So I initially was a fan of the idea of the Mac App Store for the same reason why I think an iOS is, for most people, necessary: sandboxing apps is just a good

So I initially was a fan of the idea of the Mac App Store for the same reason why I think an iOS is, for most people, necessary: sandboxing apps is just a good idea. So is standardizing installs, removals and updates. Epic defied Apple's rules here, quite openly. Faced with dissension, from a political point of view you have a choice to make. Apple chose to come down hard on this rebellion. It immediately went nuclear, spilling over the Fortnite-on-iOS dispute into both Mac and iOS and for anything that runs Unreal Engine. Apple is clearly trying to send a message and keep everyone in line with this strategy. This is straight out of the despot's playbook. Just look at Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. By taking down the biggest oligarch sent the message to the others saying "you aren't untouchable". I see Apple's move here in the same light. Apple is saying "we don't care how big Fortnite is; we're going to make an example out of you". This strongly suggests to me that Apple fears rebellion.. I think this strategy is a huge mistake. Apple's arguments are pretty weak here too. "We don't know what Trojan Horses Epic will put into the Unreal Engine so we have to ban any use of it". Uh... sure. And while Epic's move was clearly against Apple's rules, it wasn't clandestine or malicious (to the users) either. By attempting to ban any use of Unreal Engine on iOS and OSX, Apple is doing nothing more than demonstrating they're a monopoly and are capable (if not actually) engaging in anticompetitive behaviour. I still think Apple's payment ecosystem (and 30% cut) actually makes a lot of sense for the bottom 90% of publishers. For the likes of Epic, Netflix, Unisoft, Activision, Hulu and the likes it doesn't. These guys all have their own payment infrastructure and are cross-platform. Apple's stance on the 30% cut for these guys just doesn't make sense. And I don't think it will last. Either the cut will come down or exceptions will eventually be carved out for top-tier publishers.