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Comment by shortcake27 | Hacker News Reader

I think my use of the word “monopoly” is causing people to miss the forest for the trees.

My clients have employees who essentially have two ecosystem options when buying a smartphone - Apple or Google.

I, as a developer, then have to bend to the will of both of these corporations which, no matter how they compete on other things, are just as bad as each other when it comes to developer treatment.

Monopoly, duopoly, whatever - it’s crazy. Why am I uploading my fucking ID to Google, giving them my phone number, which they say “they may contact periodically to ensure the account is still active”, because I distribute private software to a private organisation?

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I'll grant that it's a bit of a pedantic response, though I do genuinely think that it's better not to misuse terms. It also affects what you appear to be calling for as a response -- just because Apple-and-Google are the two major players in a market doesn't mean that antitrust/monopoly laws are the right things to use.

Re: Google, given that you're privately distributing software to a private organization, couldn't you just sideload it onto the Android devices in question? It seems reasonable enough to for them to want you to have a developer account if you're using their infrastructure to distribute these things. But my (minimally informed) understanding is that, unlike Apple, Google doesn't force you to have a signing certificate from them or anything for the software to even run on a device.

Because the barrier to entry for this specific product (smartphone) is incredibly high. Kind of like, if you want to buy a passenger plane, you have to go to Boeing or Airbus.

Does Boeing/Airbus force contractors employed by the airlines who own their planes to jump through crazy hoops and provide all their PII?

If I had an airline as a client and I wanted to change the upholstery on a plane, I don’t think I’d need to have the changes approved by Boeing/Airbus in addition to having my personal data (home address, phone, and ID) sold and used to target me with advertising.

Maybe it is only because Boeing/Airbus cannot figure out how to do that for upholstery. But for software, it is easier to control the changes and hence charge for them.

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