dantheman827

dewme said:

I really hope we don't end up in a "race to the bottom" with app stores. I remember a time when we had full service department stores staffed with people who actually could help you with purchase decisions by being knowledgeable about the products they were selling. These middlemen in the sales channel added a bit to the cost but they also added value for most shoppers.

Apple's App Store adds value, both in terms of establishing a high level of confidence that the app does what it says it does and that it doesn't leave poop skid marks all over you or your device. The moderated review system helps separate the wheat from the chaff. Is it perfect? No, but it's more than worth the added cost we're paying for the apps we buy from the App Store, even when they are free.

The race to the bottom in other "stores" has left us with Amazon and its sketchy review process, Super Walmarts as a dumping ground for China's wares, Big Box-o-Ramas where you get to play warehouse worker for a day, and my personal favorite, a "Dollar" type store on every-other intersection, all staffed by customer service agnostic people who by-and-large have absolutely no knowledge about what they are selling scanning at the POS checkout. We've saved a few dollars by stripping all semblance of professionalism and customer service out of the sales channel so we can maintain the lowest possible pricing and by building all products wherever and by whomever it's as cheap as humanly robotically possible.

I'm just not feeling the need for yet another institution that has served customers so well descending into the crappification tarpit that all races to the bottom eventually end up in.  

You don't have to shop at these stores, there are other ones available with more knowledgeable staff, and usually they sell at a higher markup.

The difference is you have that choice with retail, but with iOS your only choice is the App Store.

rob53 said:

ronn said:

No mention that AEI is a rightward corporate puppet of a think tank. Of course they'll side with corporate interests. This isn't about protecting consumers. It's about protecting profits by any means necessary.

Fine, then who has consumer’s interests? Probably nobody. 

Which is why you need to contact your senators to express your opinion on the bill, they need to hear from people who actually use these devices, not just the corporate shills that want to prevent anything like this from ever passing.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/s2710/comment

I'm personally for this bill mostly... I don't like the part about forcing store owners to allow alternative payment methods, but I absolutely agree on the aspect of them being required to allow app distribution outside of their store.

Google and Apple are both guilty here, Google blocks device manufacturers from bundling stores that weren't made by the manufacturer, Apple has the power to block any app from the majority of the US mobile market and have abused this power recently with game streaming and most recently by removing iDOS2 from the App Store after having been available since 2014.

On the Apple side, requiring a side channel for users to install software would take care of those issues.

On the Google side, they absolutely shouldn't be able to prevent device manufacturers from making deals with other companies to include their software inside the OS image.

I call BS, this think tank is probably funded by Google / Apple

Do I agree with forcing companies to allow other payment methods inside of their App Store? Absolutely not.

Do I think developers should be able to publish software outside of the App Store that Apple deems unsuitable for it? Absolutely, yes!

Customers having a side-channel will allow developers to publish software that Apple doesn't want on the App Store, it will allow apps like emulators, game streaming, Kodi, "adult" apps, and any software that Apple may decide they don't want available to iOS users in the future.

Them blocking game streaming is  anti-trust and I don't know how they haven't been sued for it.

Them blocking emulators serves no purpose for the consumer other than to encourage them to buy new games on the App Store, possibly ports of the old games they already own copies of.

I don't think spatial audio requires AirPods, at least not for Apple Music.

I just have a regular pair of Bose QC35II's and I can hear the difference between regular audio and spatial when enabled with the always play atmos setting enabled.

luisfrocha said:

How did the hearing confirm deeply disturbing behavior if they didn’t let ANYONE fully answer any of the questions? As for Apple, I still can’t understand how they can be considered a monopoly if they don’t control the smartphone market? Or how charging 30% is being abusive, when servers, bandwidth, development, et al, costs money, plus any company is trying to make money out of their products. Is there a company out there that sells a product and foregoes absolutely all profits? I doubt it. And if there’s one or some, I doubt they survive for long.

Apple has 58.78% of the mobile market in the USA