AppleInsider said: After arguing iMessage wasn't big enough to count as a gatekeeper service in the EU, Apple managed to get its messaging app removed from compliance with the DMA in September. However, it seems that the European Commission is keen to determine whether those rules should apply at all.
The EU is already moving the goalposts on the "gatekeeper" thing.
What goalpost has moved?
The EU never said that iMessage wouldn't ever be subject to the regulation, they just removed it from the initial gatekeeper list pending investigation.
The goalpost regarding what size of business should be considered a "gatekeeper". iMessage isn't big enough to qualify. So now the EU is entertaining the idea that messaging is somehow different from other digital markets and should have a different set of rules.
So they haven't moved a goalpost then, they're just investigating things.
Goal post is hardly an appropriate term anywhere. It's not as if Apple were deliberately keeping their user numbers low to hit the goal. They want more users.
Is it now the only non-cross platform IM app on the market?
In this day and age, should messaging really be platform specific?
And before you say it, SMS isn't the cross platform side of Messages. It's a completely different system.
As far as IM being a non-cross platform app, so what? If it provides a competitive advantage to Apple--something you seem highly averse to--so what? Aldi products provide a competitive advantage to Aldi, and they are not the same as Wal-Mart products. It's not some major inconvenience to just shop at either one, or to cross the street to get something else.
Of course, when I enter Aldi, no one is trying to lock me in.
Also, your 'so what?' comment is ironic to say the least when part of the thinking is precisely interoperability!
Is it now the only non-cross platform IM app on the market?
In this day and age, should messaging really be platform specific?
And before you say it, SMS isn't the cross platform side of Messages. It's a completely different system.
As far as IM being a non-cross platform app, so what? If it provides a competitive advantage to Apple--something you seem highly averse to--so what? Aldi products provide a competitive advantage to Aldi, and they are not the same as Wal-Mart products. It's not some major inconvenience to just shop at either one, or to cross the street to get something else.
Of course, when I enter Aldi, no one is trying to lock me in.
Also, your 'so what?' comment is ironic to say the least when part of the thinking is precisely interoperability!
As usual, you are applying a different definition standard for Apple, than to others. For you, an Apple lock in is Apple preventing you from switching. But a lock in is actually something that makes you don't want to switch. In no way do iMessage prevent any iOS user from switching to Android or from using a different messaging app.
When you shop at Aidi, the good service, low prices, great product selections and quality name brand serves as attempts by Aidi to lock in their customers. They want to make it so that their customers don't want to switch to some where else where the service might be poorer, prices higher, less product selections, etc.. Which is a good thing that is the result of competition. And we all know competition is good for the consumers. You don't think the people running Aidi are trying to think of ways to keep their current customers from shopping elsewhere? But when Apple offers a great product, with good service, that works across all Apple WiFi devices, for free to their customers, you like to claim somehow that Apple a locking them in and they can't switch and thus Apple is competing unfairly. And is bad for the consumers.
You won't find Costco Kirkland brand bath tissue, paper towels and batteries on Walmart or Target shelves .... will you? Can you think of a why not? Could it be that Costco want consumers to pay for a membership and shop at a Costco, for those popular items.
Lock ins are common with game console platforms. There are exclusive games on all game platforms, that lock in their customers so they will continue to buy the same game platform. Does this mean the customer can't switch to another gaming platform. NO. Not to mention that games on physical media do not work with other gaming console platforms. A lock in for sure. But still, no matter how expensive it might be to buy those games all over again for a different platform, this does not prevent any console gamers from switching gaming platform.
This is also true about rewards points and airline mileage earned with a CC. Those earned points and mileage locks you into using or keeping that credit card. But they don't prevent you from getting rid of the card, they just make it so you don't want to get rid of it.
AFAIK, in nearly all EU countries, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are more popular on iPhones, than iMessage. So just exactly how did Apple lock in any of their users to prevent them from switching messaging service? Or switching to Android? iMessage is only more popular in countries where iOS have around a 50% or more market share. And that 50% or so market share is the result of more than just iMessage.
The EU should focus on higher priority issues. Guess they forgot there's a war on their border. Oh wait a second: there's TWO wars on their borders. Winter is coming, with sanctions on the Russian oil and gas they rely on to keep from freezing to death. Inflation is worse than it is here. France, England and Germany were sent reeling from record heat waves and flooding, killing thousands. Right wing extremist authoritarianism is spreading like wildfires, driven by anti-immigrant fervor.
And their knickers are in a knot about iMessage?
You also left out that the European automakers are about to be swamped by cheap Chinese EV imports and their automakers are going to be unable to compete against this tide. The automotive industry in Europe is a big part of the EU economy.
The fact that they can’t see this coming is mind boggling.
Ah, there's always tariffs. Just ask Smoot & Hawley how well those work!
Comments
Goal post is hardly an appropriate term anywhere. It's not as if Apple were deliberately keeping their user numbers low to hit the goal. They want more users.
Also, your 'so what?' comment is ironic to say the least when part of the thinking is precisely interoperability!