Daring FireballOct 10, 2024
★ Consider the Plight of the VC-Backed Privacy Burglars
https://daringfireball.net/2024/10/consider_the_plight_of_the_vc-backed_privacy_burglars
Consider the Plight of the VC-Backed Privacy Burglars

The question to ask is, “Is this what users want and expect?” Sometimes it really is that simple. I’m not sure it’s ever worth asking “Is this what growth-hacking VC-backed social-media app makers want?”

Daring Fireball
Show threadMerovius

@daringfireball @otl

> first-party apps necessarily have certain advantages third-party apps do not (otherwise, there’d be no distinction)

*this* 🤏 close to enlightenment.

Oct 11, 2024 at 4:36amWeb
Show threadOliver LoweOct 11, 2024
@Merovius Ha yes, good catch. Absolutely agreed
Show threadDelricOct 11, 2024
@Merovius @daringfireball @otl it’s not tho. If you build a thing to work seamlessly, you should be able to without concern for making it easier for competitors to latch on. Do you expect Nintendo to host and load PlayStation games, or vice versa? Or for Ford to design their trucks to accept Chevy motors? Of course not, it’s absurd
Show threadMeroviusOct 11, 2024

@delric My answer to all those questions is "I would expect them to not make it artificially harder, yes".

It seems to me you'd have to be a real brown-nosing apologist for anti-competitive behavior to feel any different.

Show threadOliver LoweOct 11, 2024
@delric Given what PlayStation and Nintendo devices are, and how the games are created, you may expect them to be able to play the same game, sure. Given what Ford and Chevrolet engines are, you could expect them to accept the same oil, fuel, seals… (I’ll stop with the car & software analogy, they never work out well 😅). As @Merovius says, it’s about *artificial* barriers to interoperability made by companies for extracting profit.
Show threadMeroviusOct 12, 2024

@otl @delric FWIW these aren't even hypotheticals. Nintendo *does* do the same thing Apple does and prevents you from running whatever you want on the Switch. John Deer *does* prevent repairs of their engines using third-party parts or by third-party mechanics.

And it's all bad. It's rent-seeking. And I can't stress enough how mainstream the opinion that this is bad is, among economists. It's the opposite of absurd.