Comment by MBCook
6 days ago
Microsoft didn’t control the number one search engine, the number one email client, the number one video site, probably the number one online office suite, the number one smartphone platform…
It was possible to rip people away from Microsoft. That may not be something we can do this time with Chrome.
Try telling someone that moving off of Chrome may mean moving off of every single Google property because Chrome is the only browser they work on by then.
See how easy an argument that is. It’s right up with there with “stop helping capitalism and move to the woods“.
Then it’d be time for round two of antitrust, and I doubt the judge and regulators would feel so understanding about Google keeping Chrome if that is the landscape.
I think that would’ve good. But…
1. The US isn’t doing this. They have a case but aren’t calling for breakup
2. We all know howling anti-trust and appeals take
If Google gets handed the web (let’s say) this year by Apple being forced to allow them, it could be a decade+ before the Google side gets tackled.
And I’m afraid of how much damage they can do in that timeframe.
I think fixing Google’s ownership over Chrome before forcing other browsers on iOS would be less harmless than forcing iOS to allow other browsers than doing Google.
I’m totally good with doing both. I worried about the effects of the order they’re done in.
And I am only saying this about browser engines. This should not be taken to say Apple should be able to do some of the other nonsense they’ve been doing for 10+ years abusing their position.
I think they might be, but only as long as it stays open-source (assuming we mean it works on Chromium and not Chrome). Honestly, I fundamentally don't have a problem with an open-source browser having a monopoly, because the open-source nature means that if things get bad you can always just fork it and make something better.