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Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

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Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#181

Post by zwily »

ensignavenger wrote: post #153
tramGG wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Amazon will stop selling Nest smart home devices, escalating its war with Google" http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-wont-sell-nest-product... Sounds like the same behavior. Google has been known to replace whole other start-up services or de-list them.

I can buy a Nest Thermostat from any of thousands of websites and it would work just fine in my home. I can't even get a Steam Link app for free from anyone and have it work effortlessly on my iOS device. These two are not the same, no matter which side you are on.

There are more non-iOS phones out there than iOS phones. I think this is why Apple isn’t too concerned about “monopoly” talk right now. (No, a “monopoly” on Apple products is not an illegal thing.)

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#182

Post by 013a »

emodendroket wrote: post #175
ensignavenger wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can buy a Nest Thermostat from any of thousands of websites and it would work just fine in my home. I can't even get a Steam Link app for free from anyone and have it work effortlessly on my iOS device. These two are not the same, no matter which side you are on.

Alright, then how about removing Adblock from their stores? Android is a little better, but it's by no means totally free.

You can install android apps or chrome extensions from any source, not just the Google-managed store.

This sounds minor, but its absolutely a major reason why the stores aren't monopolies. I find it startling how few people on HN remember the fact that stores have a right to decide what they want to sell and not. We don't live in communist Russia. Walmart doesn't have to sell Whole Foods-branded food, H&M doesn't have to sell Mossimo clothes, Amazon doesn't have to sell Nest thermostats, Apple doesn't have to sell Pixel devices in their stores, and Google doesn't have to sell Adblocking software.

In every single one of these cases, its because the companies managing the stores have a business interest against selling the items.

Apple's case is different in a significant way. When they block a product from their store, they establish that none of the users on their systems are able to get the item legally. However, they can still use the argument that iOS is only one platform among any mobile platforms, they don't have a massive marketshare, and they aren't taking any actions in the realm of mobile platform adoption which could be construed as hostile against competition.

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#183

Post by bhnmmhmd »

ensignavenger wrote: post #153
tramGG wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Amazon will stop selling Nest smart home devices, escalating its war with Google" http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-wont-sell-nest-product... Sounds like the same behavior. Google has been known to replace whole other start-up services or de-list them.

I can buy a Nest Thermostat from any of thousands of websites and it would work just fine in my home. I can't even get a Steam Link app for free from anyone and have it work effortlessly on my iOS device. These two are not the same, no matter which side you are on.

Given that Apple - as a private company - is the owner of iOS, no one can blame them for what they wish to include/exclude from their ecosystem. A mistake many people make these days is they think just because some services are so prevalent and worldwide, they ought to be under control of the law and government. The same thing happens when people complain about Google/Amazon/Facebook for their policies. They're private companies! If you don't like them, fine, quit using their services, simple as that.

The day we give a person the right to sue a private company over their policies, we will essentially kill the free market.

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#184

Post by jamesrcole »

dnomad wrote: post #55

People who go on and on about the Google and Amazon "monopolies" -- which only benefit consumers with low prices and expansive services -- this is what actual monopolistic behavior looks like. Apple controls access to a significant share of the mobile application industry and it directly abuses that market power to harm customers by reducing competition and artificially raising prices. Apple is being sued in both US…

> this is what actual monopolistic behavior looks like. Apple ... abuses [its] power ... by ... artificially raising prices

That's a strange thing to say in the context of digital games, where one of the biggest issues iOS game developers face is consumers not being willing to spend more than trifling amounts for games.

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#185

Post by brazzledazzle »

pjc50 wrote: post #177
nodja wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bad example. MS was just using the video stream directly instead of using the youtube player code that takes care of things like annotations, ads, cards, etc. A better example is the amazon-google kerfuffle over chromecast/amazon devices. Can't recall who "started" it, but the end results is that amazon doesn't sell chromecast/google home, and google blocks youtube from amazon devices. Yes amazon initially…

No, it's a good example; why is the app obliged to show ads any more than browsers aren't?

Because the browsers (users actually) are, but it’s not practical to send a cease and desist for a TOS violation to every user.

