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Comment by henning | Hacker News Reader

Clippy resurrects himself from the grave and pops up in the lower right-hand corner

It looks like you're trying to copy and paste. Would you like to pay $0.05 in order to continue? (Continue/Cancel)

It looks like you're trying to exit the application. Would you like to pay $0.10 in order to continue? (Exit and pay $0.10/Stay for free)

It looks like you're shocked to see one of Microsoft's worst creations pwn your smartphone. Would you like to buy a copy of iLithium(R), iXanax(TM), or iProzac(TM) to soften the blow for $14.99? (Yes/No)

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I have no idea why this is getting downmodded. I think it's funny. Maybe I'm just the right age for this joke.

Obviously, this in-app payment feature was deliberately designed to be irritating and intrusive. Apple understands that, to most paying customers, the word micropayment carries a connotation of being slowly and imperceptibly bled to death by vampires. So perhaps Apple is going to provide an API which turns in-app charges into such an ugly, flow-shattering experience that nobody could possibly miss it -- which will also compel app designers to avoid using this feature unless they really have to.

It's possible to abuse any feature. I can see this being a win-win for apps that provide layers of value (depth).

This is an extremely myopic perspective of a feature that opens up possibilities. Like somebody said, everything can be abused. But then people have the supreme authority to reject those who do.

to most paying customers, the word micropayment carries a connotation of being slowly and imperceptibly bled to death by vampires

"Most paying customers" are unlikely to have even heard the term "micropayment", let alone to have strong views on the subject.

Funny, though it would be funnier if applied to Windows Mobile and not an Apple product... I mean, Apple products are kind of the anti-clippy, or at least that's how they're known, no?

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