Mozilla says Apple’s new browser rules are “as painful as possible” for Firefox
Mozilla says Apple’s new browser rules are “as painful as possible” for Firefox
Mozilla is “extremely disappointed.”
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smells like legally actionable monopolistic behavior. apple clearly needs to be broken up... when was the last time we did that?
That was literally the point of this ruling. The EU only has the power to enforce things in the EU and they can't force Apple to act differently outside of it.
Bit the EU could still go nuclear and just refuse to let apple trade I the EU. It's not an EU company and it doesn't make products in the EU.
Financially it doesn't care about apple being able to sell there
Great point.
This is why Americans have no consumer protections; they're the ones fucking everyone.
They're fucking themselves. In the EU the EU, not the US, is sovereign. Apple has to follow EU rules, but again, only with the EU.
Ugh... I mean, they could, but the fact is I guarentee you many members of the EU commission and parliament themselves use these products, and they are popular in the EU, just not as overwhelmingly so as in the US. Ultimately, that wouldn't really fly in a democracy and, as much as I may hate apple, for good reasons.
Yeah, I don't think they read the article... Sovereignty only applies, well, in the bloc or nation.
Probably like 15-20 years ago when Microsoft was forced to de-bundle IE with Windows.
Serious dumb question, how is it considered a monopoly? What forms the monopoly?
The company? If so, what is the proposal? Apple HW team is separate company from SW team? Apple phones and Apple computers are separated?
The app store? There's only one Xbox store on the Xbox, one Nintendo shop on the switch or Wii. It wouldn't make sense to require supporting competition on your hardware. Did N64 games work on the Sega Genesis?
What is constitutes the monopoly and what's the proposed fix?
I'd say that forcing Apple to make it easy to install other operative systems in their hardware would be a good start. And yes, making firmware available for those.
If Apple were to be splitted, I'd separate the whole iPhone branch from the rest of the company.
The app store? There's only one Xbox store on the Xbox, one Nintendo shop on the switch or Wii. It wouldn't make sense to require supporting competition on your hardware. Did N64 games work on the Sega Genesis?
those had enough competitors and weren't the richest companies in the world. Although if it was my decision, I'd force them to open the hardware up too and allow third party software not approved by the manufacturer.
People are paying for the hardware, they should own it and not be imposed artificial limitations.
Did N64 games work on the Sega Genesis?
No, but Playstation games did https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleem!#Bleemcast! And Sony sued them but failed
Here's the section for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
Bleemcast! is an independently developed commercial emulator by Bleem! that allows one to load and play PlayStation discs on the Sega Dreamcast. It is compatible with most Dreamcast controllers and steering wheels, and leverages the Dreamcast's superior processing power for enhanced graphics. It was created by using the MIL-CD security hole found in the Dreamcast BIOS.
Good bot!
That's a fucking great bot!
Indeed, never seen it do that trick before, very cool
This is so sad to read... It makes me so angry that even when they won several lawsuits, Sony could just drive them out of business by suing them some more, and threatening stores that wanted to sell their software.
Apple doesn’t have a monopoly they have a platform that a lot of other organisations (including Mozilla) depend on. The EU has legislated restrictions for any platform that is in that position.
They drew a line in the sand for what size a platform needs to be for this new legislation to apply and Xbox isn’t big enough.
Allowing different markets seems like the only alternative to side loading/homebrew. It was easier to develop games back in the day when you didn't have too grovel to the device company overlords, this regulation just takes us back to that (sort of).
It doesn't, the poster just doesn't like Apple (neither do I) and those are apparently magic words for "stop this company I don't like."
Well, not really, because you could use android, and it commands 70% of the global market share
Also, the way the law is, you have to have both a monopoly & also be causing substantial harm to the public. I.e. you can have a monopoly if it's really nice and more like a public utility. So after the Microsoft antitrust case (for basically same thing), it's been very hard to justify breaking up tech companies or banks
If a company acquires its monopoly by using business acumen, innovation and superior products, it is regarded to be legal; if a firm achieves monopoly through predatory or exclusionary acts, then it leads to anti-trust concern
For example, business can defense that its business conducts bring merits for consumers
(Wikipedia)
What happened with Microsoft browser tie ins antitrust?
