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Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

techcrunch.com

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Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#291

Post by neotek »

gnicholas wrote: post #264
lance76 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This misses the point. It is not equal. I choose Apple's store for one Very Big Reason over almost all other third-party services: I trust them with my financial details. I don't have to 'beg' to later cancel my subscription. I don't have to worry about my credit card being stolen. I don't have to worry about a bunch of sophomoric engineers breaking their own website and creating grief for me. I am in control with Ap…

> But Netflix is still YAFS (Yet Another Friggin Subscription) that I have to manage on some other platform. I prefer to have Apple be the "overseer" of even Netflix. Would you pay 30% more via the App Store if given the choice?

I'm not the person you replied to, but yes. I can't think of many subscriptions I have that I wouldn't happily pay more for if it meant having one central place to manage them all, overseen by a company that I fully believe gives a shit about my privacy.

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#292

Post by mcfedr »

neotek wrote: post #291
gnicholas wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But Netflix is still YAFS (Yet Another Friggin Subscription) that I have to manage on some other platform. I prefer to have Apple be the "overseer" of even Netflix. Would you pay 30% more via the App Store if given the choice?

I'm not the person you replied to, but yes. I can't think of many subscriptions I have that I wouldn't happily pay more for if it meant having one central place to manage them all, overseen by a company that I fully believe gives a shit about my privacy.

Is your bank not one place? You can just block the payments

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#293

Post by dirkgently »

lance76 wrote: post #178
stcredzero wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it hard to blame anyone for leaving any store when there has been almost nothing of value added in years and things are even regressing. That 30% should have gone a lot further It's not really a market if the seller thinks there's no alternatives, and the buyer has no choice but to put up with anything. Works the other way around, too.

This misses the point. It is not equal. I choose Apple's store for one Very Big Reason over almost all other third-party services: I trust them with my financial details. I don't have to 'beg' to later cancel my subscription. I don't have to worry about my credit card being stolen. I don't have to worry about a bunch of sophomoric engineers breaking their own website and creating grief for me. I am in control with Ap…

> I am in control with Apple.

Steve Jobs is laughing in his grave.

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#294

Post by dirkgently »

frou_dh wrote: post #289
new_guy wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple's privacy stance is what Steve Jobs believed in, and what Tim Cook has stuck with, because they know that leaving privacy-based decisions up to third-party developers never ends well. As opposed to leaving their API wide open so anyone could access anybodys photos and files? Hence, the fappening. Apple is a marketing company, not a technology company.

Did an infinite number of marketing monkeys banging on keyboards produce the A12X design?

No. But they did cone up with a design that allowed infinite login attempts.

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#295

Post by jarjoura »

sah2ed wrote: post #273
etse wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who is convinced Apple is focused on privacy because its cloud tech is really far behind Google and privacy was a path largely ignored in a data driven world? Don’t get me wrong—I like that they pursue the privacy angle but if the company’s strengths allowed them to compete with modern web/ads services companies, I think they would not have focused on privacy as much.

You'd be hard pressed to find any credible source for your conviction. Apple's privacy stance is what Steve Jobs believed in, and what Tim Cook has stuck with, because they know that leaving privacy-based decisions up to third-party developers never ends well. Here are excerpts from Jobs 2010 interview with Walt Mossberg [0]: “Silicon Valley is not monolithic,” Jobs responded, “We’ve always had a very different view…

Very good find, but SJ was using a slight-of-hand here. While true, privacy has always been a feature of Apple products, this was said during the Amazon iBooks lawsuit when Apple suddenly added this 30% in-app purchase restriction.

SJ was obsessed with control more than privacy and believed developers would make a mess of his beautiful iPhone. Every decision always started from that angle.

No, I believe privacy that we understand it today is wholly Tim Cook. This is his vision for Apple and how he wants to run the company. Good for him and it definitely plays better against Android.

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#296

Post by jen729w »

neotek wrote: post #291
gnicholas wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But Netflix is still YAFS (Yet Another Friggin Subscription) that I have to manage on some other platform. I prefer to have Apple be the "overseer" of even Netflix. Would you pay 30% more via the App Store if given the choice?

I'm not the person you replied to, but yes. I can't think of many subscriptions I have that I wouldn't happily pay more for if it meant having one central place to manage them all, overseen by a company that I fully believe gives a shit about my privacy.

Other than the slightly obscure menu option to get to your list of subscriptions, how nice is the process to cancel an Apple subscription? Any of them – an app, Netflix, whatever.

1. Navigate to list of subscriptions.

2. Find desired subscription in list.

3. Click cancel.

Nobody else does that and it is so nice.

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#297

Post by dirkgently »

rconti wrote: post #132
gcb0 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Apple store seems good for small apps that is fine if you ever show up as featured. Which is 1% of the apps, and even then, from already big companies after they spent the marketing money. Other than that, for distribution (really?) and payment, there are tons of alternatives/competition the small apps cannot even consider. App store is nothing other than a racketeering scheme where you have to pay if you can't…

But even if you DON'T show up as featured, maybe you're one of the 10 vetted apps that do what yours does, instead of 1 out of 100 on the Play Store. I think that's what's being discussed here.

> you're one of the 10 vetted apps that do what yours does, instead of 1 out of 100 on the Play Store.

1. Citation needed (because looks like you are pulling these numbers out of your ass).

2. And by your argument, looks like people have more choices on Android. Who would have thought?!

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#298

Post by dirkgently »

sjwright wrote: post #259
chii wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also prevents people who cannot afford to pay $99/yr from participating in this digital economy.

And people who cannot afford the greens fees can't participate in the Golf economy. The world isn't fair, and Apple isn't obliged to give away their stuff for free. If you can't afford $99/year, then you can't afford the substantial time investment required to learn Objective C / Swift, write an app, submit it, support it, and maintain it.

> The world isn't fair, and Apple isn't obliged to give away their stuff for free.

True, and you are not obliged to give pass to Apple either.

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#299

Post by rusk »

mcfedr wrote: post #292
neotek wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not the person you replied to, but yes. I can't think of many subscriptions I have that I wouldn't happily pay more for if it meant having one central place to manage them all, overseen by a company that I fully believe gives a shit about my privacy.

Is your bank not one place? You can just block the payments

Or Paypal ...

Re: Netflix stops paying the ‘Apple tax’ on its $853M in annual iOS revenue

#300

Post by boudin »

etse wrote: post #232
lance76 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This misses the point. It is not equal. I choose Apple's store for one Very Big Reason over almost all other third-party services: I trust them with my financial details. I don't have to 'beg' to later cancel my subscription. I don't have to worry about my credit card being stolen. I don't have to worry about a bunch of sophomoric engineers breaking their own website and creating grief for me. I am in control with Ap…

Am I the only one who is convinced Apple is focused on privacy because its cloud tech is really far behind Google and privacy was a path largely ignored in a data driven world? Don’t get me wrong—I like that they pursue the privacy angle but if the company’s strengths allowed them to compete with modern web/ads services companies, I think they would not have focused on privacy as much.

I don't know if it's because they are behind in cloud tech, but I do believe their privacy stance can change as quickly as market changes. As soon as selling iphones or apps on the app store won't be enough, apple will have to change its business model. I'm not saying that making money out of the data they collect is what's gonna happen, but it's a possibility.
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