I think we're actually in agreement about the positive effect of these clauses, at least for some users. I certainly want simplicity and unity in my experience

I think we're actually in agreement about the positive effect of these clauses, at least for some users. I certainly want simplicity and unity in my experience too. We perhaps disagree about the motivations behind the clauses, but without inside knowledge I suppose we'll never know for certain. The piece that perhaps I didn't express clearly enough: there are cases where developers -- even the good ones, who care deeply about doing the right thing for their users -- are boxed in and, no matter how much they would like to play by Apple's rules, are unable to for one reason or another. The result is often worse for users. It's the unintended consequences of the "Kindle Clauses" that I find so interesting; that was what motivated my original blog post.