Ultimately, the Circuit Court overturned Jackson's holding that Microsoft should be broken up as an illegal monopoly. However, the Circuit Court did not overturn Jackson's findings of fact, and held that traditional antitrust analysis was not equipped to consider software-related practices like browser tie-ins
So in short, Apple's legal / business strategy here is totally solid. Arguably helps users, defended by precedent, and doesn't dominate market share. Of course they have to debate all this
if a firm achieves monopoly through predatory or exclusionary acts, then it leads to anti-trust concern
Hey, ChatGPT ...?
Closed Ecosystem: Apple is known for its closed ecosystem, which can limit users' choices. For instance, iOS users can only download apps from the App Store, and Apple tightly controls the app approval process.
Proprietary Connectors: Apple often uses proprietary connectors and cables, such as the Lightning port, which can be inconvenient for users who want more universal standards like USB-C.
Repairability Issues: Apple products are often criticized for being difficult to repair. For example, the company discourages third-party repairs and designs its products with components that are challenging to replace.
To be fair, USB-C didn’t exist when Lightning was introduced, and it was vastly superior to Micro-USB.
It doesn’t really have any reason to exist now…
Agreed with your other points though!
I have an old iPad that I try to reuse for another purpose and all the locks to stop me to keep using it make it such a pain in the butt, when the alternative is simply to enable developer mode on an Android tablet.
Thankfully I remembered when buying a laptop and skipped the very enticing M-series hardware, because in 5-7 years that thing is a brick destined for the landfill.
To be fair, USB-C didn’t exist when Lightning was introduced
Hmm, I wonder why that was?
Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector, created and designed by Apple Inc. It was introduced on September 12, 2012
Design for the USB-C connector was initially developed in 2012 by Apple Inc. and Intel.
So Apple helped develop USB-C but failed to integrate it into their products for a decade. Now, why would they do that?
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(connector)
Because it’s not a superior connector. Lightning is better as a purely charging port. It’s less fragile and doesn’t have a million competing implementations. One of the most frustrating things about USB-C is you can’t be sure if a cable is actually going to work.
Here's the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:
Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector, created and designed by Apple Inc. It was introduced on September 12, 2012, in conjunction with the iPhone 5, to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector. The Lightning connector is used to connect Apple mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, and iPods to host computers, external monitors, cameras, USB battery chargers, and other peripherals. Using 8 pins instead of 30, Lightning is much smaller than its predecessor. The Lightning connector is reversible.
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Its USB 2 speeds, so no
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Obviously it would be updated? Why would it be obvious when Apple hasn't updated it at all, it was introduced in the Iphone 5 where it had USB 2 speeds, the Iphone 14 also has lightning connection and has..... USB 2 speeds.
10 years and no update. Seems more like you liking Apple to mucb to think rather then us hating them too much.
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Ah right, obviously you would change the core specs, how stupid of me
it feels better
that's based on nothing. technically, it's inferior in every way.
Are you telling me that an 11 year old connector doesn't hold up to midern standards? Obviously, i meant if it also would get updates, there are also USB-C cabels that are technically inferior to modern cables.
So basically you would want every device to use a nonexistent updated lightning just because "it feels better"? Are you aware that lightning is a proprietary connector?
Additionally, USB-C debuted only two years later than lightning, so age is no excuse here.
Additionally, USB-C debuted only two years later than lightning, so age is no excuse here.
but then please also compare 2014 USB-C to Lightning and not 2024 USB-C > youre also not comparing Mini-B (from 1998 with USB 1.1) to USB-A (from 2017 with USB 3.2) you have to stay in the same time period if you wanna make a fair comparison since I am talking about it connector itself.
just because “it feels better”?
