It shares no characteristics of a monopoly. Sure it's closed...but
anyone can make apps for iOS...who else makes Windows? Who else makes
WebOS? Anyone can write for those platforms, just like they can for
Android. It absolutely isn't a monopoly...heck, you guy's must have
forgot...MS was forcing all PC venders to include Windows on their
machines. That was way closer to a monopoly that anything Apple has
done. When one has choice, there cannot be a monopoly. It's like
saying Obama is a socialist because he wants healthcare for everyone
(I'm so sure that Canada is a socialist country!).
Apple's choice to harber a closed system had its pros and cons. But MS
was forcing a license of Windows on everything and let everyone develop
their own hardware...and for that we all surferred countless hours
dealing with the resulting headaches that brought. AFAIC, MS didnt' get
a reasonable version of Windows until Windows 7. All those years that
we had to deal with crap software so that Gates and crew could become
incredibly rich. Meantime, Apple being a closed system -- both in terms
of software and hardware kept them small, but much less of a headache
for users, which made them rich. And they made products that people
actually wanted to own after they got smart and decided to live in a
niche PC market while still able to charge premium pricing (by having a
less buggy system and excellent customer support). Now that MS has faded
and Apple (and others) have the limelight, the haters are just changing
their focus. It's kinda sad. The notion that anyone should be able to
make a MAC clone is as close to socialism as I can imagine. They should
just give away their intellectual property just so others can benefit?
Finally, if Apple were to get 95% of the market like MS has, it would be
because their business model was simply superior to that of all those
others. They still have managed to avoid becoming a commodity product,
which says a lot for their product.
And if you ask me, MS killed off so much competition that the PC world
is way boring (which is why there are now new markets for opportunity).
When is the last time anyone got excited about any software that runs on
a PC? Remember the days when we all wanted to get the latest software?
Those days are so dead. We have MS to thank for that.
On 12/10/2011 11:30 AM, Thane Sherrington wrote:
At 09:43 AM 10/12/2011, Anthony Q. Martin wrote:
What are you talking about, man? Apple makes laptops, pcs, tablets,
mp3 players, etc. Others make devices that do exactly the same things
that Apple products do. You can't say apple has a monopoly on its
products anymore than you can say that lenovo has a monopoly on the
x220t laptop or samsung has a monopoly on the series 7 slate. It's a
silly argument. Apple laptops are part of a plethora of hardware
choices.
Having a closed ecosystem doesn't make it a monopoly. You have no
loss of choice and you aren't forced into anything. Hating for
little reason is not an attractive trait.
I think his point was: If Apple were to get 95% of the market (like
Microsoft has) then there would be no Dell, HP, Acer, etc choices. If
you want Apple OS, you must by Apple hardware. I guess it's not a
monopoly (although it shares some characteristics), it's more of a
closed garden. Frankly, I'm glad that Microsoft (for all its warts)
is the dominant player in the PC world. If things were reversed, the
PC world would be a lot less interesting.
T
