Apple is really pushing its luck

Apple has been the undisputed darling of electronics marketing since the introduction of the iPod. Everything they touch turns to gold, and they’ve built the mystique of the Apple brand into a legendary golden goose.

: Image via CrunchBase

But it’s been a tough week for Apple.

People have been grumbling about the arbitrary and seemingly random approval process for apps on the iPhone, but the applesauce really hit the fan this week when Apple revoked apps that work with Google Voice app:

There’s No App For That

This has set off a small firestorm among developers:

I Quit the iPhone (Michael Arrington)
Seriously, What is Going on with the App Store? Blocks, Delays, and Awful Apps Slipping Through (ReadWrite Web)
stevenf.tubmlr.com

Is this the beginning of the end for Apple? Probably not. This isn’t the first time Apple has made some consumers mad, but there’s only so many times they can pull stunts like this before it starts to catch up with them.

Google Voice Debacle Causes Arrington to Ditch the iPhone, and With Good Reason [IPhone] (gizmodo.com)
Fed Up, A Popular Mac Developer Quits The iPhone (techcrunch.com)
Apple’s Chickenshit Approval Process Has Gone Too Far [Apple] (gizmodo.com)

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Posted on July 31st, 2009 under Disconnected rants, The Business of Software • Tags: Apple, AppStore, Google, GoogleVoice, iPhone, Michael Arrington. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback

D. Lambert

Yet another one:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/06/as-apple-s...

PW

Last month, I was seriously considering picking up a MacBook for the purposes of iPhone/iPod touch development, when I stumbled across these same (and some similar) articles. I will always have a strong distaste for AT&T, but the seemingly arbitrary policies of application approval at the Apple Store was the final straw in my deciding to pass.

D. Lambert

Yeah. It seriously amazes me that Apple can consistently and vigorously close their environments and bully anyone who tries to open them, yet it's always someone else coming under fire for anti-competitive practices...

Until people start voting with their wallets, though, I don't see them changing.

D. Lambert

Guess what? The FCC is now looking into Apple's AppStore policies:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/31/fcc-now-inqu...

I'm sure this is *exactly* the sort of attention that Apple would have liked to avoid, but it sure seems necessary in this case, as tales of random treatment of developers keep piling up.

Lambert on Development