Bingo. Except TikTok, Insta, and YouTube are all the intermediary still. They let you build a following but a creative still needs to find a way to own direct communication with their audience.
Let us not forget that in our current trajectory, Robots and Real Estate are going to be owned by one class of people who extract value from society while everyone else struggles to feed themselves.
My understanding is that Apollo isn't allowed to show ads based on reddit's new TOS. The only monetization strategy open to Apollo is a premium subscription.
I honestly prefer to use Apple payments and Apple "Hide My Email" as I'm sure a non-trivial number of users do. If they could just refocus on making developers prioritize that flow for users over outside payment systems (e.g. create a flow requiring users to agree to disclose their private information to the app maker and third parties in order to use an outside payment system) then they'd keep most of their customers in the Apple ecosystem and keep the payment processing.
The fact they are trying to keep a stranglehold on this revenue seems penny wise and dollar foolish. Clearly regulators are gunning for them and it's not long before they lose this and don't get to set the standard.
> I honestly prefer to use Apple payments and Apple "Hide My Email" as I'm sure a non-trivial number of users do. If they could just refocus on making developers prioritize that flow for users over outside payment systems (e.g. create a flow requiring users to agree to disclose their private information to the app maker and third parties in order to use an outside payment system) then they'd keep most of their customers in the Apple ecosystem and keep the payment processing.
It's pretty good stuff.
But they seem to be admitting that the payment processing is only worth a 3% cut. And you wouldn't charge apps for the email hiding.
They’re charging the apps for distribution, which is a lot of infrastructure and a lot of human-driven process that doesn’t come for free. There are good platform reasons for not allowing alternate distribution methods.
There are no wholesale prices for digital goods so they get tacked on as fees. All Apple is really doing is asking developers to give their customers an all-in price that they’ll display. You as a developer are free to raise your prices 30% on iOS, and many in fact do.
Every segment of every market does not need to be relentlessly competitive. Apple’s App Store rules are obvious, and if you don’t like them, you’re free not to develop for their platform (which itself is the product they sell to their consumers; not your app and of which the iPhone is only one component).
You are not entitled to be profitable any way you want; you have to find a niche in the market that’s profitable and if you can’t make money on iOS, the market solution is to just do something else. Countries — especially relatively small ones — that try to legislate around this are just as likely to be seen as more trouble for Apple than they’re worth to have an official presence in.
> They’re charging the apps for distribution, which is a lot of infrastructure and a lot of human-driven process that doesn’t come for free.
Yes but they're overcharging.
> Every segment of every market does not need to be relentlessly competitive.
It's significantly better for consumers if a 27% distribution fee faces competition.
Alternate app stores are a poor way to achieve this, but that doesn't mean the status quo is good.
> You are not entitled to be profitable any way you want
Same to apple. They want to control things they shouldn't have this much control over.
> Countries — especially relatively small ones — that try to legislate around this are just as likely to be seen as more trouble for Apple than they’re worth to have an official presence in.
If they get that aggressive, then thank goodness for the EU.
> Same to apple. They want to control things they shouldn't have this much control over.
I think that’s their right as a platform owner. They have no responsibility to sellers setting up shop in their walled garden. If the App Store was the busiest shopping mall in the world, they’re not obligated to make rent cheap; if your business model doesn’t work, apples rules are not new and you knew them before rolling the dice on an iOS app.
Under US law there is no guarantee it’s possible to craft a law that would stand up in court anyway.
> If the App Store was the busiest shopping mall in the world, they’re not obligated
If there were only 2 major places in the entire world to buy things from, and Apple had 57% of that shopping revenue, then yes, absolutely they would be obligated to do a lot of things.
I am not. When I speak with those in defi they hardly even understand the most basic aspects of this technology. My personal hope is that quantum computing develops fast enough to decimate the decentralized financial industry powered by blockchain.
This will be a USA centric response because while other countries have very different options I assume that like me you are in the states.
I'd start by seeing a therapist.
It's nice to have someone to speak with about your issues that can help provide guidance.
I spent better part of a decade working every day I was awake. Started seeing a therapist after working with some truly horrible people who now face serious repercussions for their actions.
Recently, I splurged on some retro game stuff. I spent years ignoring retro gaming. I thought these were relics for immature man children who lived in their parents basement. My wife also hates the look so I had spent years not only turning a blind eye toward them but also putting what I did own since childhood into storage for when we started a family. Once I went down the rabbit hole of some retro games I don't think I'll be looking back. I found that not only are they fun to play but I have a passion for restoring them. I started by re-learning how to repair integrated circuits (I hadn't used a soldering iron in 20 years before this). Now I plan to save as many as I can.
All I'm saying, start by talking to someone who will listen and you can feel comfortable talking with. A therapist was good for me because you pay them to be your confidant. Mental health is like any other part of your body you care for.
I would however absolutely not let any co-workers or representatives of your employer know what you are going through. There is a terrible stigma around mental health and it will be perceived as a disability/weakness by some in a manner that could impact your livelihood.
Losing market share on the desktop is by design to shrug off regulators while they flex into new growing markets. Their cloud has been a boon to their bottom line extending their reach into government/corporate clients while Xbox has kept Sony from dominating the living room/home.
Diversification is good for any large entity not just an investment firm.
While a government system that makes electronic money transfer a utility should exist, the real benefit of credit cards for merchants is that credit card users are willing to pay a higher price and thus catering to credit card users results in more profit. This is evidenced by the fact that all major merchants do not offer discounts for using debit cards/cash, with the exception of Target. But even Target does not make it easy, you have to sign up for a Redcard and link your debit card to it.
Merchants that do not like credit card processing fees already stipulate card purchase amount minimums or discounts for cash/debit. The merchants that do not evidently are betting that more money can be made from selling goods at higher prices to credit card users.
Of course Visa/Mastercard offer debit, but even with FedNow, I suspect many merchants, especially the biggest, will continue to want buyers to use credit cards, and hence support Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover.
DeadAIM by JimADI was the epitome of chat for me... There was AIM+ as well...
It seems like yesterday we NEEDED to hack a chat client to remove ads to make it usable... Kind of how we use adblocking on web browsers to make the web usable...
Let us not forget that in our current trajectory, Robots and Real Estate are going to be owned by one class of people who extract value from society while everyone else struggles to feed themselves.
Don’t rely on any of the big platforms long term.