If Microsoft did this a decade ago we’d call for the DoJ to reopen their investigation. Apple has the best phone, best tablet, and in many ways the best operating system — we should not give them a pass for this blatantly self-interested and user-hostile stance. Defaults matter.
Emphasis mine. Keep that in mind.
And the DOJ would reply “Come back to me when they have a monopoly. Any monopoly. Of anything” because someone as smart as Matt Mullenweg should understand that you don’t get the DOJ involved when it’s just something you don’t like. You get them involved when there’s a problem with how a company is obeying the law.
Also, on the subject of defaults, Matt seems to be new to the Mac. Defaults are something that Apple has always been shy of. Sure, on the Mac they permitted you to set defaults for things they don’t care about (like which app to open a JPG with) but outside of that? They’ve removed most of the defaults over the years and this is not because they’re user hostile because if that were the case, their users would leave. No, it’s because they have figured out that the vast majority of their users actually do not give a damn. Further than that, the vast majority of their users would actually be adversely affected by apps that demanded to be the defaults.
If there is a problem with defaults then why doesn’t the “power user” community entreat developers to provide defaults in an agreed way? Apple isn’t going to cave on this because they’re shifting more product and making more profit than god these days. And it’s still open to interpretation that they’re right.
But you’re right. Apple should kowtow to the alpha geeks who demand defaults. These same alpha geeks who would be just as likely to switch to Android or Windows Phone if the new and shiny appeared. If “in many ways“, the OS on those handsets and tablets improved. That’s a valuable market to be sure.