3 ms·

It's a devil's bargain. In the long term it means that innovation is restricted, massive taxes are levied, and peoples' livelihoods are captive to the whims of

by api 8y ago

It's a devil's bargain. In the long term it means that innovation is restricted, massive taxes are levied, and peoples' livelihoods are captive to the whims of the Apple App Store. The times I've dealt with the App Store have horrified me. The US Internal Revenue Service is more responsive and has superior customer service. I am not exaggerating. We've had apps approved then denied requiring appeal on later minor updates because some reviewer spotted something and checked a box. We had to appeal to get past that, and the whole thing has a very arbitrary feel to it. Your software is at the whim of something resembling a Terry Gilliam bureaucratic dystopia.

ben_w 8y ago
I think the devil’s bargain slowly built up with the internet’s overwhelming importance. Back when I was on a PowerPC Mac, I had no fear of any random apps… but apps came on CDs and new viruses were biennial. Now? I’m not even happy to intall Ubuntu from the official website because of Bug #1359836 reported about 4 years ago and not yet closed. My “tax” is a choice between Apple, anti-virus, or virus. The risk of state actors adds to that regardless of my choice. I was an iOS developer myself before looking after parent with Alzheimer’s, so I know Apple’s rules. Also read the developer agreement and kept up to date with all changes by diff-ing the PDFs. I’d be pleasantly surprised if the IRS turns out to be easier (non-zero chance I’ll end up in the Bay Area at some point). Perhaps my apps were the equivalent of a 9-5 job, but other people had apps the equivalent of houses straddling state and international borders with one part being exclusively used as a home office-factory for a startup in autonomous home defence laser-based dazzling turrets, which had just been given startup investments from outside the USA and had remote workers who may or may not have been technically contractors? :)

by api 8y ago

ben_w 8y ago

I think the devil’s bargain slowly built up with the internet’s overwhelming importance. Back when I was on a PowerPC Mac, I had no fear of any random apps… but apps came on CDs and new viruses were biennial. Now? I’m not even happy to intall Ubuntu from the official website because of Bug #1359836 reported about 4 years ago and not yet closed. My “tax” is a choice between Apple, anti-virus, or virus. The risk of state actors adds to that regardless of my choice. I was an iOS developer myself before looking after parent with Alzheimer’s, so I know Apple’s rules. Also read the developer agreement and kept up to date with all changes by diff-ing the PDFs. I’d be pleasantly surprised if the IRS turns out to be easier (non-zero chance I’ll end up in the Bay Area at some point). Perhaps my apps were the equivalent of a 9-5 job, but other people had apps the equivalent of houses straddling state and international borders with one part being exclusively used as a home office-factory for a startup in autonomous home defence laser-based dazzling turrets, which had just been given startup investments from outside the USA and had remote workers who may or may not have been technically contractors? :)