4 ms·
What Apple is doing seems to be completely legal and completely disgusting (and not at all new). Given that there's no ground for legal action, here are a few t
by azov 14y ago
What Apple is doing seems to be completely legal and completely disgusting (and not at all new). Given that there's no ground for legal action, here are a few things we, developers, can do:
1. Don't work for Apple. This one is really the easiest to implement, there's more then enough fine alternatives in the Valley.
2. Don't develop for Apple. Unfortunately, not really an option for most mobile developers. So, the next best thing is "don't develop just for Apple". Make sure that if your customers want to switch, your app is available on other platforms.
3. Don't buy from Apple. Again, not really an option for developers because of #2 (and that's also another example of walled garden - you have to have a Mac to develop for iOS).
One place where government regulation might be needed is to help create secondary market for apps. If I have many dollars worth of apps (or, say, books) and no way to sell them, this is obviously a big barrier to switch. I'd like to see a law requiring companies that sell digital goods to provide a way to transfer those goods to other users.
- laxatives 14y agoIn my mind, Apple has always had the objective of trying to maximize purchases and forcing users who start to upgrade as often as possible. Everything else is secondary.
- creamyhorror 14y agoI like certain actions of my country's government (Singapore) in promoting competition: - forcing cable/telco companies to share the cost of broadcast rights to a major soccer tournament, despite the tournament corporation's remonstrations (previously the companies bidded for the exclusive rights against each other and passed the costs to consumers) - requiring telcos to provide number porting services so people can switch telcos without losing their numbers, thereby freeing them from lock-in These two actions cut the profits of the cable-telcos here but benefited consumers significantly. We would have been paying out the nose for soccer broadcasts otherwise, and been stuck with our old mobile providers even when competitors were offering better prices. In a marketplace as huge as the smartphone+app+media ecosystem, I'm quite sure governments should be stepping in with regulatory tweaks to make sure users can use multiple services on each platform - even buy from competitors. Antitrust law shouldn't just be against monopolies - it should be actively pro-competition.
- kitsune_ 14y agoAs a consumer, I stopped buying Apple products some time ago. The last thing I bought from Apple was an iPhone 3GS. I still have to use Apple products at work. Now, I don't think that other companies are inherently more moral than Apple. That would be a foolish assumption. It's just that one company dominating an entire market is bad for almost everyone. If you develop mobile apps, only having one channel of distribution / platform is such a high risk. I don't understand developers that only target one platform.
- chj 14y agoyes, i will consider moral values over convenience in my future purchases and also i am going to favor platforms that are more open in future. freedom trumps everything, more profits doesn't necessary make you happier.