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What people and what competing service? People as in consumers? 99% of Apple consumers don’t care about this drama. They just want to click and install an app

What people and what competing service? People as in consumers? 99% of Apple consumers don’t care about this drama. They just want to click and install an app that’s safe, vetted, and no one will steal their credit card. Same as I don’t care when digitally buying PlayStation games. I don’t care how much Sony charges developers to be on their marketplace, and I don’t want to use alternative stores with additional places where I have to put in my credit card or ask for refunds.

onion2k 5y ago
99% of Apple consumers don’t care about this drama. At the moment there's no point in caring. You don't have a choice, so why worry about it? You have to remember that you, as someone who doesn't care about alternative stores and wouldn't switch, aren't the market for an alternative store. This is about other people and their freedom to choose. Arguing that the Apple iOS store works for you and therefore it should work for everyone else is not how free markets work.
- HatchedLake721 5y ago
  If Apple iOS store doesn't work for you, there's Google Play store. Free market has nothing to do with how software is loaded on a hardware. There were more options in the past. There was Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Nokia, Symbian, etc. But when Apple came to market, they made such an excellent device, along with great developer and consumer experience, that developers agreed for 30% cut and most decided to ditch developing for other platforms, and consumers decided to ditch other now "shitty" phones where they couldn't download their favourite apps for. Microsoft released great phones, but still had issues with software. They tried solving that with throwing money at developers, but developers still didn't want to develop for Windows Phone. Developers played crucial part in the last 10 years to form the market where we are today. And suddenly in 2022, after playing on the same terms for the last 10 years, an access to a marketplace with 1+ billion active users needs to be a free, basic human right that everyone cries for.
- tomjen3 5y ago
  Would I be free to choose to pay for your App through Apple? Or would the developer have the choice, and I end up having to call them to end the subscription the way so many news papers require you to?
  - tsimionescu 5y ago
    Can you currently pay for gas through Apple? Or for your Netflix account? Or for installing Mentor Graphics on your Mac? Why would a business transaction between you and a third party necessarily involve Apple being a payment option?
    - HatchedLake721 5y ago
      Because Apple given the third party access to you via a marketplace. And you are a participant of this marketplace, because Apple spent billions on R&D and ended up being so good, that developers and consumers abandoned other platforms in droves. Apple also smoked previous multibillion competitors (BlackBerry and Nokia) into shame, and they’re now part of history and MBA lectures on how a young and innovative player can kill your slow and boring business in a short time. That’s why Apple is a market leader, with the best vertically integrated hardware and software devices, as well as a marketplace with billion people that both devs and consumers eagerly want to be part of. The same marketplace developers agreed to join by paying up 30% of revenue 10+ years ago, while abandoning Windows Phone and others, and playing part in the shaping the market where it is today. And suddenly developers cry wolf that it’s a basic human right to have access to a marketplace with 1 billion people for free, which they played active part in building.
      - tsimionescu 5y ago
        Apple forces me to use their marketplace to do business with any third party selling software for my phone. It is not "giving access" to third parties, it is restricting them from accessing my phone unless they use Apple's preferred software distribution method. The fact that they were in the right place at the right time with the right fashion and right look and feel to capture this market does not entitle them to perpetually profit from it. And I do say "happened to", because the iPhone had nothing other than chance going for it, and it was simply an idea whose time had come. Several others were developing smartphones at the same time, such as Nokia, LG, and Google's Android. Apple had better and faster execution, much better marketing, and luck.
leoedin 5y ago
Consumers might start to care if it means every app is 20% cheaper.
- simondotau 5y ago
  As someone who has had to deal with subscriptions on apps on my wife’s phone, “20% cheaper” but outside of the Apple payment ecosystem sounds way more expensive.
withinboredom 5y ago
Wait, so you didn’t buy the $60 ten year old game digitally? You went to the GameStop down the street and bought it used for $10? /s There are alternatives there.
throwaddzuzxd 5y ago
> 99% of Apple consumers That's 5 million people who do care then, considering 500 million iPhone users (which is a conservative number).
passivate 5y ago
That is a facetious argument. Just because the majority doesn't care doesn't mean the issue isn't important. We don't decide importance of things just based on a vote - we can use also use reason, logic, empathy, etc.

