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Re:IPad thoughts from Ben Fry (creator of Processing) by rimantas on Saturday March 13, 2010 @11:06AM (#1189067)
Sad to see so logically flawed argument getting upvoted—that means many of us don't bother to think any more and vote purely on "four legs good, two legs bad" mentality.

  The worst enemy of freedom in software is not Microsoft,
  it's Apple.
Makes no sense. Neither MS nor Apple are enemies of freedom of software. Apple is using a lot of OSS, contributes a lot to several projects, pushes for open web.

  You're pretty free to develop and distribute software as you want on Windows.
And? You are just as free on OS X. And OS X kernel is open source. Can you get Windows kernel source?

  On new Apple devices, they control the way the software
  is distributed
Yes. And that's because it's a win for majority of the users of said devices, not because Apple is "the enemy of free software". BTW, how does an Apple App Store compares to Zune marketplace? I guess the latter gives you more freedom?

  they tax you,
Huh?

  they make you obey their rules
And who doesn't? If you don't like the rules, don't buy Apple is as simple as that.

  Imagine a world with appstore as the main way of
  distributing software for any kind of devices.
  This would be hell.
That would be hell because? That would be hell to whom? To those who want to have a convenient way to buy apps, without worries about making backups, with easy way to get upgrades, without a fear of getting malware?

  Stop using Apple.
No, I won't. It gives me the biggest freedom so far.

  Use Linux
Then worry more about making linux more useable to ordinary people, who care about usability, not some fuzzy freedom ideals.

  or if you can't, use Microsoft.
Thank you, but no thank you. You don't need Apple to tell how you use your devices, I don't need you to tell what I should or should not use.
Re:IPad thoughts from Ben Fry (creator of Processing) by jlgosse on Saturday March 13, 2010 @11:16AM (#1189082)
I'm pretty sure he means they tax developers at 30% of each sale, whereas you could just sell your shit independently and save yourself that 30%.

Just say you sell an application for $4.99, this means Apple takes around $1.50. If you sell 100k copies, Apple is gouging you $150,000.

Great, you don't really care because you made $350,000. Not so; You're going to lose a shitload of that to the IRS. In essence we're looking at being double-taxed. It sucks.

Re:IPad thoughts from Ben Fry (creator of Processing) by sjs on Saturday March 13, 2010 @11:32AM (#1189104)
I think it sucks too, but the truth is that without the app store you would have to pay a lot to match their billing system and exposure (top app lists, what's new, featured apps, etc). I mean, it's too easy to buy apps on the app store. Customers lined up hungry for apps with their CC on file ready to pay. Also you get to use their CDN. It makes it easy for the little guy to sell 100k apps on the same playing field as the big dev houses. That shouldn't be overlooked.

The downside to the 30% is that a chunk goes to the review process. It's nice when it catches legitimate bugs but sucks that in a way you're paying to be censored.

If you don't like it, you can always develop for another platform though. You might not make as much but if you value ideals over making money, you have options.

70% of 100k sales is better than 100% of 1000 sales.

Re:IPad thoughts from Ben Fry (creator of Processing) by protomyth on Saturday March 13, 2010 @11:40AM (#1189121)
The 30% is a value proposition you can take or leave (develop somewhere else). I like it since I don't have to pay bandwidth or credit card processing fees. Ignoring bandwidth, it isn't that different from going through other credit card processors or PayPal.

As to taxes, I only get taxed on the portion I receive (Apple gets taxed on their 30%) so I have no idea where this "double-taxed" stuff is coming from.

Heck, if my app is really good, I might get on the front page of iTunes or in a commercial.

Re:IPad thoughts from Ben Fry (creator of Processing) by ptomato on Saturday March 13, 2010 @11:35AM (#1189110)
Considering that the app store is barely profitable, even with that 30% currently, you can hardly call it "gouging". And hey, if you don't like it, umm. Don't develop for the iP[hone/ad].
Re:IPad thoughts from Ben Fry (creator of Processing) by grinich on Saturday March 13, 2010 @05:43PM (#1189798)
... Then worry more about making linux more useable to ordinary people, who care about usability, not some fuzzy freedom ideals.

This has huge potential.