Originally Posted by
Lawrence Steinbach You saw Google and Apple's strength to control their monopoly back then and you're seeing it now as they flex their muscles. These companies have been given too much power by people who won't care about things like security, censorship and freedom until it's too late. BlackBerry can't fix stupidity.
It's not as deep state as you imply. These were two businesses that were very successful because they ultimately gave people the services and features they wanted. They also came up with a system whereby people could actually afford to pay for them (which was necessary for the companies to achieve an acceptable ROI).
Many of us hold Google and Apple stock in our portfolios, and demand that they make as much money as possible, so we in turn can earn returns on OUR investments.
It's also fair, from an open-market perspective, for people to bargain with them for more control of their information. We just have to be careful we don't cut off the hand that feeds us. I'm sure there is a balance we can all be happy with - or at least one we can all hate equally as much.
In general, I'm quite accepting of duopolies that fight neck and neck with each other. Monopolies (of which government is an example) is where I start getting grumpy.