yes, it fells better because it has way tighter tolerances > USB-C can be everything from the nicest feeling connector if you're lucky and get the perfect cable+connector to the wabblyest mess that barely holds the cable if you're unlucky. And it only gets worse over time because the connection of USB-C is purely based on friction (which wears out over time) and lightning uses friction + it "snaps into place" with its grooves on the sides. Another thing I've noticed (since I carry around both my private Android phone (with USB-C) and an iPhone for work) is that the lint build up on USB-C is way higher then on lightning and cleaning it is a bit more annoying because of its "weird" choice of design that both the connector and the cable are both male and female (obviously only a problem on phones or other devices you carry around with you)
Are you aware that lightning is a proprietary connector?
yes, but that doesn't mean that I cant believe that its the superior connector (not used USB standard), to give you another example: I believe that Apples HomeKit is currently the best Smart Home standard for an average person (Matter is in theory better but it was more of a paper launch so we will see how many companies actually support it) simply because all devices are required to work without a server or internet connection and before anyone says anything, yes Home Assistant is also great but can require a lot of tinkering + some kind of server (like a raspberry pi) so I would more put it in a enthusiast grade tier and not average consumer.
So basically you would want every device to use a nonexistent updated lightning
actually no, the "one connector for everything" dream is great and I would love it to be true but we are at a point (and I don't see it becoming any better in the future) where yes we have one connector for most things but the cables are such a hot mess where you have no idea if the cable can actually do what you want it to do because USB-C can be everything from USB 2.0 to USB4 v2.0 (without the need to comply with everything that is in the spec), Thunderbolt 4 or even a power only cable without any easy way to differentiate them.
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see, apples a hard one… i usually agree with breaking companies up, but most of apples value comes from their extremely tight integration. would that be possible if they were separate? i don’t know - i wouldn’t want to lose the value that i get from apple products
like, how would that work?
you’d usually split like hardware and software, but we have m series chips and macos working so damn well because they collaborated really closely
or iphone, mac, homepod? airdrop between devices, airplay, etc is pretty seamless and i’m not sure how well that’d work if they were separated… and again the m series chips are there because they planned for scaling up an iphone to mac size quite a while ago
retail maybe - that could be a good option, but honestly probably a drop in the ocean and wouldn’t solve anything
perhaps if they separated app store from the rest of apple, or music - like a services division? they’re not so tightly integrated (yet)
or perhaps they should just be separated and be made to deal with it - then we would hope they don’t get a bunch of shit business majors in to run them who don’t understand apple and want to make their turf as profitable as possible… but that always ends up happening eventuallly
you’d usually split like hardware and software, but we have m series chips and macos working so damn well because they collaborated really closely
You don't need to split the OS, it's the App store that needs to be split out, and web browser to be free to choose like in Windows and Android. Microsoft had a judgement on that when they were a monopoly, so they were legally required to offer alternative web browsers equal access on Windows.
And yet, Microsoft is trying to push Edge down windows users‘ throat…
It’s not quite as bad as effectively not allowing other browsers but it’s not far behind. Apple is less obnoxious than that on macOS. They won’t beg for you to use Safari
If only they'd cut the shit with iMessage
When does Apple beg you use iMessage?
At least with Edge it's not disrupting the market by pushing an inferior rendering engine, like they did in the IE era. That by itself held the web back a good couple of years, and they were fined for abuse of their monopoly.
But at any rate, all of this is whataboutism - the issue is with Apple's abuse of their position right now.
Oh yea, they absolutely do and I’m glad the EU is forcing them to open up. I personally prefer Safari, so I'm mainly looking forward to the sideloading but that didn’t mean that the rest of the world shouldn’t be able to install a real firefox or chrome.
In all honesty, I can understand the browser engine lockdown less than the appstore lockdown. There’s some point to the argument, that sideloading might open the door to viruses, etc. but the browser argument is based on battery life. It’s not 2010 anymore, phones can handle chrome…
Integration between products can be done well through standards and public apis. Apple just doesn't expose this functionality to other developers because they want you stuck in their system because of the benefits of the integration between products.
apple fanboys are horrible.
