A nice artcile from the register here folks, spilling the beans on apples latest weeze to milk money from folks and developers alike
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/27/dziuba_apple_app_store/"Listen up, friend. We take care of the community. We all protect each other. You wanna set up shop in this neighborhood, you're gonna need some protection, you know what I'm sayin'? I mean, you got a real nice business here, nice store, nice people. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it. Fire, robbery, these things happen all the time, but we can make sure they don't - at least to you. Let's say 30 per cent of your daily take? It's not in your best interest to say no to guys like us. It's bad for your health."
Does this shakedown sound familiar? If you're an iPhone developer, it should. When a developer sells an application through the iPhone Application Store, they only see 70 per cent of the revenue. The rest goes to Apple for “system upkeep.” There's no other way to sell iPhone apps. Apple's distribution channel is the only one. Users can't buy your program from their computer then load it onto an iPhone without jailbreaking the device, which is a gamble.
What happens when Apple's 30 per cent vig becomes 35 per cent? What about 50 per cent? With nothing to stop them, Apple is in a great position to bleed developers dry. You can't take your business elsewhere, because there is no elsewhere.
Like the Ipod rip-off, this is just another one of Apples "middleman" schemes where they take the biggest single share of the cake for the least effort, nothing new in the same trick being used over again, but buying into a monopoly product is not only bad for your wallet but it ensures Apple will continue to pull the same stunt every new roll-out, should your children pay for your stupidity ?
