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I'd rather Apple give developers the choice and let user preference sort it out. In the long run the open market always wins.

nupark2 15y ago
In the long run the open market doesn't behave independently rational and doesn't 'win' anything -- it simply is. If Apple wasn't forcing the larger industry to learn how to turn a profit by putting users first, the market would simply saturate the app store with whatever existent concepts are popular today. Remember, prior to iOS, the Mac OS X market was both cry user friendly and very insular. Now, iOS has gone mainstream, but Apple's user-friendly focus hasn't (yet?). Of course, your open market does still exist -- users can choose Android, which thrives on the notion of 'user choice'.
- bad_user 15y ago
  Of course, your open market does still exist -- users can choose Android, which thrives on the notion of 'user choice'. That's one reason why I, as a consumer, chose Android in the first place. When I decided to buy a smartphone, I wanted one that allowed me to block calls and SMS messages completely, without leaving traces in the calls/sms logs. I wanted this because somehow my number ended up on a lot of spam lists and a smartphone should be smart about these things, right? If my email address is protected by spam filters, it should be a no-brainer for my smartphone to do the same for calls and SMS. Imagine my surprise when I found out that such apps are banned from the iTunes App Store and that the only way to get such functionality on iOS was for me to root it and install software through Cydia. And why should I as a consumer go through so many hoops to use such software, when the company (that receives my money in the process) is actively hostile to my use case, a use case which is in no way immoral or unjustified. When it comes to Android, building an app that blocks calls and SMS messages is still hard, as the APIs you have to rely on are private and keep changing, so the results are unpredictable. But upon a search on Google Play, I did find one that works well, installed with a single click. And I didn't have to root my phone. Now that's what openness gets you - user experience is important, but it's all for nothing if the apps allowed don't solve your real problems.
rmc 15y ago
In the long run the open market always wins. The App Store is not an open market, nor is it intended to be an open market.
batista 15y ago
>In the long run the open market always wins. I've never seen an open market in the wild, much less it "always winning". You mean an open market like the "$1 trillion bailout not to collapse the whole economy" open market? Or an open market like "we enforce strict copyright laws to artificially limit each copyrighted product to one maker and it's pricing at his whims"? Or an open market with patents, for the same purpose? Or an open market with frequent cartels, to everything from dairy products to RAM? Last, but not least, an open market where a country with a military advantage has several army units deployed and several wars to secure resources and keep their prices down?
- philbarr 15y ago
  That is a fantastic rant about the open market. Do you mind if I use it and claim it as my own someday?
  - mkr-hn 15y ago
    The rant is generic and uncompelling. I'm sure you can do better.
  - batista 15y ago
    Sure, knock yourself out.
  - kylebrown 15y ago
    as an alternative to a full-blown rant, just remind people that market fundamentalism died in the '08-'09 superbubble implosion. E.g. the new Dallas Fed report about enhancing "market discipline" and restoring "faith in market capitalism."
    - CamperBob 15y ago
      What happened in '08-'09 had as much to do with market capitalism as the Stalinist purges had to do with Marxism.
- mkr-hn 15y ago

nupark2 15y ago

In the long run the open market doesn't behave independently rational and doesn't 'win' anything -- it simply is. If Apple wasn't forcing the larger industry to learn how to turn a profit by putting users first, the market would simply saturate the app store with whatever existent concepts are popular today. Remember, prior to iOS, the Mac OS X market was both cry user friendly and very insular. Now, iOS has gone mainstream, but Apple's user-friendly focus hasn't (yet?). Of course, your open market does still exist -- users can choose Android, which thrives on the notion of 'user choice'.

bad_user 15y ago
Of course, your open market does still exist -- users can choose Android, which thrives on the notion of 'user choice'. That's one reason why I, as a consumer, chose Android in the first place. When I decided to buy a smartphone, I wanted one that allowed me to block calls and SMS messages completely, without leaving traces in the calls/sms logs. I wanted this because somehow my number ended up on a lot of spam lists and a smartphone should be smart about these things, right? If my email address is protected by spam filters, it should be a no-brainer for my smartphone to do the same for calls and SMS. Imagine my surprise when I found out that such apps are banned from the iTunes App Store and that the only way to get such functionality on iOS was for me to root it and install software through Cydia. And why should I as a consumer go through so many hoops to use such software, when the company (that receives my money in the process) is actively hostile to my use case, a use case which is in no way immoral or unjustified. When it comes to Android, building an app that blocks calls and SMS messages is still hard, as the APIs you have to rely on are private and keep changing, so the results are unpredictable. But upon a search on Google Play, I did find one that works well, installed with a single click. And I didn't have to root my phone. Now that's what openness gets you - user experience is important, but it's all for nothing if the apps allowed don't solve your real problems.

rmc 15y ago

In the long run the open market always wins. The App Store is not an open market, nor is it intended to be an open market.

batista 15y ago

>In the long run the open market always wins. I've never seen an open market in the wild, much less it "always winning". You mean an open market like the "$1 trillion bailout not to collapse the whole economy" open market? Or an open market like "we enforce strict copyright laws to artificially limit each copyrighted product to one maker and it's pricing at his whims"? Or an open market with patents, for the same purpose? Or an open market with frequent cartels, to everything from dairy products to RAM? Last, but not least, an open market where a country with a military advantage has several army units deployed and several wars to secure resources and keep their prices down?

philbarr 15y ago
That is a fantastic rant about the open market. Do you mind if I use it and claim it as my own someday?
- mkr-hn 15y ago
  The rant is generic and uncompelling. I'm sure you can do better.
- batista 15y ago
  Sure, knock yourself out.
- kylebrown 15y ago
  as an alternative to a full-blown rant, just remind people that market fundamentalism died in the '08-'09 superbubble implosion. E.g. the new Dallas Fed report about enhancing "market discipline" and restoring "faith in market capitalism."
  - CamperBob 15y ago
    What happened in '08-'09 had as much to do with market capitalism as the Stalinist purges had to do with Marxism.
mkr-hn 15y ago