Marco really nailed it. He was also exceptionally level-headed considering that his application, Instapaper, is likely to find itself in exactly the situation he outlines. Marco's plans for Instapaper are based around paid accounts for API access, which would enable third-party apps for paid users. It would be an absolute shame if Marco's app weren't allowed on iOS. Quite honestly, if Instapaper, Dropbox, and Evernote are under threat to be removed from the App Store, I won't even consider a new iPhone until Apple revises its policy.
I agree with all the points except for the one that believes it's within Apple right to do whatever they want because it's their hardware and platform. Let's forget that the hardware really belongs to the iPhone/iPad owners for a moment, but if it's defensible because it's their platform then it's more reasonable for Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast to take a cut from all sales and profits happened via their network. It's their platforms, which took them decades to build. And surely there's value added when they offer preferentially faster speed and more secured transaction to whichever companies agree to pay them. It would be hilarious if an ISP starts demanding 30% cut from every sale Apple makes that originates from their network.
I really like how he moves the argument from "Does Apple have the right to do this?" to "Should Apple do this?" I'm really surprised: this is what I've always been taught to call bad revenue. I could understand a bit better if they were a struggling startup looking for any possible profitable business model, but they are printing money already. I'm left shaking my head here. Even the folks who often rush to Apple's defense seem to agree this is a mistake. For me, this is the first time that I've looked around Apple's walled garden and wanted out.
I think one very interesting case is services like directv, dish networks, comcast, tivo etc. They all offer services but their apps are ancillary to the subscription service that they provide. Does Apple want Directv to offer subscriptions within the app?
Just so I've got this clear..<p>If I develop an enterprise ipad application and track down the customers myself, it is possible to sell to them and take 100% of the revenue still?<p>I can do this by offering the app for free on the app store and requiring activation through my own external signup system. However, I must also offer the option to sign up using Apple's API and Apple taking 30%?<p>I just need to be on the phone to the customer when they download the app and ask them politely to not use the Apple method?
What's going to be interesting to me, now, is whether or not this will cause developers (more specifically, service and not game developers) to start to look more seriously at web-only apps, as opposed to native.<p>You're thinking, "the performance of web apps doesn't at all compare to native apps," and you're (mostly) right. Web apps tend to feel a bit slower and less responsive. <i>But</i> if we can get one "hero" (i.e., popular web-only app) then people will learn to accept/ignore that the performance isn't quite the same as what they get when they download an app — and that would be good for the whole mobile web ecosystem.<p>And, of course, as mobile browsers (fairly quickly) advance, the performance will increase significantly and the difference will be less noticeable.
Is it interesting timing that in-app subscription rollout is happening as Steve Jobs is taking a step back? I wonder if this says anything about the potential PR fallout to happen that Steve would handle better than most others just as he did when the iPhone prices were lowered.
Marco didn't mention the possibility that more people would begin to jailbreak their phones and use Cydia or another site, where Apple can't control the applications on offer. Am I underestimating the difficulty of jailbreaking an iPhone and setting that up?