On the other hand, since there are presumably more Apple Weather users than Dark Sky users, by moving the functionality of Dark Sky into the Apple Weather app, more people will benefit from the features than when Dark Sky was independent.
Dark Sky wasn't even available to purchase in my country previously. But now, thanks to this investment by Apple, I get access to a bunch of great new features in the Weather app via a free software update. Calling this "anti-consumer" and declaring that it should be illegal is, in my opinion, an over simplification.
They block Firefox/Opera in preference to their own, they impose undue costs on Spotify etc. I see a need for separation of pipes and content. Break up the apple App business and it's platform otherwise the market abuse will continue.
But more to the point, Android is backed by Google - a company with a 1T+ market cap. If Google can’t keep up with Apple, it’s not because of lack resources. It’s because Google has the attention span of crack addled flea.
There are ~3.3 million apps on Android. So no, I do not see the possibility of Apple denuding Android of all independent apps as a realistic concern.
> How would you quantify your limit if not one?
I don’t think setting a limit on the number of companies that Apple can acquire is the correct way to frame the question. Instead I think you need to take a look at each acquisition independently and look at things like the percentage of market share they are acquiring, what alternatives exist in the market, etc. I’m fairly sure Dark Sky never had a dominant market share, and plenty of alternative weather apps exist, so I really don’t see this as an anti-trust issue.
I never used Lala, but I have used the iTunes "Sync Library" feature. So, in my case, yes I suppose I benefited from that acquisition.
Not claiming that "we all" benefited. But this seems to be another case where Apple bought some company for its technology, folded it into its own service and made it available to a much wider audience, and then killed off the original service. If you were a happy Lala user, then I think your disatisfaction is justified, and you certainly have my sympathy. But also need to recognize that Apple was able to reach a far wider audience with that technology than Lala did.
[1] https://www.wired.com/2010/04/apple-kills-lala-music-service...