Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Save My House From Apple

savemyhousefromapple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 121 posts

Re: Save My House From Apple

#51

Post by rbarooah »

narad wrote: post #18

You are using Paypal for donations. There have been many horror stories on HN about people doing a donation drive and getting accounts closed by Paypal citing ToS.

It's definitely a risk. You can actually ask PayPal proactively to review your site to see whether your use of the word 'Donate' is acceptable for them. I did for one of my sites and they were very quick to respond. This still gives you no guarantees that they won't change their minds later, but it does at least give some reassurance about their current thinking.

Re: Save My House From Apple

#52

Post by eridius »

Apple provides a free storefront for Mac apps. It is by no means the only way to purchase Mac apps. A glitch occurs that removes a piece of software from the free Apple-provided storefront.

...

I'm having a really hard time figuring out the part here where Apple is some evil entity depriving a developer of their livelihood. Sure, this sucks, but it's not like nobody can buy your software. There's plenty of Mac software out there that isn't even on the Mac app store to begin with, so I'm having a hard time figuring out why this developer is having such a huge problem that he needs to resort to begging for donations.

Re: Save My House From Apple

#53

Post by VonLipwig »

I sympathise with the developers plight and this is a reason why I haven't wanted to get into App development. If your not battling people cloning your games, you have a constant axe swinging above your head that the app store may find fault with your App and remove it. You then have changing rules and requirements in the App Store..

The thing that bugs me a bit though is how the developer is asking for money. "Save my house." Its been 14 days since this revenue stream was compromised and the guy is apparently in financial trouble. This doesn't sound like Apples fault. This is a lack of financial planning.

I am by no means well off. I get by. My partner, my child and I were struck down by a bad virus last month. For 3 weeks I couldn't work, I could just about roll out of bed to get to the loo. I am a freelancer, I have no sick pay, no payment protection etc. For 3 weeks I earned nothing. My family is on a budget for the next month but we are fine. We have savings to get us through 3 months of joblessness.

If 14 days of near zero income pushes you over the edge and risks you loosing your house then you probably need a career change. That or its time to spend less and save more. For many profession's this isn't possible. Some people need several jobs to make ends meet. However, for a I expect fairly talented developer there are plenty of jobs and opportunites to get you on the right track.

Re: Save My House From Apple

#54

Post by SeoxyS »

gfodor wrote: post #31
SeoxyS wrote: post #27

I donated some cash because I feel bad, but I hope you've learnt your lesson: Do not base your entire livelyhood at the mercy of anybody but yourself, and especially not a huge corporation. This also goes for anybody who takes out a mortgage they can't afford. Don't ever get any debt or create any expenses you will no longer be able to pay if you got fired tomorrow.

Let's be honest here: is not a startup based upon putting your entire livelihood at the mercy of a few small actors? That first customer, that first investor, that first employee, that first acquisition offer? Of course, we take measures to try to minimize the impact any one party, deal, or decision has on our overall success, but the fact is that there are often choke points in building a business or company where y…

Starting a startup is like going to Vegas: you absolutely need to give yourself a limit before hand of how much you're willing to lose, stick to it, and go in expecting to lose it.

If you have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay, you should not work at a startup.

One of the reasons why we've had this latest recessions is because consumers have been financially irresponsable, taking out mortgages they can't afford, relying 100% on their salary for income and having no backup plan.

If I were to lose my job tomorrow, I would be fine for the most part. I'd probably have to move out and get a cheaper apartment, but I'd be fine. I'm not shackled to a mortgage and have no debt of any kind. I'm working towards success, but I'm ready for whatever life decides to throw my way.

Re: Save My House From Apple

#56

Post by jan_g »

dmazin wrote: post #28
evanlong wrote: post #25

Sounds like really poor personal finances. An individual should have at least 6 months to a year of savings so a 2-4 week outage is really no dent at all to your well being.

Ah, so I'm guessing you understand this guy's situation entirely, allowing you to comment on his personal finances without sounding like a jackass. Otherwise, you wouldn't have posted, right?

Yes, you're entirely correct. There are countless situations that people might find themselves short of money and an event like this ruins their finances.

For the grandparent, consider my scenario. My wife lost her job a few years ago and was unable to find a new one since then (apart from some low-paying unstable jobs now and then). During the course of these few years our savings were eaten bit by bit and we're now reduced to a situation where we live literally from month to month. We've reduced the expenses as much as we could (for example, no winter vacation this year or no eating out), but still my paycheck can barely cover monthly expenses. No savings left for rainy days. And I fear that an exceptional event might be ruinous for our finances. My two kids are too small to be aware of this, but it still pains me.

Re: Save My House From Apple

#57

Post by redact207 »

VonLipwig wrote: post #53

I sympathise with the developers plight and this is a reason why I haven't wanted to get into App development. If your not battling people cloning your games, you have a constant axe swinging above your head that the app store may find fault with your App and remove it. You then have changing rules and requirements in the App Store.. The thing that bugs me a bit though is how the developer is asking for money. "Save…

further, if Apple has an issue, why does begging for donations become his first option? If he's a freelancer, can't he get a short term gig? Or a short term job? Seems a bit weak...

Re: Save My House From Apple

#58

Post by rbarooah »

madmaze wrote: post #3
kenneth_reitz wrote: post #2

Apple did this to me too, without explanation. They've owed me $13,860 for over a year now. You're 100% at their mercy.

We should start a poll to see how common this is

I'd like to hear more details before a poll would be meaningful. With that kind of money owing, wouldn't legal action be a reasonable option by now?

Re: Save My House From Apple

#59

Post by rbarooah »

azov wrote: post #15
swang wrote: post #13

Why isn't there a Developer Relations department at Apple to handle problems like this? Apple has made billions upon billions of dollars because developers have decided it was the best environment to make money and they put their weight behind iOS/Apple, yet somehow stuff like this drops through the cracks. I mean am I really going to feel safe quitting my job to make iOS/Mac apps if Apple can just cut off my revenue…

Because they don't have to. Because they can screw you as much as they like, and you will still be developing for their platform, buying their hardware, paying for their developer program, etc. Because you have no choice - they are a monopoly in mobile space, and you can't just ignore them (while they can ignore you). Because by not being their customer you're hurting yourself more then them. Basically, because they…

Except that they do.
Post reply on HN