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Comment by aurora72 | Hacker News Reader

Once we had Microsoft imposing restrictions on how we could use their system and now we have Apple dictating how their system can be used. But Apple 's got one drawback; iPad's got very viable rivals such as WePad, ChromeOS, MobLin Microsoft had no really threatening rival at the time.

Apple 's attitude of power is therefore ridiculous, they seem to think that their tablet PC is something only they can develop and master, however it's not. Soon there will be millions of free and of equivalent quality Tablet PC's around and Apple 's iPad will only constitute a minority of them.

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I agree. Microsoft was required to open their APIs for 3rd party developers. I don't see why Apple should get away with it. I hope you are correct and iPad's alternatives provide decent market competition, forcing Apple to review it's preposterous position on 3rd party apps. But I fear they won't stop until someone takes legal action against them - their market position is too strong, and I think the rivals you mention aren't really any thread for them.

If nothing else, some non-US company is going to come up with their own tablet tailored to the local language and use the dual advantages of openness and cultural expertise to trounce them in those markets. In face several companies could do this at the same time. It's very easy to see how Apple could lose market leadership on the international stage this way.

> iPad's got very viable rivals such as WePad, ChromeOS, MobLin

N.B. Moblin merged with Maemo to become MeeGo -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeeGo

That's until they get sued like HTC. Apple's has that ace it it's bag. I guess they don't have a monopoly worthy of getting DoJ attention yet.

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