose from two bad alternatives, I'll choose the one that at least works.
I was referring to engineers. I've had the top upvoted comment in several of these Apple commentary threads and the responses tend to share my sentiment.
The average consumer doesn't understand the nuance of the issue; computing freedom doesn't weigh in on their purchase decision. Apple having a good product and Apple behaving as anticompetitive platform fascists have little to do with one another.
This is why we need to take the matter out of the hands of consumers and put it into the DOJ's care.
