> Many users don’t want more options, they just want an opinionated and reasoned one-size-fits-all experience. Such a desire is incompatible with a fair and open market for browser software or app stores, for example.
Many users want what marketing told them they'd want, and that's not snarky, I include myself in it. Guess what, I even own an iPhone and two Macs. It's all fun and games until this create megacorporations which are more powerful than democratic states. If the price to pay to try to reduce monopolies is "forcing" normal people, which, on average, are not stupid, to use their brain for literally 3 seconds per couple years, I do think it's not that stressful.
But have no fear, they'll choose Chrome as automatically and with the same level of stress that they'd just open Safari before that. So they'll 100% abstract away the responsibility of keeping a phone secure and free of malware ... to Google.
> Allowing a user to choose any app store means the user can no longer choose not to ever be able to choose an app store
Wait what ? This sentence doesn't even make sense. And furthermore you just have to tap the App Store icon to not choose not to use the App Store (lol).
> The only way I can think of squaring this circle is for Apple to sell two different SKUs of every iPhone: one that can sideload (and allow apps such as alternate app store apps to install other apps), and one that cannot. Then users can choose their overall security model once at time of purchase.
Mmmmmh, so now you think the users can choose. But let's go deep in your theory. Let's say that Apple chose to do that. You understand that this would translate to the same object with just a software flag somewhere ? Why couldn't I, a responsible human, owner of this iPhone 13 Mini, decide to switch this theoretical flag without buying a new phone ? And they don't even sell 13 Minis anymore.
> Absent that, the DMA is choosing the “you must have more choices” choice for users, whether users prefer that or not. Many users choose iOS because the security choices are already made for them and can’t get fucked up by their own configuring.
The DMA doesn't disallow users to choose the Apple way. In fact it's still the default everywhere in the OS, the process to sideload other stores is pretty hidden and clunky. But yes, you are right, DMA forces them to click on "Safari" on a setup screen and maybe it'll be the root cause of a future PTSD epidemic.
> If the price to pay to try to reduce monopolies is "forcing" normal people, which, on average, are not stupid, to use their brain for literally 3 seconds per couple years, I do think it's not that stressful.
They can't assess >10 browsers in 3 seconds. I haven't even heard of a few of them, it'd take me an hour or so of research to figure out if some of those options were reliable if I didn't already know what browser I wanted because I install things like Debian for fun.
Many users want what marketing told them they'd want, and that's not snarky, I include myself in it. Guess what, I even own an iPhone and two Macs. It's all fun and games until this create megacorporations which are more powerful than democratic states. If the price to pay to try to reduce monopolies is "forcing" normal people, which, on average, are not stupid, to use their brain for literally 3 seconds per couple years, I do think it's not that stressful.
But have no fear, they'll choose Chrome as automatically and with the same level of stress that they'd just open Safari before that. So they'll 100% abstract away the responsibility of keeping a phone secure and free of malware ... to Google.
> Allowing a user to choose any app store means the user can no longer choose not to ever be able to choose an app store
Wait what ? This sentence doesn't even make sense. And furthermore you just have to tap the App Store icon to not choose not to use the App Store (lol).
> The only way I can think of squaring this circle is for Apple to sell two different SKUs of every iPhone: one that can sideload (and allow apps such as alternate app store apps to install other apps), and one that cannot. Then users can choose their overall security model once at time of purchase.
Mmmmmh, so now you think the users can choose. But let's go deep in your theory. Let's say that Apple chose to do that. You understand that this would translate to the same object with just a software flag somewhere ? Why couldn't I, a responsible human, owner of this iPhone 13 Mini, decide to switch this theoretical flag without buying a new phone ? And they don't even sell 13 Minis anymore.
> Absent that, the DMA is choosing the “you must have more choices” choice for users, whether users prefer that or not. Many users choose iOS because the security choices are already made for them and can’t get fucked up by their own configuring.
The DMA doesn't disallow users to choose the Apple way. In fact it's still the default everywhere in the OS, the process to sideload other stores is pretty hidden and clunky. But yes, you are right, DMA forces them to click on "Safari" on a setup screen and maybe it'll be the root cause of a future PTSD epidemic.