I can still watch youtube on my fire-tv stick via the browser, once you're on the youtube "website", there is really no difference functionally. Google or Alphabet on the other hand can't get their products onto amazon via any backdoor so Amazon definitely have the upper hand in this fight imho.
Amazon's stance is no different to Apple vs Nokia quite recently, no thought given to the consumer at all.
Kinda murky waters here. Is it okay to ban your competitor’s products from your store? On the one hand Amazon should have the right to stock or not stock whatever products it deems acceptable. On the other hand Amazon is the absolute dominant online retailer so is it restraint of trade for Amazon to ban their competitor from their store arbitrarily? They did it to Apple with the TV and Prime app. They got away with it. No government agency even took a look at it to my knowledge. What if Amazon did this to a start-up or much smaller competitor than Google or Apple? Would anyone care? Just seems weaselly of Amazon to act like this but we don’t know the smoke-filled back room story behind it. Google is no saint either... or Apple.
It seems like a clear cut case of a company with monopolistic power using that power to increase their market share in another market. This is a red flag for anti-trust regulators, and Amazon must know that. But they are powerful and arrogant enough that they just don't care.
If Amazon had any integrity at all, they would allow each line of business to be the best they can be without compromising to help each other. The head of the retail side should be insisting that they sell Google products, because without them their customers are missing out.
It's really Amazon's playground, so it is their rules.
When comparing to Apple, hardware-wise Apple doesn't stock any other phones or tablets in the Apple Stores or offer them online.
Software-wise of course, the App Store doesn't prevent alternatives to core apps from being available.
True, but the Apple Store is unapologetically a store for selling Apple and Apple-related stuff. Amazon purports to be your one-stop retailer for nearly everything.
Seem to recall Amazon having a similar pissing contest with Apple not too long ago. Since we're seeing a repeat, it seems the problem lies with Amazon. Guess they don't like open competition.
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I'm sure Orwell was warning against this type of thing so pretty sure he'd not be proud of it at all.
But I agree with your sentiment. I don't use any hardware from Amazon or Google.
It's really Amazon's playground, so it is their rules.
When comparing to Apple, hardware-wise Apple doesn't stock any other phones or tablets in the Apple Stores or offer them online.
Software-wise of course, the App Store doesn't prevent alternatives to core apps from being available.
Google or Alphabet on the other hand can't get their products onto amazon via any backdoor so Amazon definitely have the upper hand in this fight imho.
Amazon's stance is no different to Apple vs Nokia quite recently, no thought given to the consumer at all.
If Amazon had any integrity at all, they would allow each line of business to be the best they can be without compromising to help each other. The head of the retail side should be insisting that they sell Google products, because without them their customers are missing out.