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this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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I think people are ignoring looking at this through the lens of anti-competitive behavior. Right now there is an alternative, yes. But Apple continues to grab the marketshare in the US (and some Asian and EU markets). However, there is no guarantee that will be forever. Sure, they support SMS now, but again, no guarantee that'll continue to last.
Apple has displayed on numerous occasions that they do not care about interoperability with other platforms and have even been outright hostile and aggressive against them. Just look what happened when some kid figured out how to make iMessage work on any other platform. Sure, that kid's solution was hacky, but he was 16 years old. If one kid can do it, then there's absolutely no justifiable reason seasoned software engineers can't figure out a secure solution.
It astounds me that there are so many people defending any company that not only encourages walled gardens, but in some cases aggressively enforces it. Yeah there are alternatives, but people are lazy and seek convenience. iMessage just works by default, and so many folks get annoyed or even sometimes confused when non-Apple users ask them to use a 3rd party app to communicate with modern features instead of being stuck with SMS's severe shortcomings.
That's why I think the DOJ is justified in this. Because it is anti-competitive behavior.
Reminder that Apple has a well documented history of intentionally slowing down devices, reducing battery life artificially, and bricking jailbroken or even just lightly repaired phones. They're a malicious company that deserves to get reigned in.
Last Apple product I owned was an iPhone 3. It forced installed the Version 4 software and bricked my phone. The folks at the Apple store claimed the only solution was to upgrade my device.
I went Android after that and never looked back.
Which, as a Mac user who lived through the 90s, is some bullshit. Apple wouldn't have survived if they couldn't reverse engineer Microsoft stuff to get it to work with Macs. They relied on open standards to survive, and now they're being assholes about other people wanting open standards.
I've been a fanboy for decades and even I'm looking forward to the DOJ taking them down a peg.
I also want the DOJ to peg Apple.