[pc_edwin]

This is true but the thing is, it can take a decade of two for the free market to do its thing.

Its really hard to break network effects, especially at Apples scale.

If it was just gonna end with a minor gatekeeping fee, I can see myself (and other) just biting the bullet but history suggests that this is just the beginning of a massive descent.

[FredPret]

Descent for Apple - maybe.

Descent of the free market - no, this is how it's supposed to work.

Monopolies can be good for a short while for the economy, although they always go sour after a while.

Standard Oil provided clean(er) and safe(r) lighting and fuel for millions around the world, developing ultra efficient refining and distribution techniques. They even saved the whales by accident.

M$ was much-reviled in the 90's, but their PC monopoly helped establish a standard for computing, which almost certainly contributed positively to the rapid development of hardware and the internet in that time.

The same is true for the iPhone ecosystem and the large-country-sized app economy it spawned.

But if Apple doesn't keep innovating (truly new products, not just newer phones and iOS'es), no amount of monopolistic action will keep them afloat and in fact would probably hasten their decline. These big corpo's become the victims of the economic and technical progress they create.