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Comment by tingol | Hacker News Reader

The same could be said about 3rd party car mechanics that have MUCH HIGHER stakes (your life behind the wheel), yet it is illegal for car manufacturers to ban someone else from fixing your car. But Apple zealots act like a ending a monopoly on app installation will ruin everything.

If the warning box says THIS IS A BIG SECURITY RISK and you click anyway it's your own choice, but a choice given in every single product and market created by man. A stupid phone is not where you draw the line and give it up.

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Your analogy would apply if 3rd party car mechanics had a history of installing GPS trackers and hidden microphones.

We decided to punish people criminally who betray our trust in that way in physical space, and that usually works well enough that we can have enough of a trust-based society that we can let someone else have unsupervised access to our car for short periods of time.

For a variety of reasons, that trust has completely broken down with cell carriers and app developers. So we have to resort to a feudal system in which we rely on the local Lord to protect our interests.

I hate it too, but I need someone looking out for my privacy and the security of my mobile device. Apple is the best I can find.

The most serious breaches of privacy have been made by governments with backdoors and not some script kiddies... Either way, nothing will be taken away from you if another app store is available. Just continue using the Apple app store as you did before. You're taking away the choice of others just because you feel yours is best.

Apple doesn't have a monopoly.

You're free not to buy an iPhone. Most people don't.

Apple has the majority of the mobile OS market in the US, and more than 3x the App Store revenue that the Play Store has.

But that doesn't matter when it comes to antitrust laws[1]:

> Courts do not require a literal monopoly before applying rules for single firm conduct; that term is used as shorthand for a firm with significant and durable market power — that is, the long term ability to raise price or exclude competitors. That is how that term is used here: a "monopolist" is a firm with significant and durable market power.

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a...

It does have a monopoly on third-party software running on Apple devices.

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