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Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

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501–510 of 653 posts

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#501

Apple’s behavior largely makes sense given what a huge share of their profits their racketeering of customer access earns them. If you ever wanted to see regulation pains as the cost of doing business, this is it. But banning epic was just pathetic baby behavior. I hope epic launches the epic game store for iOS and its dogshit but cheaper and the gacha gravy boats all jump ship

Why does Epic get the privilege to force me to buy things through their store?

Because everyone else basically said "the new conditions are bad, I won't risk my business", but in the particular case of Epic they're banned from Apple's walled garden, so even the terrible terms are better than nothing.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#502
post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They believed in good faith that Apple's terms were illegal. There is nothing wrong with breaking an illegal contract. Yes, they lost in court but it wasn't a foregone conclusion. Apple's continuing retaliation is petty and likely to get them in trouble.

But Apple's terms and contract weren't illegal.

Oh yeah, forbidding developers from telling their customers that they can buy a subscription for less money in their website is definitely not illegal.

The fact that Apple is now regulated is definitely not a symptom of the illegality of their terms. Definitely not.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#503
post #478

It feels like the initial ban decision was driven by some high level exec (probably Phil Schiller)? If it was happened to be reviewed carefully by lawyers and public relations, they cannot really ban Epic so quickly. There are too many uncertainties and if you do something wrong, that puts government relations at huge risk. Typical employees cannot be held accountable for such decisions, not even low tier VP.

If a VP is "low tier" then isn't calling them a VP at all just title inflation? At what point is a person responsible for the consequences of their actions regardless of intent?

> If a VP is "low tier" then isn't calling them a VP at all just title inflation?

Apple is a big company and they have more than 100 VPs. This naturally creates "tier" between them, since a single CEO cannot manage all of them.

> At what point is a person responsible for the consequences of their actions regardless of intent?

It depends, but when it's something like fighting back against one of the most powerful supranational government entity like EU, the most senior leadership as well as the board must be involved. Not even Tim Cook cannot decide it alone and they clearly didn't want to escalate this matter to that level so quickly pulled it back.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US used to have huge oil or railroad companies, but also scruples to regulate them when they grew too big.

You mean how the US regulated them out of business after giving them huge subsidies?

No, I was talking about 100 years ago.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#505
post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When reason fails to explain people's actions, it gives you a measure of the strength of their ideology on something. In this case, you can see how deeply they believe in the concept of complete authoritarian control of their ecosystem. Enough that logic and practical outcomes barely matter in comparison.

Chaining one sole thought-logic all the waaaayyyyy...untiiiilllll zap I think Apple may behave more creditably from here on out.

I admire your optimism.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#506
post #372

Apple believes this is an existential threat and they are fighting against it as hard as they can. But is this a self-fulfilling prophecy? These actions come with a cost. This gives Epic visibility and it harms trust in Apple’s brand. How do they balance these costs against the perceived threat?

Does it harm trust in Apple's brand? From what I can gather, people who already love and trust Apple want them to do this. They view the status quo as better, and would likely lose trust if Apple didn't fight this as much as possible.

I love Apple but this whole mishegoss has completely undermined the brand for me, and it'll take a long time before I trust Apple again. I don't even play any games, it's about respecting the rule of law with some grace instead of like a petulant child.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Students are tipping teachers now? Tipping culture really has gone off the rails.

Can someone please explain how this isn't bribery in disguise? I'd have graduated with honors if my teachers accepted tips

It's not bribery because it's not degree courses. You can go on countless apps and sites and pay to have people teach you stuff.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#508
Granted, the real reasons they refused to reinstate the account may not have been because of the unflattering tweets. Maybe it really wasn't. But Apple definitely goofed when they said that was one of the reasons. +1 for developers and consumers, -1 for Apple.

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#509

All parties involved want to flex their muscles and most here argue based on how impressed they are by the flexes displayed. Apple wants to show that they can’t be brought to their knees. Epic wants to show that they can get away with shit. The EU wants to show that they have teeth and are to be feared. In the meantime, the only organization with the actual final say, the CJEU, is off forgotten in these debates and i…

The DMA imposes FRAND obligations on gatekeepers and free interoperability requirements ("interoperability" here meaning literally everything from using the installation APIs to install apps from the web to being able to call all OS APIs for free on your app. That's why Apple's "Core Technology Fee" is screwed)

Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account

#510
post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other titans tried, they all failed to capture. Blackberry lagged for too long and Microsoft simply lacked the network effects since early advertisement was based on how large the app stores were. The only solace is that you can modify Android to the point where there's almost no Google interference whatsoever. But of course some apps choose to rely on that (e.g. Banking).maybe one day Apple will begrudgingly get to…

> Microsoft simply lacked the network effects MS beat Apple to market by a considerable margin. Windows Mobile substantially predates the iPhone, and it was actually usable. (I had one of their flagship devices.) But MS’s OS concept was incoherent, their UI was laggy, their web browser was unbearably slow despite arguably superior hardware, their form factor was not snazzy. And, unlike Apple, they utterly failed at m…

Microsoft repeatedly tried to put Windows on a phone and it didn’t stick.

Apple didn’t bother, they used an entirely different UI from the start, and it was a UI aimed at everyone from kids to grandparents, not just tech people.

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