iOS 17 to Support App Sideloading to Comply With European Regulations

[Kal Madda]

Adam Smith and the founding fathers?
You’ve obviously never read Adam Smith and his take on monopolies (such as in the Wealth of Nations).


They do have a monopoly on software distribution for these smartphones.


Obviously not. They offer dozens of thousand of apps developed by third parties.
They force these third parties to sell their apps through Apple’s App Store.

And that is a monopoly, because once a customer has chosen to a smartphone and its operating system, he is committed to that platform and will act as a buyer of apps only for that platform/operating system.

A. You clearly have not read Adam Smith or The Wealth of Nations if you think that he supported government regulation of what products/services the government decided they wanted them to. I have.

B. That’s not a monopoly. That’s as ridiculous as arguing Walmart has a monopoly on products sold at Walmart stores, and that the government should force Walmart to allow anyone to sell their products on Walmart property without paying commissions. That idea is clearly absurd, just as it is when you try to apply it to Apple.

C. Walmart offers products made by other brands in their stores, but that doesn’t mean every other brand should have free access to Walmart’s stores, property, and clientele, just like with Apple. Apple offers a system for other brands to work with them, and pay a commission to access Apple’s property and clientele, just like Walmart does. Amazon also allows third parties to sell items through their digital store, but no-one can sell on Amazon without paying a commission and abiding by Amazon’s terms, just like with Apple’s platform. Nobody is entitled to distribute products (such as apps) for free on other platforms (like Apple’s iOS platform). This is just painfully obvious. Amazon forces people to sell through Amazon’s store. See how silly that argument is? Nobody’s forcing sellers to sell their products on Amazon, just as no software developers are held at gunpoint and forced to distribute their apps for iOS…

D. That’s not a monopoly. Apple does not have sole control/ownership over all apps. They only have control over apps on their platform. Customers are free to use any other platform if they aren’t happy with Apple’s. Again, it would be like saying that Amazon has a monopoly on online store purchases because people who order from Amazon will likely continue to buy from Amazon, and Amazon doesn’t allow just anyone to sell their products on Amazon for free, which is, of course, a ridiculous idea. People can choose to buy from eBay, just like people can choose to buy from Android. Hence, no monopoly…