Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company
by pwinnski on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @10:05AM
(#20095121)
Amazon Appstore exists[0]. It also takes a 30% cut.
As a comment above[1] highlights, it is more expensive than it might seem to operate the ecosystem.
It always seems like one should be able to reproduce a popular service in a weekend, but the details (and scale) are tricky.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1002999431 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20093819
Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company
by banachtarski on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @02:41PM
(#20097954)
Right Google Apple and Amazon all take exactly %30.
Seems like a fair competitive market. /s
Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company
by pwinnski on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @04:23PM
(#20098845)
I remember life before the iOS App Store. Mechanisms for delivering software on MacOS usually took a much larger cut than 30%. Heck, when Apple announced 30%, Amazon had to scramble and switch from keeping 70% to matching Apple's 30%. Amazon still keeps 70% if you price your ebook under $3, in fact, while Apple does not.
Your comment implies price-fixing, but history demonstrates competition, and Apple lowered the costs for everyone.
Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company
by hazz99 on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @09:22AM
(#20094708)
Presumably they vet the different apps that come through, which is a difficult process to automate.
> It's not incredibly difficult to operate a trusted digital app sales ecosystem
How do you ensure the trust of the millions of apps that are constantly updating?
It's not incredibly difficult to operate a trusted digital app sales ecosystem at all. It's just that there is no competition. If Apple wasn't a monopoly, I have no doubt someone like Amazon could deliver a service that undercut Apple by 90% and deliver the same exact "trusted" ecosystem.