In 88 pages of surprisingly readable legalese, the U.S. Department of Justice attempts to prove that Apple is a problem. In its sweeping antitrust lawsuit, the Justice Department alleges that Apple has systematically suppressed innovation in smartphones, depriving not only competitors but also iPhone users of access to better software and access to better hardware.
The argument is complex, but it has a lot in common with another big antitrust trial, which the government won more than two decades ago: United States v. Microsoft. The case tells the story of a major corporation’s ruthless efforts to silence any company that threatened to open up its walled gardens, make it easy for people to build and use cross-platform software, or end its control of its hugely successful and popular platform. . This one is very different, but also very similar.
As far as this episode is concerned edge broadcast, we talk about DOJ complaints. a lot of. About an hour and a half. We discuss five major parts of the Apple ecosystem that are of concern to the Justice Department—super apps, cloud streaming, messaging apps, smartwatches, and digital wallets. We ask which arguments make sense…and which ones don’t. Then we try to limit how long it all takes to resolve. Until the dust settles, the over/under is set for 2030. What would you bet?
Afterwards, we had Nilay Patel on his vacation in Mexico and we did a news lightning round. We almost managed to stop talking about Apple. almost.
If you want to learn more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are a few links to start with, starting with Apple’s antitrust case:
During the lightning round: