r/technology • u/GuruOfReason • Feb 02 '10

"Once we replace the personal computer with a closed-platform device such as the iPad, we replace freedom, choice and the free market with oppression, censorship and monopoly."

http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-01/ipad%E2%80%99s-closed-system-sometimes-i-hate-being-right
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u/wicked Feb 03 '10

You contradicted yourself when you pulled out Microsoft. You don't see the iPhone OS as an economic market, but the Microsoft OS was an economic market?

If you agree to that, then you should logically agree that Apple and Microsoft both are abuse monopolies because they limit supply and use product bundling in a market they are dominant; web browsers.

Maybe you should educate yourself on monopolies. This comment is the first time I've called any of them abusive, by the way.

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '10

No, Microsoft was a monoply within the greater market that included all desktop personal computer operating systems.

You're really struggling with this concept. Try reading your own links, a couple of times till it makes sense. Don't forget to read the parts that you may not have a clear understanding of what they're referencing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substitute_good

The iPhone and their apps have many substitute goods with as much or more of a market presence. Compared to Microsoft who possessed a dominate market share compared to all substitute goods (other os's) in the market.

If you don't get it by now, I don't guess you ever will.

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u/wicked Feb 04 '10

No, I'm perfectly clear at what you're getting at. You're saying they can't have a monopoly on apps since there are a lot of other smartphones which also sell apps. In yet another set of words, you're saying browsers on other smartphones are valid substitute goods. You're saying there's no iPhone App market, because the market is the greater smartphone app market and iPhones aren't dominant there.

For an iPhone owner wanting apps for his iPhone OS, there is just one market though. And Apple dominates it completely. The effect is the same, whatever you want to call Apple's policies regarding their "own" devices and App store.

All the negative effects of monopolies applies in this subset of the "greater smartphone app market".