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> it also means the consumer is effectively just licensing software from Apple rather than owning it outright

Isn't almost all software licensed rather than ownership sold? This isn't unique to the App Store.

Sure, most (if not all) software comes with a licence. Maybe I'm not using the best terminology. Maybe I mean "subscribing to", although that implies regular payment. Either way, what I'm referring to is the fact that Apple becomes a point in the critical path to just running your software. Whether intentional, or accidental, Apple can remotely prevent you from running the software you've paid for (e.g. [1]).

And I'm not even beginning to cover the terrible App Store app itself or the enormous cut Apple takes from independent developers.

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/12/apple-user...

As far as I know, Apple can decide to shut down any app on their appstore if they wanted. Refer to the flux incident.

So I buy an app, and they can shut down the .app program on my Mac?

Theoretically yes.

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