Apple and Microsoft: Gatekeeping Is Not for Us. We Are Too Small. That Is Correct. Small.
September 13, 2023
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
I read “Apple and Microsoft Say Flagship Services Not Popular Enough to Be Gatekeepers.” Pretty amazing. Apple wanted to be a gatekeeper and mobile phone image cop and Microsoft Edge Bing thing routinely polices what its smart software outputs.
The American high school homecoming king and queen, both members of the science club, insist they are not popular. How, one may ask, did you get elected king and queen. The beaming royals said, “We are just small. You know, little itty bitty things. Do you like our outfits?” Thanks, MidJourney. Stay true to the gradient descent thing, please.
Both outfits have draconian procedures to prevent a person from doing much of anything unless one of the den mothers working for these companies gives a nod of approval.
The weird orange newspaper states:
Apple and Microsoft, the most valuable companies in the US, have argued some of their flagship services are insufficiently popular to be designated “gatekeepers” under landmark new EU legislation designed to curb the power of Big Tech. Brussels’ battle with Apple over its iMessage chat app and Microsoft’s search engine Bing comes ahead of Wednesday’s [September 6, 2023] publication of the first list of services that will be regulated by the Digital Markets Act.
The idea is a bit deeper in my opinion. Obviously neither of these outfits wants to pay fines; both want to collect money. But the real point is that this “aw, shucks” attitude is one facet of US high tech outfits’ ability to anger regulators in other countries. I have heard the words “arrogant,” “selfish,” “greedy,” and worse used to describe the smiling acolytes who represent these two firms in their different legal battles in Europe.
I want to look at this somewhat short-sighted effort by Apple and Microsoft from a different point of view. Google, in my opinion, is likely become the gatekeeper, the enforcer, the toll road collector, and the arbiter of framing “truth.” Why? Google is ready, willing, and able to fill the void.
One would assume that Apple and Microsoft would have a sit down with the Zuckbook to discuss the growing desire for content control and dissemination. Nope. The companies are sufficiently involved in their own alleged monopolistic ideas to think about a world in which Google becomes the decider.
Some countries view the US and its techno-business policies and procedures with some skepticism. What happens if the skepticism morphs into another notion? Will Teams and iPhones be enough to make these folks happy?
Stephen E Arnold, September 13, 2023
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