2 ms·
That's what Apple already doing: applying arbitrary categories and charging arbitrary amounts of money because "transaction costs and platform or something". 1
by troupo 9mo ago
That's what Apple already doing: applying arbitrary categories and charging arbitrary amounts of money because "transaction costs and platform or something".
1. Where the hell is the notion of "using the platform for free" even coming from (it's coming from Apple of course). I didn't know that iPhones are free, or that dev fees are waived for everyone.
2. Why the hell can't I use a different payment processor tham Apple and tell people about it? Then I'm neither using Apple's platform "for free" nor paying Apple's transaction fees.
- simondotau 9mo agoFor interactive entertainment, I see no moral obligation for Apple to adopt any particular policy unless all major digital game store operators (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve etc) are subject to the same requirements. For all other apps, I agree that alternative payment processing should be permitted for one-off transactions. And I can agree for subscriptions as well, provided the developer can meet a high standard for simple, frictionless cancellations.
- troupo 9mo ago> no moral obligation for Apple to adopt any particular policy unless all major digital game store operators (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve etc) are subject to the same requirements. Why? iPhones are not gaming consoles.
- simondotau 9mo agoLiquor stores are not candy stores, yet they are allowed to sell candy to minors while being prohibited from selling liquor. The principle is straightforward: regulation should follow the product, not the venue.
- troupo 9mo agoAll pained analogies are both pained and invalid. iOS is not a liquor store, and allowing people to use other payment processors or even other stores on the platform is not selling liquor to minors. Note how your analogies immediately fall apart for other platforms like, for example, Apple's own MacOS.
- simondotau 9mo agoYou can ignore the analogy, just contend with my actual point: regulation should follow the product, not the venue. How does the analogy fall apart on macOS? The choice of some venues to be libre doesn't mandate other venues to be libre.
- musicale 9mo agoBy game count and revenue, the App Store is very much a game store. You may not think of the iPhone as a walled-garden gaming handheld with smartphone features, but that's basically what it is from a business perspective, and games are in fact the majority of apps on the system. Epic (a game company) sued Apple to get it to charge lower platform fees than other game stores.