Oliver Reichenstein
Reading the DOJ suit, tech blogs, collecting the tech blogger's, Apple fans' and pundit's reactions:
Tech bloggers: "The DOJ doesn't understand technology."
Apple bloggers: "The DOJ doesn't understand Apple."
Apple fans: "The DOJ doesn't understand anything."
No one doubts their own legal understanding. It's not Hackernews, it's a suit. I'll read it before opining. So far it seems fairly comprehensible. It's aggressive, but it's a suit, not a lullaby. Much easier to read than the DMA.
Oliver Reichenstein
Apple is really good at connecting hardware and software, at building an eco system. They make superior devices and operating systems. They're expensive, but worth it. As a consumer, I am sold. Our house is all Macs, iPhones, TV, HomePod, iPod, iPad, AppleMusic, Pay, CarPlay, Watch. I bought iPods Max 2 weeks ago and love them. Yesterday, we just got a new iPhone 15. We spend 10,000s on goods. Our company makes apps and builds them 100% on products. I always saw that as a choice. But...
Oliver Reichenstein
Reading through this document I remembered how I felt when my sister moved to an Android phone and how every time she sends me a photo, I think: "Yeah, that crappy Samsung phone there..." She then moved to WhatsApp, which also comes with Zuckerberg chains and bad status vibes. I remember that one reason why I move from the Sony headphones to the overpriced AiPods Max because Sony's headphones always had trouble connecting, needed an app and downloads and I always blamed Sony fo that.
Oliver Reichenstein
Comparing the DOJ suit to the kneejerk reactions of my Apple friends (close to 100% iPhone and Macs in my social circle) the tech community and Apple pundids, I realized that it's not them that don't understand, it's us. The cognitive dissonance of blaming the DOJ's lack of tech (or Apple) savviness for what Apple's executives stated black on white is nuts. Two things can be true at the same time: (1) Apple makes great products and (2) they use their position of power to control their market.
Oliver Reichenstein
I'm about half way in and I see nothing of the supposed lack of understanding that gives tech and Apple pundit's reason for the middle school party of snippy "they don't get it!" quips. If anything deserves snark it's the self-incriminating quotes of the Apple executives. In fact... I thought that, being on the developer's side, we probably know enough about all the unnecessary restrictions that Apple imposes on devs under the guise of "security"… But I didn't know half of it. I am learning.
Oliver Reichenstein
Yesterday we saw the first wave of tech journalists, VCs and bloggers without any legal expertise but a very strong bias that likely haven't read the paper but believe that they "get it".
They now meet a second group of legally trained minds that took the time to read the document:
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/22/24109033/doj-apple-antitrust-lawsuit-legal-expert-praise
Note: Most devs will be careful to not bite the hand that feeds them.
Oliver Reichenstein
Done with my first read. I have a lot of highlights, notes and comments to go through, still, but one thing I can say with certainty: This is a well educated and highly educating document. I can sympathize with tech people trying to find hairs in the technical soup. It's hard not to—here and there I may have spotted one myself. But, rather than feeling superior ("I get Apple"), I tried to read it like any other legal document, where I'm *not* the expert, and what I've learned was quite a lesson.
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