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Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

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Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#61

Post by scarface74 »

sjwright wrote: post #52
heavyset_go wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The suit wasn't about their dominance in the PC operating systems market, it was about anticompetitive behavior to maintain that advantage against competitors, and anticompetitive behavior to gain advantages against competitors in other markets. Had the suit came earlier, we would not have been blessed with the decade of security vulnerabilities that plagued the desktop because Internet Explorer was tightly integrate…

In a world where OS/2 failed, Be wouldn’t have a chance. The biggest irony to Microsoft’s anti-competitive OEM practices is that they were unnecessary. The network effects of software compatibility proved sufficient to maintain their dominance. And their temporarily successful attempts to dominate the browser market failed to turn the open standards web platform into the Windows platform’s greatest competitor.

OS/2 failed partially because Microsoft not only made it more expensive for OEMs to ship OS/2 since they still had to pay a licensing fee, they also didn’t give IBM early access to Windows 95 like they did other OEMs. OS/2 actually ran Win 3.1 apps better than Windows 95. I sold IBM PCs running OS/2 at Radio Shack in 1995.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#62

Post by em-bee »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #25

I think in the last thread a bunch of people were adamant Google wasn't a monopolist because plenty of phones shipped with app stores outside of Play. Seems like Google picks and chooses which of those are okay. It's time to stop lying: Google will absolutely abandon every single rule in the book to ensure they get 30% of Fortnite purchases. It's too lucrative, and Google is too greedy. This has nothing to do with sa…

did any of these alternatives also ship google play side by side with alternative stores?

unless a company has a special deal with google, then it's either google or alternatives but not both.

i think the only reason there could be a special deal is that google made some concessions when trying to convince a manufacturer to use android. but that would be an older deal.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#63

Post by ineedasername »

dleslie wrote: post #41
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #25

I think in the last thread a bunch of people were adamant Google wasn't a monopolist because plenty of phones shipped with app stores outside of Play. Seems like Google picks and chooses which of those are okay. It's time to stop lying: Google will absolutely abandon every single rule in the book to ensure they get 30% of Fortnite purchases. It's too lucrative, and Google is too greedy. This has nothing to do with sa…

TBF, this is bleeding fresh new information; I expect most of those arguing in good faith were unaware of this behaviour. But yes, let's stop pretending that Google is an altruistic, benevolent and freedom-loving company. It's not.

But information wants to be free. And Google wants information to be free too. Especially wants your information. To use, and monetize, and exploit in ways we probably don't know about*

*To be fair, Google provides various conveniences and services in exchange for your data, so it doesn't get it completely for free. But there are three general categories of people on this: 1) People who like those conveniences and services and have little idea or thoughts about what pays for it. 2) People who understand this exchange, and make it willingly, eyes open. 3) People who understand this exchange, don't like it, and avoid as many aspects of it as they can.

I'll be honest: With every purchase at every web site, every account created, every app installed that asks for this little permission or another, I begin to feel more & more that it doesn't really matter, and fall further into #2.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#64

Post by ocdtrekkie »

pixl97 wrote: post #30
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #25

I think in the last thread a bunch of people were adamant Google wasn't a monopolist because plenty of phones shipped with app stores outside of Play. Seems like Google picks and chooses which of those are okay. It's time to stop lying: Google will absolutely abandon every single rule in the book to ensure they get 30% of Fortnite purchases. It's too lucrative, and Google is too greedy. This has nothing to do with sa…

Apple and Google chiming together: "we're not a monopoly, we're a duopoly and that's perfectly legal"

Epic did their homework on the lawsuit, they make it very clear that Apple and Google are each separate monopolies. Because they have exclusive monopolies over app stores on devices that a large portion of people have. But the Play Store and App Store are not competitors: They control different markets.

Furthermore, Epic helped highlight a very important point about Android and iOS: They're not actually competitors. For an OEM building a phone, Android is the only option, it has a complete monopoly on mobile OSes with respect to the market of OEMs who might choose it.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#65

Post by ta17711771 »

ineedasername wrote: post #23
james412 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any idea how much utter garbage Google forces vendors to ship with a phone simply to have access to a web browser and the Play store? Or perhaps you're one of the lucky few who haven't been woken at 4am to an urgent notification: "YOUR PHONE HAS TOO MANY MEMES. WOULD YOU LIKE TO DELETE MEMES?" Prohibitions on bloatware, my arse!

