Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#181

Post by sushshshsh » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:38 PM UTC

Spivak wrote: post #157

Pxtl wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case they have no choice. If you want to sell applications that run on Apple devices, you must sell them on Apple's store. Doesn't matter where they host their software and servers. There is no historical mainstream analog since desktop/laptop OS software has never been so locked-down that it was impossible to install software without 1st-party permission. Even early videogame consoles had unlicensed games ru…

I feel like making Apple devices and Apple's store seem like two separate things doesn't really make sense. The whole entire phone top to bottom is Apple's store. The "App Store" is just a pretty downloader.

Apple should just be as draconian as possible so that more people will voluntarily put in the effort to learn how to build and consume open platforms.

If people don't want to do that, that's on them.

If Epic doesn't want to invest in an open cell phone platform that can run Epic binaries, then its only options are to beg the government for help, or to take Apple's bs on the chin

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#182

Post by __d » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:39 PM UTC

dessant wrote: post #73

Findeton wrote: post #13

I don't think this should be regulated at all. Apple should be able to impose their rules in their systems. Let's be clear about this, if people are choosing to buy these black-box closed handheld computing devices, there are consequences that come with that choice.

People often accept restrictions on their freedom, but that does not mean those limitations aren't harmful. We should be able to install what we want on a general purpose computing device. You can already see the Apple mentality creeping into other companies like Mozilla, who suddenly find it acceptable to limit user freedom for questionable reasons, and the normalization of stripped user liberties that Apple champio…

There's no law preventing anyone selling a smart phone without the limitations on your freedom you find objectionable.

But similarly, there's no law requiring anyone to sell products that allow you to do whatever you want with them once they've been bought.

You can argue for such a law, but competition law is a pretty weak place to start.

Arguably, Apple is creating a market by their policies: the fact that it's not filled with competitors indicates only that most people don't care.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#183

Post by hu3 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:39 PM UTC

splatcollision wrote: post #112

Such a staged drama by Epic Games. They even had a video ready to go!

Big corps don't take those decisions lightly.

Obviously stakeholders and lawyers were involved. Marketing saw an opportunity and jumped in.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#184

Post by bencollier49 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

lopmotr wrote: post #32

lordleft wrote: post #6

Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.

It's only ridiculous if it's not good for their business. Maybe Microsoft is the one being ridiculous by leaving money on the table and not having a closed ecosystem. If your complaint is that it's bad for the app developers or users, then that's different, and maybe deserves criticism but not ridicule.

The last time MS pulled this they got whipped for it. That's why they're reticent.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#185

Post by vultour » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #36

eggbrain wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, couldn't we just replace Microsoft->Sony and PC->Playstation and the argument falls apart a bit? > Imagine if Sony did this on Playstation. a) prohibiting the installation of non-PlayStation games and b) insisting that all purchases done via their store give them a 30% cut. Many platforms are like this -- and many also have the majority marketshare. Is this a call to redefine what platforms can and cannot con…

There is a distinction between a general purpose computing device and a gaming console. I depend on my computer for important aspects of my life, not just entertainment. I perceive capricious behaviour like this ad a threat to my liberty and well-being.

Exactly, I depend on my computer for important aspects of my life, I don't depend on my phone for those.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#186

Post by prvc » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

For those complaining about their misuse of "1984", it's merely a mockery of Apple's previous misuse of it (an effective one, too!). "1984" is a satire of Bolshevism and the Stalin regime, but became of a victim of its own success, and has been appropriated as a weapon against many unrelated or very loosely related things.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#187

Post by angio » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

papito wrote: post #140

I want to start reading "Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History", which covers the now failed anti-trust system in the United States, but I am worried for my blood pressure, as it covers many other ways in which our government almost exclusively works for its corporate owners. We may think of how Europe deals with big business as extreme and radical, but it's only because we got so far away from the…

Another book that touches on the subject is "The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets" by Thomas Philippon.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#188

Post by rogerdickey » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

lordleft wrote: post #6

Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.

Does Apple still sell phones at a loss? If so they are subsidizing eyeballs for app devs and need to somehow get paid back for this.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#189

Post by hutzlibu » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

Seirdy wrote: post #18

rvz wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse. Imagine if the World Wide Web was not open and you had to go through a closed WWW like AOL and websites were "under review" by the providers and would take a 30% cut of your revenues or clicks on your web app or subscription service and websites require going only through that provider. Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

It could be the case if AMP grows dominant; given the market share of Google Search, it could be enough to create a controlled (er, "curated") web in a similar spirit.

But to fight the wrong fake news this is what they are going to have to do.

Re: Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

#190

Post by ohashi » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

Findeton wrote: post #13

I don't think this should be regulated at all. Apple should be able to impose their rules in their systems. Let's be clear about this, if people are choosing to buy these black-box closed handheld computing devices, there are consequences that come with that choice.

Like Microsoft pushing internet explorer on Windows?