Because they have counter arguments or because they like stuff that you don’t?
no, its because they come up with all sorts of egregious and nonsensical arguments to defend apple no matter the shitty thing they do.
if an apple product was killing babies they would bend over backwards to justify how it cant be apples fault.
their marketing did a number on peoples head, in a scary fucking way.
no way i would ever justify the shitty things google does just because I use a fork of their os on my shitty phone.
they come up with all sorts of egregious and nonsensical arguments
In the first sentence, and then
if an apple product was killing babies
in the very next…
If Apple users are horrible, logic like this ensures that “fanboy” haters remain a tier worse.
you are bending over backwards to misinterpret what i said, and you prove my point somewhat.
They didn’t bend over at all. You literally made a ridiculous argument while complaining about other people doing that.
You really think if Apple killed babies people would be ok with that? Of course you don’t.
exaggeration is commonly used as a figure of speech.
I mean, yeah, turns out that when you are in a quasi monopolistic position in many different markets and you get to decide the rules for all of your competitors you can absolutely integrate your "ecosystem" very smoothly. Go figure.
Their stubbornness on this makes the software/hardware divide the most obvious and a good place to start. Right now they're keeping the hardware hostage to benefit first party software and exclude everyone else's. That clearly has to change.
has anyone attempted using right-to-repair laws to gain direct access to the hardware they purchase? i like the idea of purchasing a phone i can do whateverthefuck i want with
What right to repair laws? The one's we've been trying to make are barely even there yet.
yeah, the u.s. didnt even force them into a standard port.
other places than the u.s.
Just an opinion, but if they were forced to use open standards between products then it would still be easy to tightly integrate features between the various "companies". The problem is this would also allow everyone else to play alongside them, meaning Apple would no longer have a monopoly on such things, and the open standards might even gasp be used by other operating systems. But what do I know about Apple products, they may already be using open standards?
"Tight integration" means the company's software works well with their other software. It doesn't mean locking out all others, whether they integrate well or not.
This argument is dumb, open up the specs, APIs, etc and allow integration with their products. There's no reason only Apple should be able to write software for these products. The specification makes the product appear seamless, there's no reason it couldn't remain so if others developed or manufactured for the platform.
If there's any company that doesn't need to be broken up, it's Apple. They only really have 3 core functions: hardware, software, and cloud services. And the cloud services really only matter to people using their hardware and software.
A better approach for Apple specifically are pro-consumer regulations. Breaking them up seems unnecessary to me.
Breaking up the music, tv, news, arcade, banking, and possibly cloud storage branches makes more sense to me than simply divorcing hardware from software. Not that I see any reason to do that since competition for those services already thrives on Mac/iOS.
You seem to have forgotten that there were Safari and iTunes for Windows, and QuickTime player (for whatever reason everything was associated with that on our PC in my childhood, so I didn't know it's Apple) too.
There's nothing in any of their services which would make them useless outside of the ecosystem, provided Apple doesn't intentionally kill itself with behaving stupid.
Actually if that breakup happens, then maybe in like 10 years something decent may come out of it.
I'm fine with Apple retaining interoperability between their first party software products, they just need a way to bypass the walled garden. If they have sideloading (everywhere and without restrictions) and ideally also bootloader unlocking, they provide a sanctioned path around the walls of their ecosystem and now it's up to the user to choose to leave that garden. If the user is comfortable there, they can stay. Trying to fuck over sideloading is the issue here. I'm fine with the App Store being restrictive if there's a way around it, and simply sideloading an app shouldn't break the rest of the OS's capabilities.
separate the phone branch from the desktop computer branch. that'd be a good start.
I understand the logic behind not wanting to separate hardware and software, that's the only selling point Apple has over any other manufacturer. So just make the iPhone a different company.
That’d ruin what makes Apple products so good. The fact is, people like Apple because everything is connected. It’s one of the largest draw points of apple and would only piss 90% of the users off for no tangible benefit to anyone else.
yep, you have great points. also everythings cloud-y, so no geographic lines to draw ala ma bell. not a ton of diversification.
theyre building a car though?
That doesn't mean jack shit. Just because they have integration, doesn't mean they get a free pass on this shit.
Even if it's broken up de jure: Design and R&D, manufacturing, software, it'll be a just step in the right direction.
There’s no monopoly. Use an Android.