Re: Typical EU
@Planty
Microsoft and Apple are way more anti-consumer than Google
Quite right. Because it's in the consumer's best interests to mine their data for information and then sell it to advertisers. You might not care about this of course, and accept it as a fair price for a cheap device and a free operating system (which will probably never get updated on non-Google hardware), but I'd argue that such practices are not in the consumer's best interests. But then that depends on how 'consumers best interests' is defined - and your definition is unlikely to be the same as mine.
My definition of 'consumers best interests' demands that my data isn't sold to advertisers, that the app store I use is free from malware, and that I receive OS updates for as long as possible (ideally for four years or more).
Google does pretty well on the 'free from malware' score, but security on Android still doesn't match up to the level iOS attains - and this is mostly down the fact that only a small percentage of devices are able to update to the very latest software, with its attendant security updates.
On the other hand though, and whilst I think that the EU is being a little silly on this, the many commenters who write that Microsoft and Apple aren't in the spotlight because they don't have a monopoly have a very good point. There are certain responsibilities that attend the front runners which don't apply to those at the back of the pack. I don't believe, for example, that Robin owners have ever been much troubled by motorway speed limits - but, unlike Android owners, I don't remember the possessors of faster cars complaining that they were being unfairly penalised vs. Robin drivers.
Shit - that was a bad analogy even by my standards!