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Comment by bobleeswagger | Hacker News Reader

$99 per year is pennies if you are truly spending time with the platform. Apple could charge 10 times this and still make away like bandits, I think $99 is a good price point because it weeds out folks looking for an easy system to hack at. This is good.

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The problem is not the $99, it's the fact that you can't publish anonymously. You must show ID to pay and participate, because of payment cards and the dev program signup.

Why should Apple allow anonymous publication on a marketplace which they are ultimately responsible for?

The article is specifically about apps that you don't want to distribute through Apple.

Apple's choices are specifically about security and longevity of the marketplace. You can disagree, but they don't owe anyone anything.

Because there is no alternative that users can choose instead of Apple's marketplace, and with only one source of apps for a billion+ devices and no way to configure those devices to use any other, Apple has effectively banned anonymous publishing for a seventh of Earth.

> no alternative

20 years ago we didn't have app stores. I'm not sure where your level of entitlement comes from, Apple doesn't have to allow anonymous publishing and I fully understand why they have put reasonable barriers to entry into their ecosystem. You don't.

I'm going to take your claim at face value.

The sense of entitlement comes from the purchase of the device, which is then remotely controlled by a party who has no property interest in the device following purchase.

If you bought the phone, you should be able to run all the apps you want on it, not only the ones Apple and the various regional governments say you are allowed to. Surely you see the abuse potential (which is not theoretical - iPhones in China cannot type or display the flag of Taiwan or install VPN apps) there?

Why do people defend vendors remotely disabling functionality in devices end users have bought and paid for?

Lots of people in the global view don't have that kind of disposable income. Apart from low income economies also the disadvantaged, teens/kids, etc.

It's $8.25/mo if you save up for it each year.

Let's say you are from Egypt (~$1400 median income) or South Africa (~1600). You have already saved for a long time to get a used iPhone for $100. It might be possible with enough effort but you can't say it's not a big barrier.

If you can find any Apple developers from Egypt or South Africa making median wage, I will happily pay for their yearly developer fees. Good luck.

It's about not gatekeeping the people who are future devs, wanting to learn, want to try making their own hobby apps to share with others, maybe prospective employers. Also, the credit card requirement brought up in a sibling comment is a barrier.

> It's about not gatekeeping the people who are future devs, wanting to learn, want to try making their own hobby apps to share with others, maybe prospective employers

I assure you that Apple and this developer program has very little do to with the barriers those folks face.

That is 20% of the monthly minimum wage in some countries.

> if you are truly spending time with the platform

I don't think folks who make $500 a month are going to have an Apple computer and the time to develop. Why are you using illogical examples to make your point?

A few years ago I was earning less than $500 a month (based on exchange rates), had an Apple computer (years behind the latest) and had time to develop. I've left the country now.

If I remember correctly, I discovered this timeout existed when I tried to show someone a mobile game I had built with Unity3d.

Privilege is blinding.

Exceptions are not rules.

Perhaps you are just blind to the fact that I _offered_ to pay for anyone's Apple developer fees in a similar situation to yours.

Pretty ridiculous all around, you'll stay poor with a mindset like that.

Now they're just exceptions? You couldn't even think of the existence of exceptions earlier. See the problem? The Apple world is designed to work in a certain way and that is ok but people are saying some exceptions exist and those exceptions should be 'handled' instead of assuming they don't exist.

Also, to be clear - I said I was earning $500 a month a few years ago. At that point, I could afford the $99 fee but discovered the superficial constraint imposed on local development in an unexpected situation. The figure is also beyond the minimum wage I mentioned earlier. Essentially, your $500 hard line doesn't reflect how people can adjust their cost structures depending on their local economy, preferences and ambition.

I initially ignored your offer because I'm not from the two countries mentioned. There's a dev talent program I know of that occasionally gives out PCs and Macs to people who are getting started in tech but can't even afford a decent PC/Mac - can I link you up so you can donate?

I'm sure they can also target those that have already benefitted from the free devices to meet your specific intent.

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