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Comment by echelon | Hacker News Reader

> The Microsoft tax (later judged monopolistic, too late, as Ray Noorda of Novell confessed to me as had happened to him) killed our PC business.

Do as I say, not as I do.

Apple is every bit as monopolistic as old Microsoft. They need to be forced to open iOS. They sell generic computers you can't run freely, and they're screwing over small businesses that just want to write and sell software.

Prior to iOS, you distributed your program. Now you go through the gatekeeper, follow mundane rules, and pay absurd tax.

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Apple is in no way like Microsoft of old. Microsoft did not build generic computers of their own. Other companies like Gateway, Compaq, HP, Dell or Packard Bell did. The Microsoft tax was the agreement between Microsoft and those companies to install Windows on any and all computers they made and pay licenses for all of them. Since Windows had a 95%+ OS market share every computer manufacturer needed an agreement with Microsoft and no generic PC without a Windows license could be bought.

Apple only forces their software on hardware they manufacture themselves. If you want other software, just buy hardware made by a different company. There are still many of them.

They sell generic computers you can't run freely

So go buy a generic computer that hasn't had Apple's fingers on it. Contrast that to the 90s, when finding a computer without Windows and IE on it was much more difficult. And if you did find one, you'd still pay for a Windows license because that's the kind of deals Microsoft bludgeoned OEMs with.

Prior to iOS, you distributed your program.

And now Apple doesn't allow one to write Android programs? I missed that one.

Your comparison is poor. Starting with the fact that a minority of devices run Apple operating systems.

In the US, iPhone has a 50% market share [1].

Apple taught people that apps should only cost $1 and have free updates for life, meanwhile they reaped profits off developers. That isn't healthy, but Apple doesn't care.

I get that you like your Apple device, but this company is destroying our freedoms, making it harder to run a profitable business, and taking advantage of their market position and customer base.

There isn't a lot of room for competition to grow. Their draconian behavior is staunchly anti-ownership. They have a ball and chain around our ankle.

If iPhone had 5-15% market share, you might have a point. But it doesn't. We're running out of freedoms and breathing room. The giants are taking everything away.

Stop worshiping a dumbass phone and the company "protecting you" by taking away everyone's freedoms. It's a stupid little computer - worth far less than our liberty to write code, distribute it, and reuse/upgrade the things we own as we see fit.

Apple has the advantage in that their particular computer is wildly popular and widely used. All it takes is for the DOJ to come and tell them to lighten up - and that's exactly what we need.

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/236550/percentage-of-us-...

Apple taught people that apps should only cost $1

A big ol' [citation needed] on that one, because from where I stand The Market(tm) taught people that.

Stop worshiping a dumbass phone

You would do well to watch your tone. I'm merely pointing out that the Microsoft of the 90s, who is a convicted monopolist, is nothing like the Apple of 2020 that you're complaining about. Your follow-up doesn't seem to support your point, but rather just further complains about Apple.

> Apple taught people that apps should only cost $1 and have free updates for lift.

Taking a quick glance at my iPad’s Home Screen, I see PCalc, Omnifocus, IA Writer, Overcast, Drafts, Carrot Weather, Soulver, and some more. A mixture of subscription and non-subscription apps. All very high quality and all of which I pay considerably more than one dollar for.

No it's not at all as monopolistic as MS was. MS was the alpha and omega of software at one point, you couldn't get around them if you wanted to sell to consumers or to businesses.

This is not true of Apple, one can build a business and completely ignore them. Google on the other hand, good luck with that.

> This is not true of Apple, one can build a business and completely ignore them.

These days, there is a very, very large class of "potential businesses" that are only realistically realizable as smartphone apps. In my country, iPhones that can only run Apple-approved apps account for over half of the installed base for smartphones, as far as I know.

Making and selling a better smart phone is not as simple as making a better hammer, and there was never such a thing as a hammer that would only work with nails approved by the manufacturer of the hammer you had. This is really a new situation with no pre-tech analogies. We cannot rely on pre-tech laws to cover it. And it's clear that consumers and small businesses are not being protected very well, if at all, from Apple. I should not be forced to be spied on by Apple or Google to park my car, but this is the situation we are in, since there aren't meters in all places in my city, only an app. A lot of supermarkets are developing their own apps for scan + pay, how long before I can pick between Apple and Google when I want to get food? There are more scenarios like this by the day, and in my mind there is no question we will need regulation to address it.

> These days, there is a very, very large class of "potential businesses" that are only realistically realizable as smartphone apps. In my country, iPhones that can only run Apple-approved apps account for over half of the installed base for smartphones, as far as I know.

That doesn't really follow. You've gone from "you can't sell software/hardware without Windows compatibility" to "in the Apple half of the mobile market, you can only do native apps with Apple's blessing". Apple, even in the phone space, does not have anything like the utter market dominance that Microsoft had; Android is in fact a real option. Likewise, although it is more limited, you can in fact do webapps even on an iPhone without Apple's approval.

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