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Comment by duck | Hacker News Reader

I hope #5 turns out to be bigger than I think it will be, but people end up sticking with what is popular (iPhone) even when it hurts to do so.

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I been saying this ever since I first got wind of the new TOS. We went away from Windows because MS was holing a leash on us with their API lock-in. Now we're 1-up ing that with Apple's new TOS which takes the MS lock-in to a whole new level.

People say "oh but it will keep the already crap x-platform apps out" to which I say "Yes it will keep the would-be flashy x-platform POS games/crap apps out, but it will also keep out the apps that let me do my business better that run on Android / WebOS / iPhone because the developers of the TOOLS had to cater to a larger market share."

If I am making a tool that takes pictures and uploads them to my website for special needs of people running on the BlackBerry, Android, WebOS, iPhone because it has to be a compliment to my web tool there is no reason why I can't write it with minimal effort and use the iPhone store to distribute it for free with that exact goal in mind! Its not about making a wonderful iPhone app, its about doing my damn business and giving a business process convenience using the iPhone.

Not every iPhone app has to be a super innovative new way to run the world, sometimes its just a piece of crap complimentary tool that's just needed to do some grunt work easier.

This is exactly the thinking that Apple doesn't want going into App Store apps: "I'll just put up this good-enough piece of crap because that's all I have time/money to do." They've got a ton of businesses wanting to be on iPhone so they're willing to lose those businesses that will only put out crap. I agree with you that putting out a piece of crap might make the most sense for your business. But it's not what Apple wants for its platform.

A key thing to understand here: the existence of a platform controlled in this way increases diversity, since there are several other prospering platforms that do things differently.

Apple don't want crap apps in the appstore? Have you /seen/ the appstore?

I'm sorry, but the undiluted denial-of-reality from the more extreme Apple apologists is making me dizzy.

I'd say that now that Apple has plenty of volume in the app store, they're focusing more on quality. I imagine they want to implement higher standards at a rate that still makes the number of apps grow. Like when they removed a bunch of basically web-browsers with a hard-coded link somewhere for 0.99. It's a process, ya know?

> Apple's new TOS which takes the MS lock-in to a whole new level.

Since the days of the Mac, Apple has always been about maximizing control. MS won because the 'settled' for the OS, whereas Apple wanted to control both the OS and the hardware. We probably wouldn't have things like Linux and FreeBSD easily available if that sort of locked-down environment had prevailed.

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