Mark Zuckerberg slams Apple for its ‘closed’ ecosystem

The CEO did not explicitly call out Apple, but said that “In every generation of computing, there’s been an open ecosystem and a closed ecosystem, there was Windows and Mac, then Android and iOS. Closed ecosystems focus on tight control and integration to create unique experiences and lock in. Although most of that value ends up flowing to the platform over time.” He cites Windows versus macOS and Android vs iOS as examples to his statement.

He goes on to say that closed ecosystems “focus on tight control and integration to create unique experiences and lock-in… although most of that value ends up flowing to the platform over time.” Open ecosystems, like Meta, on the other hand, allows more people (and companies, of course) to share “the upside of what is created”, he added.

When asked about Apple’s mixed reality headset during the interview, Zuckerberg responded saying that Apple could hurt other VR platforms if it has as much control over its headset as it exerts over things like the Mac and iPhone. “I mean, it’s certainly plausible that they see this competition in the future and want to hinder us. I think one thing that’s been pretty clear is that their motives in doing the things that they’re doing are not as altruistic as they claim them to be”, he said.

Explaining how Meta’s platform is opened, he said that the company has partners building software for it, like Microsoft, Autodesk, and Accenture. In his previous interview on Decoder, he also said he’d be open to working with other companies that are building VR headsets. “I think that we’ll need to figure out how exactly that would work,” he said, adding that he’d love to work with companies like Samsung “at the right time.”

Meta has unveiled a high-end virtual reality headset with the hope that people will soon be using it to work and play in the still-elusive place called the “metaverse.”