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Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

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Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#451

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(⊙_⊙) ... please elaborate!

I didn't leave _that_ long ago, and don't want to look up my contract/NDA to see when it expires, so I don't want to go into too much detail. Flash cost Adobe a lot to develop (it was a big team). At some point, I speculate[+] that Adobe simply decided they no longer need the runtime, since the browsers have/will soon have all the capabilities that they need, natively. So why waste the money? [+] I don't know for sur…

"Adobe simply decided they no longer need the runtime, since the browsers have/will soon have all the capabilities that they need, natively."

I think that ignores a very very significant reason for the browsers getting to that point of being able to supplant Flash being that is was terrible and security nightmare and Apple had shifted mindshare against it and shown it wasn't needed in a mainstream platform. It wasn't just Adobe graciously terminating a successful platform that gave them a lot of influence.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#452
post #354

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They're also removing it from iPads, which is a nightmare for anyone with small children.

This is definitely inferior to a headphone jack but it works: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMX62AM/A/lightning-to-35...

The question is: can your four year old use it, not lose it, and not break it every other minute. Because they break _headphones_ fairly often.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In reality, though, Apple would be throwing half of their game developers under the bus if they disable the Unreal Engine account. So if Epic can bait them to do that, they'll have plenty of frustrated developers to push public anti-Apple sentiment.

As long as those developers can still test their games on the platform, there will only be anti-Epic sentiment. Every game developer using the Unreal Engine is seeing this play out just like we are and they're seeing that it's Epic's actions that are causing that issue. With the state of game engines today, many may even consider moving away from Unreal for future games specifically because of Epic's actions.

I've been involved with a few game projects and their developers. In general, everyone likes dealing with Epic because you can reach the actual developers quickly and they'll provide timely bug-fixes. Also, they are famously laid-back while your revenue is Apple, on the other hand, is widely known as arbitrary, both on technical things and on what content or what games are allowed.

So if you tell a random game developer that Apple and Epic are fighting, most people will assume that it's Apple's fault because Epic has built up a lot of goodwill in that community.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#454

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That's just a lack of imagination. Apple's app store grip prevents whole industries from taking shape.

> That's just a lack of imagination. > Apple's app store grip prevents whole industries from taking shape. If you can’t launch industries on Android or PC, maybe that’s just a lack of imagination.

Incorrect. That would be hindered by a lack of access to the majority of customers who are on an iPhone in the US.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't leave _that_ long ago, and don't want to look up my contract/NDA to see when it expires, so I don't want to go into too much detail. Flash cost Adobe a lot to develop (it was a big team). At some point, I speculate[+] that Adobe simply decided they no longer need the runtime, since the browsers have/will soon have all the capabilities that they need, natively. So why waste the money? [+] I don't know for sur…

"Adobe simply decided they no longer need the runtime, since the browsers have/will soon have all the capabilities that they need, natively." I think that ignores a very very significant reason for the browsers getting to that point of being able to supplant Flash being that is was terrible and security nightmare and Apple had shifted mindshare against it and shown it wasn't needed in a mainstream platform. It wasn't…

Never claimed that it was without problems. But look at the timeline: Steve Jobs letter was April 29, 2010. About a year later Adobe stopped development of Flash on mobile (that's when they really killed it, the next 10 years were necessary to implement the decision basically). You really think that letter shifted mindshare in 1 year? Trust me, the opposite was true, there were some really big players that wanted to announce flash support on mobile and were caught completely off guard.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#456

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The M1 Air seems to be a well liked machine.

Well liked yes, but it throttles due to overheating, though it will only typically be noticeable on long running tasks. Adding a simple thermal pad so it makes contact with bottom case cover makes a big improvement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EY7KW-PVy8 This is also the case with the M1 iMac, the lower model only has a single fan and throttles on long running tasks as well. Apple is constantly having bad design…

I saw a Linus tech tips video where they made that mod, and they found that it heated the chassis well beyond the regulation limits, while Apple’s original design falls just within it.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#457

Next epic lawsuit: Apple must have a justified reason for banning a game / account that is outlined in their TOS. And the exact specific reason must be given in writing so it can be clearly addressed. I mean think about it. It's not just about a feud, the games are literally barred on all computers of a specific type (iOS computers). That's like 1/5 (probably more) of the computing screen that is looked at daily by a…

20% of computers that you can CHOOSE to use. I think the main part of the lawsuit is that Apple is not the only choice that is available (readily, easily, affordably) to consumers. Subway has the most franchise stores in the USA; that doesn't mean they HAVE to serve you. You can get a sandwich at a number of other places and more abstractly, you can get food at a number of other places. They don't need to give you a…

Your example doesn't exactly compare that well. If Subway was one of 6 places you can get a sandwich (or any food at all) I think most people would not want Subway to ban them. That would be crazy.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main reason flash was killed by Apple was also spite toward Adobe, they made valid excuses sure, but spite was the driving force

> The main reason flash was killed by Apple was also spite toward Adobe Prior to and subsequent to Flash (a Macromedia product, fwiw) Apple & Adobe have had extensive relationships and interaction that are in no way indicative of spite. The main reason Flash died is because performance & power consumption on mobile never got past garbage, despite the platform wars going borderline nuclear on the topic. > they made va…

Jobs was mad at them for not coming in with more support when he went back to apple. also this.

https://bgr.com/tech/steve-jobs-iphone-adobe-flash-testing/

yes adobe and apple have histories tied together, but it wasn't always a rosie partnership.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#459

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Great analogy. Is that ok? It would seem that people entered the contract together without duress? Are there other neighborhoods? Run by other HOAs with better terms? Isn't it a market contest at that point to see which one buyers will prefer?

They definitely entered into that contract without duress. But the majority of other neighborhoods are also run by HOAs with similar terms. There are a few neighborhoods that are completely free of HOAs that but those houses are not as nice and neighborhoods not as nice. If you want a nice house in a nice neighborhood, an HOA is your only option. I'm positive some people, if they had the option, would prefer to buy t…

> There are a few neighborhoods that are completely free of HOAs that but those houses are not as nice and neighborhoods not as nice.

I think the HOA tries to argue that this isn't coincidence - its the HOA's policies and governance that have resulted in the niceness (we can cite examples that both support this and contradict this, of course, so its hard to assess whether this is true).

Folks might argue that it isn't fair that the most desirable goods are encumbered, but then its kind of up to them to create or support institutions that can manufacture the unencumbered version. That's the promise of a market opportunity where we can create brand new neighborhoods to test your hypothesis that people will prefer the nice-but-no-HOA version (I think the recent buzz around the Framework laptops is an example of this).

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great analogy. Is that ok? It would seem that people entered the contract together without duress? Are there other neighborhoods? Run by other HOAs with better terms? Isn't it a market contest at that point to see which one buyers will prefer?

No it would not be okay, factories used to pay their workers with coupons to be spent exclusively in company stores.

Agreed - but I think that would be an example of a contract under duress - the workers have no choice and the company can exploit them.

With iPhones I think we have a choice, and while it isn't ideal, we can vote with our wallets and support other institutions or companies.

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