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>A wealthy California couple that previously got famous for refusing to give their fingerprint while attempting to buy a new BMW in cash spends six years making

>A wealthy California couple that previously got famous for refusing to give their fingerprint while attempting to buy a new BMW in cash spends six years making this product? And now their complaint is that you can't use your fingerprint to authorize installation of it via the app store? Link?

tacos 11y ago
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.ph...
- mikeash 11y ago
  That sounds totally reasonable to me. What part of that story is bad, or in conflict with wanting their product on the App Store?
  - tacos 11y ago
    Some people buy cars without getting on the front page of Boing Boing and making the local news. (Though usually not BMW SUVs, and maybe not by paying entirely with large sacks of cash.) Likewise, some people make apps and get them in the app store without constant drama. f.lux is the software equivalent of my artsy, wacky aunt who's always getting into some kind of trouble. She's fun and I love her to death, but eventually you get tired of bailing her out of jail once a year around the holidays.
    - mikeash 11y ago
      Most people buy cars without ever being asked to be fingerprinted. I don't think that's really on them so much as it is on the crazy dealer. I don't understand why you call f.lux's inability to get in the App Store "drama." The reason it can't get in the app store is really simple: Apple provides no public API to do what that app does, and Apple prohibits the use of private API in the app store. It wouldn't matter who was doing it, Apple wouldn't allow it regardless. So I really see no connection between being unable to get f.lux into the App Store and making the news for refusing to allow a BMW dealer to take fingerprints while buying a car.
      - tacos 11y ago
        They've been working on the thing for six years. It has a small but passionate userbase that loves it. Those people routinely lose access to it every iOS update. That's drama. Yesterday they released a new version. Today they pulled it. People in the comments here are saying "God Damn It, I missed it!" That's drama. Wanting to buy a BMW SUV, having the cash (literal cash!) to do so, and winding up on the TV news instead? That's also drama. The fingerprint segue was an attempt to link these observations without making it seem like an attack. Because it sure seems they're less interested in incubating the product, and more interested in incubating attention and drama. And if they honestly believe that this is a "world health issue" that affects "billions of people" then they should make an Android version. As of two hours ago, Mike tweeted that he is. Now all we need to do is get Lorna to stop tweeting things that are on the verge of turning this lump of glitchy code into an FDA-regulated medical device and perhaps we'll see a little progress toward helping those billion people. (Either way, I predict drama.)
        deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]

tacos 11y ago

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.php http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/03/thumbing_a_ride.ph...

mikeash 11y ago
That sounds totally reasonable to me. What part of that story is bad, or in conflict with wanting their product on the App Store?
- tacos 11y ago
  Some people buy cars without getting on the front page of Boing Boing and making the local news. (Though usually not BMW SUVs, and maybe not by paying entirely with large sacks of cash.) Likewise, some people make apps and get them in the app store without constant drama. f.lux is the software equivalent of my artsy, wacky aunt who's always getting into some kind of trouble. She's fun and I love her to death, but eventually you get tired of bailing her out of jail once a year around the holidays.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Most people buy cars without ever being asked to be fingerprinted. I don't think that's really on them so much as it is on the crazy dealer. I don't understand why you call f.lux's inability to get in the App Store "drama." The reason it can't get in the app store is really simple: Apple provides no public API to do what that app does, and Apple prohibits the use of private API in the app store. It wouldn't matter who was doing it, Apple wouldn't allow it regardless. So I really see no connection between being unable to get f.lux into the App Store and making the news for refusing to allow a BMW dealer to take fingerprints while buying a car.
    - tacos 11y ago
      They've been working on the thing for six years. It has a small but passionate userbase that loves it. Those people routinely lose access to it every iOS update. That's drama. Yesterday they released a new version. Today they pulled it. People in the comments here are saying "God Damn It, I missed it!" That's drama. Wanting to buy a BMW SUV, having the cash (literal cash!) to do so, and winding up on the TV news instead? That's also drama. The fingerprint segue was an attempt to link these observations without making it seem like an attack. Because it sure seems they're less interested in incubating the product, and more interested in incubating attention and drama. And if they honestly believe that this is a "world health issue" that affects "billions of people" then they should make an Android version. As of two hours ago, Mike tweeted that he is. Now all we need to do is get Lorna to stop tweeting things that are on the verge of turning this lump of glitchy code into an FDA-regulated medical device and perhaps we'll see a little progress toward helping those billion people. (Either way, I predict drama.)
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]