[Jcowell]

Apple allows sideloading on computers because that’s how computers have always been. Introducing a Computer back then that had no means of getting needed software would be suicide for any computer. It had to open because computers for the most part were always open and Apple didn’t have the leverage or starting position like they did with the iPhone.

Something like a Chromebook would have absolutely failed decades ago. A lot of things done today would have failed decades ago and vice versa.

[TedDoesntTalk]

> Something like a Chromebook would have absolutely failed decades ago

Video game consoles existed decades ago, were locked down systems, and succeeded tremendously… starting all the way back in the 1970s with Atari 2600.

> because that’s how computers have always been

Phones before the iPhone allowed any app to be installed. J2ME. There was no precedent to do what Apple did with a lockdown like that, as far as I remember. Glad to be corrected but don’t forget to include the J2ME landscape in your analysis.

[srtjstjsj]

Video game consoles were extremely limited, as well as being cheap enough that people could buy several, as well as being completely inessential luxury toys, not tools for running businesses and lives.

[vlozko]

The scope and utility of a piece of technology is a weak argument in anti-trust debates, in my opinion. You have a similar set of issues with game consoles, too. Why should publishers like EA have to fork over 30% of their PS sales to Sony but Naughty Dog doesn’t have such a restriction? And have you even read about the onerous requirements that Sony imposes to allow for cross-play? And why can’t MS offer a streaming Game Pass on a Sony console? Being extremely limited does not make one not subject to anti-trust scrutiny.

[shkkmo]

Most (modern) Chromebooks allow you to run any linux software you want.

Just because you have the ecosystem lock-in to force something new down the throats of users doesn't justify doing it.

[Jcowell]

Yes but we’re not talking about us we’re talking about general consumers and the useful of a tool for general consumers. The general consumers is not is talking Linux or using Linux app. The closest they’ll ever touch to Linux is Unix via MacOS.

We can write 100 things for Linux but it means Jack nothing to a consumer who will never do that to the Chromebooks. I.e School IT’s for student use.

[shkkmo]

I'm not really clear what your point is.

Sideloading apps on MacOS, Android and ChromeOS all require taking a few additional steps. It's unlikely that most average consumer will ever take these steps, but it is easily doable for those consumers if you follow online instructions (and so some do.)

iOS really is unique in the level of difficulty involved in sideloading apps.

[rtsil]

I had the first gen Chromebook and the first thing I did with it was install Crouton and access Ubuntu.

[shkkmo]

These days you can turn on a system setting and launch Debian.