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#186

Post by sirtaj »

bhnmmhmd wrote: post #183
ensignavenger wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can buy a Nest Thermostat from any of thousands of websites and it would work just fine in my home. I can't even get a Steam Link app for free from anyone and have it work effortlessly on my iOS device. These two are not the same, no matter which side you are on.

Given that Apple - as a private company - is the owner of iOS, no one can blame them for what they wish to include/exclude from their ecosystem. A mistake many people make these days is they think just because some services are so prevalent and worldwide, they ought to be under control of the law and government. The same thing happens when people complain about Google/Amazon/Facebook for their policies. They're priva…

Hopefully we are still free to discuss what effects a company's perfectly legal choices could have on us as a society and as an industry? Or is that also now verboten in the name of fairness to the free market?

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#187

Post by zeveb »

bhnmmhmd wrote: post #183
ensignavenger wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can buy a Nest Thermostat from any of thousands of websites and it would work just fine in my home. I can't even get a Steam Link app for free from anyone and have it work effortlessly on my iOS device. These two are not the same, no matter which side you are on.

Given that Apple - as a private company - is the owner of iOS, no one can blame them for what they wish to include/exclude from their ecosystem. A mistake many people make these days is they think just because some services are so prevalent and worldwide, they ought to be under control of the law and government. The same thing happens when people complain about Google/Amazon/Facebook for their policies. They're priva…

> Given that Apple - as a private company - is the owner of iOS, no one can blame them for what they wish to include/exclude from their ecosystem.

Apple may own their property, but iOS-device owners own their devices, and Apple have no right to prevent them from running the software they wish to run on the devices they own.

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#188

Post by stordoff »

swebs wrote: post #13

Wow, when trying to access this from the EU, I'm blocked by this huge pop-up telling me to either accept their tracking or fuck off. The cookie policy makes no mention on how to access the site without clicking "I accept", it just directs you to optout.aboutads.info. https://i.imgur.com/dK73MUi.png Is this really GDPR compliant?

CBSi (e.g. Giant Bomb) are using similar wording: https://i.imgur.com/8wQGvIv.png. There _is_ a "Manage Settings" link, but they are treating "Google Analytics / Adobe Analytics / comScore / Akamai / Nielsen / Evidon / Moat / Cedexis / Chartbeat / Index Tag Manager / Tealium Tag Manager / Google Ad Serving" as "necessary cookies", so you cannot opt-out. You get redirected to https://l3.evidon.com/site/425/5420/6 if you click "Manage Settings".

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#189

Post by stordoff »

tialaramex wrote: post #38
swebs wrote: post #13

Wow, when trying to access this from the EU, I'm blocked by this huge pop-up telling me to either accept their tracking or fuck off. The cookie policy makes no mention on how to access the site without clicking "I accept", it just directs you to optout.aboutads.info. https://i.imgur.com/dK73MUi.png Is this really GDPR compliant?

No. Basically the GDPR is structured around a whole bunch of reasons why you might _need_ to store and process data about people ("Subjects"), for which you have implicit permission because it's necessary to something you're doing for the Subject. You need to make sure Subjects can find out what you needed, and why, and you can't change your mind later. These purposes do not need Consent. You don't need to Consent to…

> I'm sure somebody will try to claim it's "necessary" to their business to track people and sell everything they possibly can, and I expect European courts to decide that's laughable nonsense.

That's basically what CBSi are doing. They are claiming "Necessary Cookies are required for our sites, products, and services to function properly", where "necessary cookies" includes:

> Google Analytics / Adobe Analytics / comScore / Akamai / Nielsen / Evidon / Moat / Cedexis / Chartbeat / Index Tag Manager / Tealium Tag Manager / Google Ad Serving

Edit: Missing "

Re: Apple rejects Valve’s Steam Link game streaming app over ‘business conflicts’

#190

Post by tambourine_man »

I've been saying this for years. There needs to be big scary button with lots of warnings that allows the users to download and run whatever binary they want. That should be guaranteed by law for any turing machine.

Curated stores are a great idea but there has to be an alternative.

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