Yes please. Google has become a monster.
This is yet another reason we need President Harris.
Trump will let Google get away with it.
What we really need is President Biden. This is all happening thanks to him. There’s some hope that Harris would continue his policies if elected, but there are strong rumours that some donors are supporting her with the agreement that if she wins she gets rid of Lina Khan.
What we really need is President Biden. This is all happening thanks to him.
No on both counts. Don’t give him credit for other people’s work.
He might have been the final one to sign off on them, but cabinet appointments are decided by committee and I guarantee you that the former Senator of the most corporation-friendly state of them all wasn’t the one who suggested Lina Khan OR Lauren McFerran at the NLRB.
his policies
Again, it’s not HIS policies. Stop giving the old man with 900 years of conservative policies the credit for the stellar work of young women many times as progressive and in touch with the realities of regular people as him.
It’s not like she’s doing these things behind his back.
The progressive wing of the party might have pushed him into accepting her appointment, but he still appointed her and she’s kicking ass.
You can make up all the arguments you want.
Biden was a moderate democrat in congress.
As president, he’s been far more progressive than Obama. Probably the most progressive on workers rights since FDR.
Cabinet choices matter, and he chose them.
Good. Microsoft next.
They already tried, in the late 90’s, and a district court ordered a break-up. It was appealed endlessly, and the DOJ reached a disastrous settlement that gave them immunity from anti-trust prosecution in perpetuity. The current Supreme Court would probably use this as a precedent to protect other software monopolies, if it comes down to it.
Don’t hold your breath on any of these cases.
Breakup Divesting the Android operating system, used on about 2.5 billion devices worldwide, is one of the remedies that’s been most frequently discussed by Justice Department attorneys, according to the people. In his decision, Mehta found that Google requires device makers to sign agreements to gain access to its apps like Gmail and the Google Play Store.
It would be wonderful
If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a breakup plan, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Google’s web browser Chrome
Hell yes. If Android is divested from Google, that would significantly reduce Google’s attempts to lock down the OS, and would probably make alternative app stores more popular as the Play Store becomes just one of many options for manufacturers that would no longer be required to provide it on all Android devices.
And as for Chrome, about damn time. A browser with that much marketshare shouldn’t also be owned by the largest search engine and ad network. That’s just a recipe for monopolizing internet standards and access.
Another option would require Google to divest or license its data to rivals, such as Microsoft’s Bing or DuckDuckGo
More competition in the search engine space? Sign me up. Google has too much control over the quality of search results simply due to their size.
I am curious how either unit would earn revenue as an independent company.
Will Android get to keep the Play Store? Does that include media? Do they charge Google to distribute the Maps app?
Will Google pay Chrome to stay the default search engine? Maybe Chrome can charge schools and libraries for ChromeOS updates?
I think Google would definitely pay to be the default search engine for Chrome, and if Android was also split, then they would probably charge Chrome to be the default installed app.
Regardless though, I’m sure they’d be able to generate revenue from services akin to Google’s new AI features, where more “advanced” functionality is a subscription, that some users would be willing to pay, subsidizing the development cost for all the non-paying users.
Most likely the opposite would happen. With Android divested from Google, it would lose access to huge amounts of its R&D options. This means it’ll need to generate more money to be able to sustain itself and future growth. Companies aren’t going to want to pay more for Android and will start to spin off Android into their own custom versions that will more likely be more locked down, not less (for their profit maximization).
In the end, it would hurt Android and the smartphone market as a whole because this could cause Android to collapse, leaving iPhone the only option. No one could be able to compete because no one would buy a different smartphone. Smartphones are bought because of the apps they have (think of how many functions you use that need an app and can’t be done on a web page. Banking, delivery apps, taxi apps, discount programs, government, etc…). Now, try telling people they could buy a different smartphone but won’t be able to use any of those functions. No sale, one of the biggest issues to happen with the Windows Phone, the Sail OS phone, Firefox OS and why they fail. And companies won’t make apps for those phones as there aren’t enough users to justify the cost of making (chicken and egg problem).
A break up wouldn’t help the market, and would really be handing Apple a monopoly for smartphones on a silver platter.
spin off Android into their own custom versions that will more likely be more locked down, not less
I disagree. I agree they will make the user experience more locked down, but nobody will buy a phone which is only compatible with 6.73% of apps from whichever, as you correctly say, which means there’s no profit motive to lock down app compatibility.
Companies already spin off android into their own custom versions to maximize profit. Look at Samsung, for example, with all of their additional bloatware.
Android is open-source. Closing the source code for android would be so devastating for the platform’s app development, independent security researchers, and manufacturer customization, that it would probably hurt them more to lock it down than to keep it open.
If an alternative, entirely community-supported fork of Android were to be copied and maintained from the main branch of Android, it could still use every single APK that was available on the Play store, and every alternative app store, with no issues.
Sure, Android would likely lose some of the Google R&D money, but what has Google used a lot of that money for? AI features nobody asked for, benefits that only come from the use of Google’s entirely separate apps on the system, and system improvements that could be worked on with relatively similar speed by outside alternative ROM teams.
Plus, Android uses the Linux kernel, which is already supported by outside developers, and often gets security fixes that are pushed to Android without any involvement by Google in the development of the fixes.
Do you use Android? AI was the last thing on their minds for AOSP until OpenAI got popular. They’ve been refining the UIs, improving security/permissions, catching up on features, bringing WearOS and Android TV up to par, and making a Google Assistant incompetent. Don’t take my word for it; you’ll rarely see any AI features before OpenAI’s popularity: v15, v14, v13, and v12. As an example of the benefits: Google and Samsung collaborating on WearOS allowed more custom apps and integrations for nearly all users. Still, there was a major drop in battery life and compatibility with non-Android devices compared to Tizen.
There are plenty of other things to complain about with their Android development. Will they continue to change or kill things like they do all their other products? Did WearOS need to require Android OSes and exclude iOS? Do Advertising APIs belong in the base OS? Should vendors be allowed to lock down their devices as much as they do? Should so many features be limited to Pixel devices? Can we get Google Assistant to say “Sorry, something went wrong. When you’re ready: give it another try” less often instead of encouraging stupidity? (It’s probably not going to work if you try again).
Google does a lot of wrong, even in Android. AI on Android isn’t one of them yet. Most other commercially developed operating systems are proprietary, rather than open to users and OEMs. The collaboration leaves much to be desired, but Android is unfortunately one of the best examples of large-scale development of more open and libre/free systems. A better solution than trying to break Android up, is taking/forking Android and making it better than Google seems capable of.
Think less Samsung, and a whole lot more Amazon Fire OS. And if you think Google hasn’t been doing R&D for Android except for “useless” AI and something that could be done a small outside time… I don’t know what to say to you then. I guess modern Bluetooth stacks, newer technology support and functionality, embedded encryption, etc… must be easy? A lot of R&D is done on the not very flashy things as well.
