[bad_user]

      Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony each own their respective 
      console market, taking a tithe from every transaction occurring 
      on the device

That's why I never owned a console and played games on my computer: consoles and the provided game titles are way too expensive for the value provided, not to mention "features" like multiplayer over the network have been in PC games like Doom since the early '90 or even earlier.

The right comparison should really be versus Microsoft and Windows.

As much as I hated Microsoft's iron hand over the years, seeing Apple in action makes Microsoft look like saints interested in interoperability, openness and innovation for the greater good; the fuck? :-)