foregoneconclusion

avon b7 said: They are the first attempts at tackling a major problem: the ever increasing dependence of everyday life on digital platforms and the ever increasing abuse by those platforms on everyday life through using dominance to shore up the barriers of entry and stifle competition. 

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iPhone NFC accessbshould never have been limited to Apple. Anti-steering should never have existed. One app store with one company controlling commissions should never have happened. Idem Wallets, WebKit obligations etc. 

People like to throw the "abuse" term around but never provide any evidence that rises to that level.

Example: the EU's $1.8 billion fine per music streaming is centered around anti-steering and they claim that it prevented customers from knowing about cheaper alternatives outside the App Store. The first problem with that claim is that iOS users are not limited to the App Store to get information about apps. They can also use the internet and social media on their iPhone to get information about apps. It really doesn't make sense to focus exclusively on the App Store when it comes to pricing information. The second problem is Spotify. The cheapest version of their app is the ad-supported version that doesn't require a subscription. That version has been available on the App Store since 2008. Only the MORE expensive subscription version requires the customer to go outside the App Store. The third problem is what you see if you look at the music streaming market as a whole. Since Apple Music launched in 2015, the market has continuously grown and Apple Music has not dominated the market. Spotify is the global leader by a wide margin and Apple has a similar market share to Amazon and Tencent.

avon b7 said: Those 'massive' changes were made under pressure to correct (in essence) a situation that was harming EU consumers and should never have been there in the first place. It still is and that's why the possibility of a fine remains.

The EU has never shown harm to consumers. That's one of Apple's complaints in their appeal per the $1.8 billion fine for music streaming services anti-steering. Look at Spotify's growth curve for customers above. Apple Music launched in 2015. Whatever issues might have existed with communicating to customers (who have to provide contact information in order to sign up for the service) certainly didn't have much of an effect on their business.

And remember, the "cheaper" option for Spotify is always going to be the ad-supported version which is free to download and free to use and doesn't involve Spotify paying Apple a dime. Plus, the premium version of Spotify was only more expensive for single year. Prior to that single year and after that single year Spotify never used IAP. 

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-05-apple-appeals-huge-eu-fine.html#google_vignette

The 2017 tax cuts that CEOs used for stock buybacks are due to expire. These are the same tax cuts that the Fed predicted would increase inflation. Go figure…

More proof that the EU will use the DMA to constantly move the goalposts and claim violations. The fact that they’re not going to immediately impose a fine means that the “violation” isn’t really clear in the original language.

Calvinator said:

Listen, I'm as disgusted with Adobe as anybody, but to say Affinity Designer is comparable is just lunacy. Designer's handling of layers is its worst bugaboo. Everything is placed on a new layer, including each letter of text. How can you find or manage anything if you've got hundreds of layers?? Designer doesn't even have a way of moving an object a specified number of pixels. That's great if you don't need precision in your designs. I could go on and on. How do I know all this? I tried Designer for over three years, hoping with each release (including v2) they would wake up and make obvious improvements. Sorry, Designer is one big turd.

???? Affinity Designer does not put each individual letter of text on a separate layer. Click the canvas with either the Artistic or Frame text tools and type away. It will all be on the same layer until you stop typing and select another tool. You can also select 'Pixels' as the measurement for your file under Document Setup and then use the X,Y coordinates in the Transform panel to place items in exact pixel positions.