Fatman

fu Gates you held back the entire industry with your monopolistic practices

Apple invented the modern smartphone hardware, OS, app store, development tools, and many of the underlying concepts. After many years they built a successful business and loyal customer base and they allow other companies to share in that success. There was a tremendous cost to develop all that and to continue to maintain it. Does Apple make a profit? of course, as they should for their innovative, successful hard work. Epic is making a profit too - but apparently they feel they want more than a 70% slice to use the Apple platform and tap into this audience. If Epic doesn’t like the rules then stick to consoles and PCs. Epic has gone about his the wrong way, instead of negotiating like big boys they come across as a bratty little kid using tactics to bad mouth Apple. Very foolish, Long term, Epic has more to lose in this battle than Apple - at some point - like all other video games - the Fortnite fad will fade away, then what?

Apple's major priorities include keeping margin high, increasing market share, maintaining control of their ecosystem. I suspect that this initial news and the 'outrage' that follows will bring both money-loving companies to the negotiating table to make things work, where Apple can maintain their priorities and Micro$oft can make more money. I use both companies' products (Office 365, PCs, Xbox) and own shares in each company - I don't like Microsoft, but there is no getting around having to use their products.

It's just one awful Chinese news story after another. We should blow the dust off our hydrogen bomb.... I honestly would never really think that - but China's immoral, arrogant, self centered ways are beyond frustrating - they have destroyed jobs globally and threaten the entire world's economy, health of all people, and health of our planet (anyone read about the 260 fishing boats off the coast of the Galapagos islands raping the world's ocean of fish). Can't they just do the right thing and be benefactors & contributors to the world ... on their own merits?

ShapeshiftingFish said:

I can't help but wonder what exactly would Chinese do with all that silly teens data.

Did you watch/here about the Space X landing? Incredible, nearly flawless. Did you see all the people involved in the operations? Ten years of incredibly difficult research and sharing decades more of learnings with NASA. Do you think any of them have teens at home that use TikTok? Do you think parents SHARE a home network with their teens? Do think the Chinese State owned TikTok app is only about giving teens a free platform to create goofy videos? See where I'm going with this - TikTok is a trojan horse app to steal data.