onion2k 5y ago

99% of Apple consumers don’t care about this drama. At the moment there's no point in caring. You don't have a choice, so why worry about it? You have to remember that you, as someone who doesn't care about alternative stores and wouldn't switch, aren't the market for an alternative store. This is about other people and their freedom to choose. Arguing that the Apple iOS store works for you and therefore it should work for everyone else is not how free markets work.

HatchedLake721 5y ago
If Apple iOS store doesn't work for you, there's Google Play store. Free market has nothing to do with how software is loaded on a hardware. There were more options in the past. There was Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Nokia, Symbian, etc. But when Apple came to market, they made such an excellent device, along with great developer and consumer experience, that developers agreed for 30% cut and most decided to ditch developing for other platforms, and consumers decided to ditch other now "shitty" phones where they couldn't download their favourite apps for. Microsoft released great phones, but still had issues with software. They tried solving that with throwing money at developers, but developers still didn't want to develop for Windows Phone. Developers played crucial part in the last 10 years to form the market where we are today. And suddenly in 2022, after playing on the same terms for the last 10 years, an access to a marketplace with 1+ billion active users needs to be a free, basic human right that everyone cries for.
tomjen3 5y ago
Would I be free to choose to pay for your App through Apple? Or would the developer have the choice, and I end up having to call them to end the subscription the way so many news papers require you to?
- tsimionescu 5y ago
  Can you currently pay for gas through Apple? Or for your Netflix account? Or for installing Mentor Graphics on your Mac? Why would a business transaction between you and a third party necessarily involve Apple being a payment option?
  - HatchedLake721 5y ago
    Because Apple given the third party access to you via a marketplace. And you are a participant of this marketplace, because Apple spent billions on R&D and ended up being so good, that developers and consumers abandoned other platforms in droves. Apple also smoked previous multibillion competitors (BlackBerry and Nokia) into shame, and they’re now part of history and MBA lectures on how a young and innovative player can kill your slow and boring business in a short time. That’s why Apple is a market leader, with the best vertically integrated hardware and software devices, as well as a marketplace with billion people that both devs and consumers eagerly want to be part of. The same marketplace developers agreed to join by paying up 30% of revenue 10+ years ago, while abandoning Windows Phone and others, and playing part in the shaping the market where it is today. And suddenly developers cry wolf that it’s a basic human right to have access to a marketplace with 1 billion people for free, which they played active part in building.
    - tsimionescu 5y ago
      Apple forces me to use their marketplace to do business with any third party selling software for my phone. It is not "giving access" to third parties, it is restricting them from accessing my phone unless they use Apple's preferred software distribution method. The fact that they were in the right place at the right time with the right fashion and right look and feel to capture this market does not entitle them to perpetually profit from it. And I do say "happened to", because the iPhone had nothing other than chance going for it, and it was simply an idea whose time had come. Several others were developing smartphones at the same time, such as Nokia, LG, and Google's Android. Apple had better and faster execution, much better marketing, and luck.

leoedin 5y ago

Consumers might start to care if it means every app is 20% cheaper.

simondotau 5y ago
As someone who has had to deal with subscriptions on apps on my wife’s phone, “20% cheaper” but outside of the Apple payment ecosystem sounds way more expensive.

withinboredom 5y ago

Wait, so you didn’t buy the $60 ten year old game digitally? You went to the GameStop down the street and bought it used for $10? /s There are alternatives there.

throwaddzuzxd 5y ago

> 99% of Apple consumers That's 5 million people who do care then, considering 500 million iPhone users (which is a conservative number).

passivate 5y ago

That is a facetious argument. Just because the majority doesn't care doesn't mean the issue isn't important. We don't decide importance of things just based on a vote - we can use also use reason, logic, empathy, etc.