Consoles aren't generally seen by people as general-purpose computers, neither are they marketed as such by their manufacturers. They're seen by most people as appliances for playing video games.
I don't see cellphones as general purpose computers either. For exactly the same reason why I don't see game consoles as general purpose computers: neither one will run arbitrary programs. They only run programs that are blessed by their manufacturer. Both are appliances.
I'm really failing to see the distinction here.
Big tech will simply declare that phones aren't "general purpose computers". There is no reasonable endgame here in which: (a) this is enforced against cellphones and (b) this is not enforced against game consoles and (c) the EU doesn't end up looking completely ridiculous and arbitrary.
I'm betting that they cave on (b). It's the least painful option. The EU is going to have to enforce this against game consoles in order to be taken seriously.
I need to have an app on my phone to manage my health care payment.
I don't need a console for anything in particular.
It's hardly the same thing. Some services are not even available on a traditional computer
FinTech started as mobile apps and they added website support later.
It's stupid but that's how things are, the majority has chosen...
I don't think they've sold enough units in Europe to automatically qualify. Also wouldn't be surprised if games consoles have a dedicated carveout for the foreseeable future.
I'd expect the online stores on those consoles, and the resale of digital content, to be impacted well before running other OSs on consoles that didn't ship with that feature.
No, it doesn't. It was designed to work on more general purpose devices. And even then the EC is not investigating MS Sony or Nintendo as gatekeepers of their respective consoles.