I don't think you or a bunch of us small time devs have any hope of beating the multinational megacorps. Probably the best chance we have is the E.U. slapping

I don't think you or a bunch of us small time devs have any hope of beating the multinational megacorps. Probably the best chance we have is the E.U. slapping them on the wrist enough times that they open up a tiny little bit, but I don't have my hopes up. If you want the reach of the app stores, playing in their walled gardens and paying their fees is all you can do :( Sure you can make a web app, but you probably lose half your audience or more right off the bat. It's on purpose and neither Google nor Apple are going to make that easier to avoid unless forced to.