Excellent point - that's probably why the conversations were so much more vivid and interesting too -- we were all actively trying to figure out how to square A

Excellent point - that's probably why the conversations were so much more vivid and interesting too -- we were all actively trying to figure out how to square A) building cool things for people B) being able to eat C) uncertainty if, as in the words of Stevie J, a rogue app could take down Cingular's network. In reality, my primary concerns ended up being I used the App Store payments system so I had to give up 30%, meanwhile our well-funded competitors just did a "external account subscription". Now, I've left Google, and I'm building an app that integrates multiple AI services. User places deposits and we charge out of the deposited amounts. I feel ugly and complicit in user abuse by having to charge a 30% premium over the actual cost, without being able to even mention there's another option