Quick question re Apple and Microsoft
Isn't what Apple doing with the iPad/iPhone and iTunes/AppStore/iBookstore almost the same thing Microsoft did when it bundled InternetExplorer with Windows?
Apple on the other hand, makes a phone that has a controlled market for applications. There isn't a pre-existing competitor there that they are destroying, so it's not really the same.
The success of other smartphones actually works in Apple's favor here. There's nothing wrong with Apple having a monopoly on Apple products. What is wrong would be having a monopoly on all smartphones, then abusing that monopoly to corner the smartphone web browser market.
What Apple is doing, is pretty much the same thing that all of the game console makers do. You can't easily get software for a Wii that Nintendo doesn't approve of... Same with Sony, and, of course, MSFT on the XBOX. [yes, you can buy a Wii game at walmart... just not one that Nintendo doesn't want to license.]
Use a more descriptive title starting with "Ask HN:" and phrase your question in a way that will lead to a discussion rather than a yes/no answer.
I'd suggest: Ask HN: Is Apple following Microsoft's antitrust practices?
It seems to me that by restricting the iPad/iPhone to the iTunes/AppStore ecosystem Apple is acting similarly to Microsoft when they bundled IE and Windows. Am I wrong? What makes them different?
There is a number of different ways you can ask your question, that is just mine and I advise you to checkout the 'ask' page for more, probably better, examples. Also if you haven't yet you should read the guidelines page. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Is Apple letting the better technology win? Or does it let customers vote with their wallets w.r.to their eco-system? Plenty of evidence sites the opposite. They instead want to be the guardians/gatekeeps of content/apps and many times it crossed the line to dictatorship