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Why is everyone acting like Apple's App Store is this democratic place that should abide by some arbitrary rule of equality? They own the thing _and_ they make

by pluc 6y ago

Why is everyone acting like Apple's App Store is this democratic place that should abide by some arbitrary rule of equality? They own the thing _and_ they make the rules that govern it. They can do whatever they like and really don't have to answer to anyone.

damnyou 6y ago
It isn't, but it should be more democratic.
shados 6y ago
Because antitrust laws are a thing. If you make a new phone OS tomorrow and lock it down to a single store with a 99.99% cut, no one cares and it's not illegal. You don't have oligopoly. When Apple or Google get a little too strict with their app stores, things get a lot more ambiguous.
- ryanseys 6y ago
  But the 30% cut by Apple has been standard from the beginning. Why does that suddenly come into question once they have been successful? Serious question, I'm not an expert in antitrust laws.
  - inopinatus 6y ago
    It isn't the size of the cut that's the problem. Focusing on that is misdirection. The problem is that Apple require vendors not to advertise, link to, or even mention that other payment methods are available outside of the walled garden. That's the stunning uppercut. The size of the fee is merely a follow-up kick to the nuts. No doubt Apple's PR team have been feeding Bloomberg background that pulls them towards only thinking about percentages, because "high prices bad" is an much easier story for lazy hacks to write than "Apple's T&Cs are distorting a marketplace and forcing vendors to mislead consumers", and much easier for Apple to leak about and subsequently respond to without addressing the core problem, especially when they're eventually forced to sit down and haggle with consumer/anti-trust regulators.
  - shados 6y ago
    > Why does that suddenly come into question once they have been successful Because people don't have a choice. If you want to build a successful software as a service offering in 2020, chances are you need to offer apps for it. Those apps have to be available for iOS and Android else they're dead on arrival, especially for iOS. While Android lets you easily sideload apps (but even that is rarely enough as most users won't deal with that), iOS is a very strict walled garden. You have to play by the rules, and the rules are finicky and vague. Like in the Hey mail saga, Apple's whim can make or break an entire business. That's not okay.
inopinatus 6y ago
Abuse of market power is illegal in many jurisdictions because it places the consumer at a significant disadvantage. By obliging merchants to mislead the consumer about pricing, Apple have very likely distorted the marketplace. Which is why half the competition regulators on the planet have a file open on Apple right now. So no, corporations do not have carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want. See also: Uber.

by pluc 6y ago

damnyou 6y ago

It isn't, but it should be more democratic.

shados 6y ago

Because antitrust laws are a thing. If you make a new phone OS tomorrow and lock it down to a single store with a 99.99% cut, no one cares and it's not illegal. You don't have oligopoly. When Apple or Google get a little too strict with their app stores, things get a lot more ambiguous.

ryanseys 6y ago
But the 30% cut by Apple has been standard from the beginning. Why does that suddenly come into question once they have been successful? Serious question, I'm not an expert in antitrust laws.
- inopinatus 6y ago
  It isn't the size of the cut that's the problem. Focusing on that is misdirection. The problem is that Apple require vendors not to advertise, link to, or even mention that other payment methods are available outside of the walled garden. That's the stunning uppercut. The size of the fee is merely a follow-up kick to the nuts. No doubt Apple's PR team have been feeding Bloomberg background that pulls them towards only thinking about percentages, because "high prices bad" is an much easier story for lazy hacks to write than "Apple's T&Cs are distorting a marketplace and forcing vendors to mislead consumers", and much easier for Apple to leak about and subsequently respond to without addressing the core problem, especially when they're eventually forced to sit down and haggle with consumer/anti-trust regulators.
- shados 6y ago
  > Why does that suddenly come into question once they have been successful Because people don't have a choice. If you want to build a successful software as a service offering in 2020, chances are you need to offer apps for it. Those apps have to be available for iOS and Android else they're dead on arrival, especially for iOS. While Android lets you easily sideload apps (but even that is rarely enough as most users won't deal with that), iOS is a very strict walled garden. You have to play by the rules, and the rules are finicky and vague. Like in the Hey mail saga, Apple's whim can make or break an entire business. That's not okay.

inopinatus 6y ago

Abuse of market power is illegal in many jurisdictions because it places the consumer at a significant disadvantage. By obliging merchants to mislead the consumer about pricing, Apple have very likely distorted the marketplace. Which is why half the competition regulators on the planet have a file open on Apple right now. So no, corporations do not have carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want. See also: Uber.