My experience with the stock Android experience from Pixel phones is a dream of zero bloatware. What I hate is the bloatware that nearly every handset maker puts on their phones, and the additional bloatware wireless providers add on to it, almost none of it uninstallable.

GrapheneOS.org

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#66

Post by edflsafoiewq »

crazygringo wrote: post #53
selectodude wrote: post #4

I know that decimate is a colloquialism nowadays but I feel like a publication should know better. Unless Google asked for ten percent of the proceeds or something, as a headline it makes absolutely no sense.

Looks like you're completely incorrect. It's not a "colloquialism", it's just a standard modern meaning of the word. From Merriam-Webster [1]: > 3a: to reduce drastically especially in number > cholera decimated the population > Kamieniecki's return comes at a crucial time for a pitching staff that has been decimated by injuries. — Jason Diamos > b: to cause great destruction or harm to > firebombs decimated the city…

To "decimate" a deal still just sounds bizarre. I don't know, maybe it's because "deal" isn't countable or collective.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#67

Post by RonanTheGrey »

I don't find it particularly interesting to argue over whether Google and/or Apple or Goople are monopolies/duopolies.

I think however it is obvious that something has seriously pathologically gone wrong in the mobile software market and these two companies are behind it.

I also don't think that appeals to "is that legal" are all that satisfying -- (Apple's free speech lets them silence whoever they wish, of course) -- but does that seem right to you?

For problems like these I tend to start at the end and work backwards. What would we want an ideal ecosystem to look like? And working backwards, what policies, laws, and cultural rules were made in order to get there? What products were built, and/or sold, in order to build that outcome?

Then we do those things.

I watch these conversations again and again devolve into whether these companies are monopolies, but I think that discussion is beside the point. Is it right?. Why do I only have 2 choices? Why do I get to choose only between Global Hoover or Comical Evil? And why if I choose one of them, do I give up all choices that follow?

Solving problems like these relies on establishing a common ground about what we want to see, and agreeing that what we see isn't that. So -- what do we see wrong now, and what would we fix?

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#68

Post by gpm »

brian_cloutier wrote: post #57
gpm wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Where do I find that setting? I've looked, hard. Edit: Found it - I wonder if this is new or if I missed it when I got the phone - thanks! Doesn't stop it from being bloatware...

This feature has been around since Ice Cream Sandwich, released 2011 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Ice_Cream_Sandwich > Certain "System" apps (particularly those pre-loaded by carriers) that cannot be uninstalled can now be disabled. This hides the application and prevents it from launching, but the application is not removed from storage.

Disabling google assistant broke various unrelated features.

What I just found out I can do above is change the "Assistant" default app from being "Google Assistant" to being none - which stops the stupid swipe in the wrong way and it grabs focus and the bottom half of the screen "feature".

Edit: And to be clear this doesn't remove all the places Assitant pops up, just the most annoying one. It still has prominent placement in the "system" settings for instance.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#69

Post by joemazerino »

ta17711771 wrote: post #65
ineedasername wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience with the stock Android experience from Pixel phones is a dream of zero bloatware. What I hate is the bloatware that nearly every handset maker puts on their phones, and the additional bloatware wireless providers add on to it, almost none of it uninstallable.

GrapheneOS.org

The developer of GrapheneOS seems unhinged. Accusing Mozilla of orchestrating 4chan and all that. [1] I don't trust it's stability.

1 - https://twitter.com/DanielMicay/status/1264528965127024644

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#70

Post by joemazerino »

dleslie wrote: post #36
ineedasername wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience with the stock Android experience from Pixel phones is a dream of zero bloatware. What I hate is the bloatware that nearly every handset maker puts on their phones, and the additional bloatware wireless providers add on to it, almost none of it uninstallable.

Stock Pixel, at the very least, is _packed_ with Google apps that you cannot fully remove.

Projects like Graphene/Copperhead/Lineage are built off AOSP which has no Google apps.
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