tjwolf

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tjwolf
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  • China sees no reason to keep iPhones if WeChat is banned

    tjwolftjwolf
    Isn't this piece a bit of a no-op given that, as others have already pointed out, the US government has already stated that the ban is only for the US App Store?
    hippowatto_cobra

  • Nobody will win the Apple versus Epic Fortnite battle, not even consumers

    tjwolftjwolf
    ArianneFeldry said:
    How would consumers not win? Say Epic wins and they get the fee reduced, the ability for direct payments, or more hopefully, we get full sideloading on iOS. For the first situation we could get cheaper apps, as developers could reduce the price of the apps themselves or the price of In App Purchases, something good for the consumer. For the second we got proof that it would be better for the consumer, as the price of V-Bucks was cheaper with the option for directly purchasing the V-Bucks from Epic rather than through Apple's processor. For the third consumers wouldn't be beholden to the App Store. Stadia and Xcloud would be usable on iOS, Much more open source development could occur on iOS because developers wouldn't have to subscribe to a $100 fee to host their apps on the store. Hell, with sideloading we could get app stores that actually show off more than regurgitate the top apps of each category.
    Consumers would not win because many of them bought Apple's products with the explicit understanding that its apps are safer by being reviewed/inspected in the App Store.  So if your third argument (Apple being forced to allow other app stores) came to pass, this extra safety net would be gone.  I don't want to argue how much extra security a single App Store adds (but basic logic would suggest a house with one door and one key is more secure than a house with multiple doors and multiple keys), but the fact is that many customers would feel less secure!

    Indie developers or at least those who currently get to distribute their apps on the App Store for free might not be winners either.  If the big boys like Epic refuse to pay their fair share, what's to prevent Apple from no longer letting apps deploy for free and/or charge more to those who must still pay?

    The fact of the matter is that the CEOs of these big software houses would like to paint Apple as a monopolist abusing his monopoly..  But they're just throwing around words trying to get the public on its side.  How is Apple's App Store a monopoly?  Look up the definition - a monopolist is someone that's gotten to a dominant position in a market.  The word "dominant" implies there were at least two participants in said market - otherwise how did this one player become "dominant"?  Apple created the iPhone and a place from which iPhones could get software.  Apple simply decided that it would also allow other software makers, provided they followed a set of rules, to become available to those iPhones.  Software makers won because for a smaller fee than they previously paid to market and distribute to physical stores, they could sell to a large user base.  Apple won because more software makes their iPhones more useful - in turn causing more iPhone sales.  The customer won because they could get software from a single place, secure in the knowledge that software available from Apple's App Store was free of malware.
    Apple created and manages a store.  It has every right to decide what it sells in that store as long as those decisions aren't discriminatory!  Again, how is that a monopoly?   Arguing that Apple is a monopoly is akin to calling every store in the country a monopoly because the store owner gets to decide what to put on their shelves, instead of the manufacturers.
    dewmesvanstromPizzakoerierjdb8167SpamSandwichDogpersonBeatsspock1234FileMakerFellermcdave

  • Apple ordered to pay PanOptis $506.2M for infringing LTE patents

    tjwolftjwolf
    wizard69 said:
    Apple gets caught again stealing somebody else IP and then cries about it.    Sorry but PanOptis owns those patents for the same reason Apple owns patents, that is to make money.   Frankly this is just another example of why I'm really beginning to believe that Apple needs to go to hell for awhile.   I like a lot of stuff Apple makes but they are digging a big whole due to their lack of ethics.   Frankly they should have left China years ago once it was realized that China has practices as hideous as the Nazi's.  I've lost a lot of faith in Apple of late.
    And you know these patents well enough to know that they are valid?  Probably not.  And judging by the number of jury judgements coming out of East Texas which later get overturned, neither do the juries there.  Yes, Apple has been found guilty on appeal sometimes, so they're not always innocent, but your blanket statement is pretty off-base too.

    Your comment about Apple leaving China: put your wallet where your mouth is - boycott every manufacturer that does business in China.  They'll find you naked and starved to death in your apartment :-)  Apple goes way beyond what other companies do in at least requiring better work conditions for its workers.
    narwhallkruppkillroymuthuk_vanalingamflyingdprevenantmwhiteaderutterroundaboutnowFileMakerFeller

  • US trying for 'clean network' by banning 'untrusted Chinese apps' like WeChat, TikTok

    tjwolftjwolf
    razorpit said:
    p-dog said:
    One word: “gaslighting”!

    Well, ok, maybe a couple more: “childish vengeance” - especially against TikTok K-Poppers for spoiling the Toddler-in-Chief’s pro-COVID Tulsa rally.
    LOL, no. More like TikTok harvesting data from US citizens, but nice try.
    Of course that's what the Administrations *says*.  Just as with Huawei, there's are accusations of wrong-doing - in order to support its actions - without any proof that such wrongdoing actually took place.  To this day, there has been no evidence presented that Huawei snooped on its networks, much less send such information back to China.  Sadly, with the POTUS lying publicly on a daily basis, *nothing* this Administration says can be trusted.

    Before someone suggests that there *is* evidence because the UK & Australia have agreed with the US' assessment, I will point out that both countries are economically and ideologically tied to the US - countries that are not beholden to the US, like Germany, have found no evidence at all.  Heck, even the UK said there was no evidence until the US had a few more words with them and they 'folded'.

    Not saying TikTok or WeChat or even Huawei are innocent, but what is supposed to separate the US from countries like China is that here, everyone is innocent until proven guilty.  Until Trump came along, "well they're doing it..." wasn't a good enough reason for us to stoop to the same level.
    DAalsethhlee1169Ofermuthuk_vanalingamFileMakerFelleravon b7watto_cobra

  • Jony Ive delayed Apple's AR headset project over design concerns

    tjwolftjwolf
    prismatics said:
    asterion said:
    When Apple becomes technology-led rather than design-led we'll know that the spirit of Apple — of Steve — has finally left.
    Apple has always been about excellence in human-centred design.
    More like shareholder-led.
    Clearly nonsense.  If Apple was shareholder led, it would be creating products cheapest possible off-the-shelf components and with the highest possible profits in order to 'maximize shareholder value'.  Shareholders would have made more money in the short term - and Apple wouldn't be the powerhouse it is today.  It's the UX and perception of quality/security/simplicity that made Apple what it is today.
    muthuk_vanalingamcornchipasdasdGG1Scot1chaickaanantksundaramJWSCwatto_cobrafastasleep