The EU stance and strictness on this is one of the things making me happy to be an EU citizen.
The way we have let manufacturers compete to create the best standard for power adaptors?
Not the hill I’m going to die on, but doesn’t the lack of change kind of prove the point? Is what we have today the absolute best thing we could have? There’s probably room for innovation here. It’s a balance right? Not changing is good but also… it can’t get any better. With consumer electronic devices we’d still be using DVI ports and the red/yellow/white audio video cables had this legislation come into existence only a few years back. Important to remember that.
That being said I think Apple should support USB-C across all devices because it’s just damn good. I was irritated they added the HDMI port back actually. Hopefully they’ll remove it in the future again and just keep USB-C everything.
From what I understand Thunderbolt is actually a pretty good implantation it’s just proprietary for Apple. That’s fine. I also understand Apple’s desire to maintain a minimum level of quality for USB-C cables being plugged into the iPhone. I’m not sure why that’s controversial.
If the EU were as heavy handed 20 years ago as it is today, we'd almost certainly have less bandwidth and slower charging.
in the old days, the government ensured that the physically strong people would not get the best deals because they could force you to give up your product.
This appears to be the modern day equivalent.
This doesn't do anything like that.
from the food we eat, the medicine we take, the cars we drive, the planes we fly, the banks with bank with, and, dare I say, the digital technology we have, the quality of our experience relies 100% on there being strong, non-captured, informed, hands-on regulation that tries on an ongoing basis to correct market failures (for which there is a mountain of damning historical experience)
remove regulation and energy companies will put poison in your car tank and they will destroy the atmosphere, banks will fall apart and your life savings will evaporate, planes will be flown with minimal tests and collapse and you will be inside, techs will pilfer and sell your behavioral profile to the highest bidder
self-regulation is a tool that works in certain circumstances but definitely cannot be relied upon across the board. especially not in oligopolistic conditions where better alternatives will struggle to receive traction. especially not on the face of our economies having ignored entirely the environmental damage of throwaway electronic devices and plastic pollution
what is the risk of veering to the opposite side, actual regulatory overreach, that is somehow gratuitous and does not simply try to correct some market failure? At worst it may delay things here and there. Taking a step back and looking at the outcomes of "the move fast and break things" ideology, that might not be a bad thing at all
Next up: make "side loading" apps a thing.
Do it with these stipulations:
1. Make it easy, part of the normal flow. Not hidden in an obscure panel or behind three or four dialogues.
2. Make it non-scary (no negs from Apple saying you'll destroy your device or safety)
3. Make it so it isn't called something negative like "side loading", but a part of normal user behavior: "download app", "web install", etc.
4. Make it so that Apple can't degrade the app experience for these apps.
If y'all can accomplish that, all will be right with the world again.
Actually I don't have to outlaw things I don't like for myself. I will simply not go skydiving and other people are wellcome to take the risk for themselves.
No one is forcing you to load anything you don't want to. You don't need to force your decision onto everyone. There is a difference between "I don't want to load your code" and "I don't want anyone to have the ability to load your code".
No one is forcing you to stop loading whatever you want on your phone. Just pick a phone manufacturer that allows that. There is a difference between "I want to load anything on my phone" and "I want to load anything on any phone I choose, even from a manufacturer that specifically caters to people who are quite reluctant to load your code unchecked on their phones".
WHY?
I should be able to load anything on any phone THAT I OWN. Even if the manufacturer does not want me to. I bought the Phone. I didn't Rent it. I didn't borrow it. IT IS MY PHONE. Why should the manufacturer dictate what I am allowed to do with the phone?
"My Liberty ends where yours starts." is a great Quote in your bio. Is it just there as decoration or do you believe what it means?
You deserve the freedom to do whatever you want with you device, of course. Jailbreak it if you want. Or throw it away and get another on the free market.
Apple is a private company. They deserve the freedom to create and market a device with the tradeoffs, features and limitations they see fit. Locked down, if they can manage to. Because they are not selling just a device. They are actually selling access to a bunch of services, a platform, a walled garden if you want, for which the device is the entry point, the interface.
And, finally, I deserve the freedom of choice. To choose between open platforms and closed, safe ones, to have both options on the market.
Like when looking for a home: you can buy in the middle of nowhere (and do what you want), rent (and have very limited rights) or buy in a gated community and have certain rights but not unlimited freedom. Because this is true Liberty: when others can freely choose to do things we don't agree with. Like under Capitalism: you can have communist Coops, but under communism you can't have private companies...
Interesting set of priorities.
Just like nobody's forcing a consumer to buy an iPhone if they don't like it, nobody's forcing Apple to do business in the EU.
If the EU wants to "boss around" like they do in this headline, maybe it should ensure having actual EU businesses capable of competing with US ones. But more regulation will surely do it, I’m sure, this time.
Apart from that, I'm not sure I see your point. If Apple left the EU market, their stock would tank, and Google would be delighted to pick up the market share.
Your framing is interesting, by the way. When Apple puts restrictions on its users, that's corporate freedom. When the democratic legislative process of the EU results in restrictions on Apple, that's bullying.
Actually pulling it off through a fake app sounds to me even harder to do.
Guess what apps I have to side load, the apps the Stores do not allow, like Huawei app for my solar panels(iOS users will have to use the website since no side loading for them).
Please other Android users, can you help to fight this FUD? why did you side load apps? Do you see fake links to fake banking of FB apps? Did some big website pushed you to side load their app instead of an app from the store ?
There is a trade off in terms of the economic condition and that can be seen in European salaries and the brain drain which reinforces it. It isn't all good for the longer term, but if a majority of people like it, be careful what you wish for.
It's going to look funny in a few years after the rest of the world moves to better technology.
I've just bought some new iDevices _now_, in order that they come with Lightning ports, rather than the anticipated USB C on the next model.
Specifically because the Lightning port seems the more robust (and easily cleaned) of the two, for a device which will spend a significant chunk of the next 3-5 years in pockets, picking up lint and other dirt.
Relative charging and data transfer speeds seem less of an issue than the practical issues.
I've less concern about USB-C on laptops, tablets, etc. Simply because their operating environment will be less challenging.