> They should create legislation to control access to all app stores to prevent this rent seeking
as long as there are alternatives, it's the user choice to get into the walled ecosystem. people enjoy the ease of mind of it, and while I'm not among them, I can say I find the play store and the 'apk downloaded from somewhere' experiences both grating compared to the apple store.
a curated store has it's appeal, and it's value. is it 30%? that is for the customer to decide, not the legislator.
> as long as there are alternatives, it's the user choice to get into the walled ecosystem.
Coercive bundling should warrant anti-trust scrutiny, whenever it occurs. It may only seldomly warrant action, but the very ability to coerce counter-parties appears to be a strong indicator that the traded good is not inherently fungible with another offering.
> that is for the customer to decide, not the legislator.
It's not clear to me what basis this claims factual authority beyond your personal understanding of the world.
Alternatively, and equally glib,
That is for society to decide, not the individual.
> It's not clear to me what basis this claims factual authority beyond your personal understanding of the world.
likewise. that why you argue the argument, not the authority behind for a healthy discussion on anonymous forums.
> and equally glib
except I provided an argument for the benefit to the individual, while the whole of your post hinges on appeal to (un)authority
another case in point: all the pc stores exclusives. imagine having to have to install 5 different stores for accessing this or that publisher games on a phone. how can you argue that is pro-customer?
we already know that it is what is going to happen, because it has already happened. and it was not for the better; there was no reduction of prices (if anything, aaa went from 49$ to 69$) and a constant fight for user attention by undercutting each other stores with exclusives. so the price cut reduction did not materialize, and we have to fight against a tide of software spying each other on top of it.
> Coercive bundling should warrant anti-trust scrutiny
fair enough, but it still doesn't mean it has to be incorporated in law, where it gonna stay for a long time and likely used as hammer in all kind of unexpected ways.
> the traded good is not inherently fungible with another offering
or the consumers are happy with the locked platform. those who aren't, after all, can already sideload to their android. this seems more of a case of a minority wanting a cake and eat it too, not a real issue with predatory behavior.
as long as there are alternatives, it's the user choice to get into the walled ecosystem. people enjoy the ease of mind of it, and while I'm not among them, I can say I find the play store and the 'apk downloaded from somewhere' experiences both grating compared to the apple store.
a curated store has it's appeal, and it's value. is it 30%? that is for the customer to decide, not the legislator.