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I just canceled my Instapaper paying subscription. I don't care about this story, I just care about the provider of a service that decides to block me for his

I just canceled my Instapaper paying subscription. I don't care about this story, I just care about the provider of a service that decides to block me for his personal matters. Sorry but it just feels like an insult to me.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
julian25 14y ago
Marco has actually been quite influential in my growth as a developer, I have nothing against him personally. That being said, I do not want to pay for a service that limits my access to content when there are other similar services that do not.
da_n 14y ago
I do agree that if a developer has some personal beef with a website that should not allow him/her to think they have the right to block it from their users. Apple wouldn't dream to go as far as to block google.com or samsung.com on their OS's for example just because they have some serious business disagreements. The fact is though we only really have one side of the story here, so hopefully Marco will explain his side of the story (perhaps on his podcast http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze). To be honest though I simply cannot believe he would think such a thing acceptable, he seems like a pretty clued-in guy this would be a blunder of epic proportions if true, there's something more to this story.
- nc 14y ago
  For the record. Apple has pushed Google Maps off the iPhone in iOS 6. Not sure they'll allow it either as it would 'duplicate core OS functionality'
  - da_n 14y ago
    Guess I should have said more clearly, meant blocking in the browser. With Google Maps, I thought this was down to their license agreement expiring, and that Google reportedly have their own App Store version in the works. I suppose if the app is rejected by Apple on frivalous grounds this would be cause for concern.
  - dasil003 14y ago
    And Google dragged their feet in updating it for years. But that's different from doing a specific edge-case breakage with a petulant message.
    - bishnu 14y ago
      Your first point is incorrect. Apple developed (and has always developed) the Maps app for iOS. The app is no longer using the Google Maps API - that is the difference in iOS 6.
  - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
    So were you part of the meetings that decided this? Because I could, for the record, say that Google pulled its Maps app off of the iPhone in iOS 6. I don't think either is an appropriate characterization of the situation. More likely, Apple had features they wanted that Google wouldn't license (eg turn by turn), so Apple decided to develop its own product. The license terms of the agreement for which Apple was paying Google included shipping the Google Maps app, so when Apple decided not to renew the agreement, they had to stop shipping a product called Google Maps.
    - adgar 14y ago
      > Because I could, for the record, say that Google pulled its Maps app off of the iPhone in iOS 6. Someone with in-depth knowledge of the licensing agreements! You must know exactly what happened, based on your assertion of credentials, here. > More likely, Apple had features they wanted that Google wouldn't license (eg turn by turn) Wouldn't? Or couldn't? Do you know? Do you care? It seems your mind is made up despite not having the inside knowledge you assert.
      - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
        You're right, I don't know (don't care, either). I was trying to make a point that there is probably a story that involved more than 1/2 a sentence. My mind is not in the least way made up. I'm curious where that came from, honestly. That's a strong assertion that I actually tried to keep out of my post as I hypothesized what I saw as a plausible scenario given only whats been in the media. I have no clue, and I highly doubt anybody posting here does, either.
        adgar 14y ago
        > That's a strong assertion that I actually tried to keep out of my post as I hypothesized what I saw as a plausible scenario given only whats been in the media. You said it was "more likely," implying you had some reason to believe it besides what people say on the Internet.
- da_n 14y ago
  Having read more into the Marco/9-5Mac story and looking on Twitter, seems Marco has concluded the website does not want their content 'scraped' due to content in their articles being 'almost libelous'. Unfortunately he has taken the decision to block his users ability to save from the site as some sort of punishment against them. Can't see any real official explanation, and the error message is unhelpful. Unfortunately I cannot agree with his position, it is repugnant and seems to be a double standard (he has not blocked other sites which heavily criticise Instapaper). Shame, let's hope he sees sense. Edit: he has lifted the block and apologised for putting it in place without the publishers explicit request, guess he saw sense in the end, everyone gets clouded by anger sometimes. http://blog.instapaper.com/post/31303984531 http://blog.instapaper.com/post/31303984531

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

julian25 14y ago

Marco has actually been quite influential in my growth as a developer, I have nothing against him personally. That being said, I do not want to pay for a service that limits my access to content when there are other similar services that do not.

da_n 14y ago

I do agree that if a developer has some personal beef with a website that should not allow him/her to think they have the right to block it from their users. Apple wouldn't dream to go as far as to block google.com or samsung.com on their OS's for example just because they have some serious business disagreements. The fact is though we only really have one side of the story here, so hopefully Marco will explain his side of the story (perhaps on his podcast http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze). To be honest though I simply cannot believe he would think such a thing acceptable, he seems like a pretty clued-in guy this would be a blunder of epic proportions if true, there's something more to this story.

nc 14y ago
For the record. Apple has pushed Google Maps off the iPhone in iOS 6. Not sure they'll allow it either as it would 'duplicate core OS functionality'
- da_n 14y ago
  Guess I should have said more clearly, meant blocking in the browser. With Google Maps, I thought this was down to their license agreement expiring, and that Google reportedly have their own App Store version in the works. I suppose if the app is rejected by Apple on frivalous grounds this would be cause for concern.
- dasil003 14y ago
  And Google dragged their feet in updating it for years. But that's different from doing a specific edge-case breakage with a petulant message.
  - bishnu 14y ago
    Your first point is incorrect. Apple developed (and has always developed) the Maps app for iOS. The app is no longer using the Google Maps API - that is the difference in iOS 6.
- SoftwareMaven 14y ago
  So were you part of the meetings that decided this? Because I could, for the record, say that Google pulled its Maps app off of the iPhone in iOS 6. I don't think either is an appropriate characterization of the situation. More likely, Apple had features they wanted that Google wouldn't license (eg turn by turn), so Apple decided to develop its own product. The license terms of the agreement for which Apple was paying Google included shipping the Google Maps app, so when Apple decided not to renew the agreement, they had to stop shipping a product called Google Maps.
  - adgar 14y ago
    > Because I could, for the record, say that Google pulled its Maps app off of the iPhone in iOS 6. Someone with in-depth knowledge of the licensing agreements! You must know exactly what happened, based on your assertion of credentials, here. > More likely, Apple had features they wanted that Google wouldn't license (eg turn by turn) Wouldn't? Or couldn't? Do you know? Do you care? It seems your mind is made up despite not having the inside knowledge you assert.
    - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
      You're right, I don't know (don't care, either). I was trying to make a point that there is probably a story that involved more than 1/2 a sentence. My mind is not in the least way made up. I'm curious where that came from, honestly. That's a strong assertion that I actually tried to keep out of my post as I hypothesized what I saw as a plausible scenario given only whats been in the media. I have no clue, and I highly doubt anybody posting here does, either.
      - adgar 14y ago
        > That's a strong assertion that I actually tried to keep out of my post as I hypothesized what I saw as a plausible scenario given only whats been in the media. You said it was "more likely," implying you had some reason to believe it besides what people say on the Internet.
da_n 14y ago
Having read more into the Marco/9-5Mac story and looking on Twitter, seems Marco has concluded the website does not want their content 'scraped' due to content in their articles being 'almost libelous'. Unfortunately he has taken the decision to block his users ability to save from the site as some sort of punishment against them. Can't see any real official explanation, and the error message is unhelpful. Unfortunately I cannot agree with his position, it is repugnant and seems to be a double standard (he has not blocked other sites which heavily criticise Instapaper). Shame, let's hope he sees sense. Edit: he has lifted the block and apologised for putting it in place without the publishers explicit request, guess he saw sense in the end, everyone gets clouded by anger sometimes. http://blog.instapaper.com/post/31303984531 http://blog.instapaper.com/post/31303984531