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Sure, but the cut is a fixed amount based upon the value of the services the middleman is providing. And most importantly, it is not a percentage of the revenue

Sure, but the cut is a fixed amount based upon the value of the services the middleman is providing. And most importantly, it is not a percentage of the revenue the customer is able to generate by using these services - these two models are polar opposites. A great example that highlights this absurdity is vehicle ownership - imagine if Tesla announced tomorrow that they are actually a "transportation platform" and started charging Uber drivers a percentage of their revenue, or Mazda found out about the weekend race you did in a Miata and is demanding a cut of the winnings. Businesses would love perfect price discrimination in every context (because profits!), but is not clear to me how that is a desirable state for humanity.

AlwaysRock 3y ago
> A great example that highlights this absurdity is vehicle ownership - imagine if Tesla announced tomorrow that they are actually a "transportation platform" and started charging Uber drivers a percentage of their revenue, or Mazda found out about the weekend race you did in a Miata and is demanding a cut of the winnings. They could do this. It would just result in people being upset and likely no longer using their products. I don't think it makes a ton of sense to compare a store or marketplace to hardware though? Every marketplace I know of takes a cut of items purchased through their store. Or they buy their items upfront and then take all the revenue of the sale. The issue really shouldnt be that a cut is taken, it should be the amount or letting developers create alternative ways to download apps. Having an issue with someone taking a cut of revenue generated for products purchased on their platform just doesnt make a lot of sense.