US vs. Apple (March 2024)

[PR1Berske]

Attorney general outlines antitrust lawsuit against Apple
CNN link:

BBC Quote:

Answering the last question at the news conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the lawsuit was not aimed at every kind of activity Apple does, but rather "aimed at exclusionary conduct".

And then he gave the stage to Jonathan Kanter, an assistant attorney general, for more details.

Kanter said competition made devices and services more private and more secure, and “our complaint explains very clearly that legal exclusionary conduct that Apple has engaged in is not necessary to protect privacy”.

He concluded: “Our complaint explains in many instances that Apple's conduct has made its ecosystem less private and less secure.”

Apple quote:

Apple called the lawsuit “wrong on the facts and the law”. It said it “will vigorously defend against it.”

It said: ““At Apple, we innovate every day to make technology people love — designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users,” the company said in a statement. “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.”

 

[cupid_stunt]

It should have happened years ago.

 

[mwgdrwg]

Magical.

 

[editor]

On a related note, Marques Brownless is rightly most vexed at Apple's total rip off pricing strategy for its laptop,

 

[pbsmooth]

It should have happened years ago.

this is the 3rd time the US has tried...

 

[NoXion]

Hopefully Apple gets to eat shit over this.

 

[two sheds]

Sneaky fuckers eh

When messages are presented in those telltale green bubbles, "the conversation is not encrypted, videos are pixelated and grainy, and users cannot edit messages or see typing indicators," Garland said. "As a result, iPhone users perceive rival smartphones as being lower quality because the experience of messaging friends and family who do not own iPhones is worse—even though Apple is the one responsible for breaking cross-platform messaging."

Apple’s green message bubbles draw wrath of US attorney general

RCS and green bubbles in iPhone-to-Android texts play role in Apple/DOJ battle.

arstechnica.com

 

[Saul Goodman]

I despise everything about Apple, but there is an easy solution... Don't buy their products.

 

[two sheds]

I'm with you there, although you'll need to convince everyone else too.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I despise everything about Apple, but there is an easy solution... Don't buy their products.

I made that decision over thirty years ago.

 

[MickiQ]

Sneaky fuckers eh

Apple’s green message bubbles draw wrath of US attorney general

RCS and green bubbles in iPhone-to-Android texts play role in Apple/DOJ battle.

arstechnica.com

Well yes but I suspect Google's real objection to it is they didn't think of it first rather than genuine outrage on behalf of the consumer.

I despise everything about Apple, but there is an easy solution... Don't buy their products.

Alas too late for that, despite my warnings Apple has become the technology supplier of choice for the women of the Q household with Mrs Q, all three daughters and DiL owning iPhones and usually ancillary kit.
Mrs Q is a massive fangirl with an iPhone, iPad, Macbook Air, iWatch, several airtags and a pair of earpods. Weaning her off it is beyond me.

 

[pesh]

Mrs Pesh has held out against the evil fruit company up until now and was one of, if not the last person using a PC at her company. The IT department finally wrestled her steam powered laptop off her and gave her a new MacBook a couple of months ago. She sat down with it for a couple of hours and came back saying ‘why didn’t you tell me how good these things are?’

 

[Saul Goodman]

Mrs Pesh has held out against the evil fruit company up until now and was one of, if not the last person using a PC at her company. The IT department finally wrestled her steam powered laptop off her and gave her a new MacBook a couple of months ago. She sat down with it for a couple of hours and came back saying ‘why didn’t you tell me how good these things are?’

Compared to a steam powered laptop? That's the problem, people replace an old device with an iSomething and think it's the bollocks, but replacing it with a not iSomething would have the same effect, because things get better/faster.
Apple are laughing their tits off. They massively overinflate the prices of their mediocre hardware, and people buy into it, thinking they're getting something special, when all they're really getting is ripped off.

 

[pesh]

It was the trackpad she was most impressed by.

 

[souljacker]

Got to say I proper LOVE my macbook pro. Really well built, easy to use but backed by a terminal that means it can be used as a Unix box if required (it's very much required in my role). The messaging thing only seems to affect yanks. Everyone else in the world uses Whatsapp.

 

[editor]

Mrs Pesh has held out against the evil fruit company up until now and was one of, if not the last person using a PC at her company. The IT department finally wrestled her steam powered laptop off her and gave her a new MacBook a couple of months ago. She sat down with it for a couple of hours and came back saying ‘why didn’t you tell me how good these things are?’

I'd imagine any similarly priced machine running Windows/Chrome would impress someone who's been used to a 'steam powered laptop'.

There's loads of brilliant trackpads out there now,

 

[editor]

Here's more detail about the case:

The US government on Thursday filed a sprawling antitrust case against Apple, alleging that the tech giant has illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware. The case is a direct challenge to the company’s core products and practices, including its iMessage service and how devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch connect with one another.
Apple reportedly scraps multibillion-dollar plan to build electric car

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to “engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct”. The complaint states that the case is about “freeing smartphone markets” from Apple’s anticompetitive practices, arguing that the company has thwarted innovation to maintain market dominance.

This nails it:

“Apple has maintained its power not because of its superiority, but because of its unlawful exclusionary behavior,” the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, stated in a press conference on Thursday. “Monopolies like Apple’s threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based.”

The lawsuit is seeking several changes to Apple’s business practices and to pay an unspecified amount of money as a penalty for its actions. It asks the court to prevent Apple from using terms and conditions in its contracts to entrench its monopoly, as well as to stop the company from using its app store and private APIs to halt the distribution of cross-platform technologies.

A recent saga that drew regulators’ attention was Apple’s interactions with the messaging startup Beeper, which last year launched a product that would allow non-iPhone users to send and receive iMessages. Beeper debuted its “Beeper Mini” app in December, but less than a week later Apple appeared to find ways to disable the app’s functions and issued a vague statement citing privacy and security concerns. Beeper tried to restore its services, resulting in a back-and-forth between the companies that ultimately ended with Apple blocking outside access to its iMessage capabilities.

“As much as we want to fight for what we believe is a fantastic product that really should exist, the truth is that we can’t win a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company on earth,” Beeper’s CEO, Eric Migicovsky, said afterward in a statement on the company’s blog.

US accuses Apple of ‘broad, sustained, and illegal’ smartphone monopoly

Justice department lawsuit alleges tech giant illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware

www.theguardian.com

 

[pesh]

I'd imagine any similarly priced machine running Windows/Chrome would impress someone who's been used to a 'steam powered laptop'.

There's loads of brilliant trackpads out there now,

I’d love a PC with a Mac grade trackpad, got any recommendations?

 

[editor]

I’d love a PC with a Mac grade trackpad, got any recommendations?

You'd really have to try them out yourself, but Surface ones are supposed to be great, and some Dells.

 

[pesh]

Nah, tried them, MSi, Razer etc. all shite.

 

[editor]

Nah, tried them, MSi, Razer etc. all shite.

I thought the Surface trackpad was really excellent but then I rarely use them for much as I've got a touchscreen.

 

[two sheds]

Nah, tried them, MSi, Razer etc. all shite.

what makes the apple one special?