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I’m not defending this, but after 15 years, I don’t see the point in complaining. We complain (rightfully) about the amount of crap in the App Store and Apple's

I’m not defending this, but after 15 years, I don’t see the point in complaining. We complain (rightfully) about the amount of crap in the App Store and Apple's capricious review policies that don’t stop the scammers, but for better or worse, the $99 fee IS a barrier to entry that I would argue has made the iOS ecosystem better than Android. I’ve been paying $99 a year for early access to iOS betas and for my own test apps since the program debuted in 2008. I’ve never published an app in the App Store under my own account. But if I’m honest, I do feel I’ve gotten value out of that $1500 or whatever. If it isn’t worth $100 a year to you, that’s fine. Plenty of people will sell you a slot on their account for less and give you a signing key. Or you can choose not to play. But it seems silly to bitch about something that has literally been the status quo since the inception of the App Store back in March 2008, when the iPhone SDK was released. I should also note that the $99 in 2008 was significantly less than Apple used to charge for student access for Apple Developer Accounts for Mac before that. (Although those gave you nice Apple hardware discounts).

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
[flagged]
- kennend3 4y ago
  >the $99 fee IS a barrier to entry that I would argue has made the iOS ecosystem better than Android Citation needed. Are you seriously asking them for a citation on their own opinion?
  - ubermonkey 4y ago
    Of course he is. This is HN.
- mschuster91 4y ago
  > Just because a company's gouging and gatekeeping has a side effects of keeping the great unwashed masses away, doesn't mean it's the right thing. And yet, in a world filled with actors with malicious intent - cybercriminals, spammers, secret services, dark spyware vendors, scammers cashing in on "popular" brands or sometimes outright cloning applications - it is the only way to enforce some honesty. I don't like it either, but I do not see an alternative.
- jamespo 4y ago
  The citation is his own experience (and mine) and "doing the right thing" from whose perspective? All that matters is Apple's.
- vuln 4y ago
  If BMW started the heated seat subscription over 15 years ago, would people still be complaining today?
  - Krasnol 4y ago
    Depends on the rest of the car makers. If there would be a significant competition without a subscription: yes, people would keep on complaining. If everybody would jump on the train: probably no, because people would have forgotten what "normal" was. I find option 2 quite unlikely so the answer to your question is: yes.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  In their opinion, the barrier to entry has had a good result. In your opinion, it's akin to BMW's heated seats subscription. On the face of it, whether I agree or disagree, the first opinion at least makes more sense. Since both are opinions, "citation needed" is a non sequitur. Or do you have citations for your opinion?
toyg 4y ago
[flagged]
- Jcowell 4y ago
  Can’t the same be said about going to an amusement park since it’s not something you leave with other than an experience? (The experience in the GP case being access to the open betas)
- diydsp 4y ago
  It's a reflection of the classist nature of Apple's policy. Access to the platform, like shelter, is a privilege for those with means.
- danaris 4y ago
  If you think the only value that exists is value that can be measured in dollars, then I would assert that you have a very limited and shallow understanding of the human experience.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > A "value" you cannot really describe nor measure, and that will leave you nothing once you stop paying or Apple goes away. I think this is a strange and unfair criticism. I'll bet all of us, including you, can think of things that we value without being able to concretely describe why. We'd default to "because I like it". That's not invalid at all.
- dev_tty01 4y ago
  I guess a $30,000 car that will leave you with nearly nothing after several years also has no value? How about a $5000 vacation with your family? How about a great bottle of wine? Many, many things we choose to value enough to invest in are temporary. That is not a useful criteria.
  - toyg 4y ago
    > a $30,000 car that will leave you with nearly nothing after several years also has no value? It has metal and plastic, assembled in parts that you can sell for a total amount that will be surprisingly high, or that can be sold for scrap metal, or driven until the end of days, or or or... It's obvious that it has some sort of value, however low - it is a thing made of resources in the real world. You can argue about the price, but you can quantify it in so many different ways (weight, dimensions, speed, consumption, age, etc etc etc).

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

[flagged]

kennend3 4y ago
>the $99 fee IS a barrier to entry that I would argue has made the iOS ecosystem better than Android Citation needed. Are you seriously asking them for a citation on their own opinion?
- ubermonkey 4y ago
  Of course he is. This is HN.
mschuster91 4y ago
> Just because a company's gouging and gatekeeping has a side effects of keeping the great unwashed masses away, doesn't mean it's the right thing. And yet, in a world filled with actors with malicious intent - cybercriminals, spammers, secret services, dark spyware vendors, scammers cashing in on "popular" brands or sometimes outright cloning applications - it is the only way to enforce some honesty. I don't like it either, but I do not see an alternative.
jamespo 4y ago
The citation is his own experience (and mine) and "doing the right thing" from whose perspective? All that matters is Apple's.
vuln 4y ago
If BMW started the heated seat subscription over 15 years ago, would people still be complaining today?
- Krasnol 4y ago
  Depends on the rest of the car makers. If there would be a significant competition without a subscription: yes, people would keep on complaining. If everybody would jump on the train: probably no, because people would have forgotten what "normal" was. I find option 2 quite unlikely so the answer to your question is: yes.
pwinnski 4y ago
In their opinion, the barrier to entry has had a good result. In your opinion, it's akin to BMW's heated seats subscription. On the face of it, whether I agree or disagree, the first opinion at least makes more sense. Since both are opinions, "citation needed" is a non sequitur. Or do you have citations for your opinion?

toyg 4y ago

[flagged]

Jcowell 4y ago
Can’t the same be said about going to an amusement park since it’s not something you leave with other than an experience? (The experience in the GP case being access to the open betas)
diydsp 4y ago
It's a reflection of the classist nature of Apple's policy. Access to the platform, like shelter, is a privilege for those with means.
danaris 4y ago
If you think the only value that exists is value that can be measured in dollars, then I would assert that you have a very limited and shallow understanding of the human experience.
JohnFen 4y ago
> A "value" you cannot really describe nor measure, and that will leave you nothing once you stop paying or Apple goes away. I think this is a strange and unfair criticism. I'll bet all of us, including you, can think of things that we value without being able to concretely describe why. We'd default to "because I like it". That's not invalid at all.
dev_tty01 4y ago
I guess a $30,000 car that will leave you with nearly nothing after several years also has no value? How about a $5000 vacation with your family? How about a great bottle of wine? Many, many things we choose to value enough to invest in are temporary. That is not a useful criteria.
- toyg 4y ago
  > a $30,000 car that will leave you with nearly nothing after several years also has no value? It has metal and plastic, assembled in parts that you can sell for a total amount that will be surprisingly high, or that can be sold for scrap metal, or driven until the end of days, or or or... It's obvious that it has some sort of value, however low - it is a thing made of resources in the real world. You can argue about the price, but you can quantify it in so many different ways (weight, dimensions, speed, consumption, age, etc etc etc).