Slashdot Mirror
Apple Censors App Store Rejection Notices
isBandGeek() writes "After a few reasonable App Store bans, such as the ones on I Am Rich and NetShare, developers started complaining about excessive restrictions on applications like Podcaster and MailWrangler, supposedly because they provided 'duplicate functionality.' In response, Apple rubbed salt in their wounds by slapping non-disclosure agreements on application rejection notices. Now developers are not even allowed to tell their fanbase that Apple decided to withhold approval for an application. Is Apple confident that Google's open platform Android won't be much of a threat?"
Because they make cool *looking* equipment? If M$ did this, people would be all over them. Jobs is not known for working and playing well with others, but people just wink at the silliness because they like the shiny gadgets.
It may be just me but I really don't get why apple has such a big fanbase, seeing as how they treat their customers...
Manuals are your last resort only
An analysts opinion isn't worth the paper it is printed on, and this opinion ain't even printed.
Both phones are less then perfect and missing some "we don't think you need this, so you don't get it" features.
But the analyst is an idiot because he talks about the lack of iTunes. Yeah, because people care about that. Oh, they don't. First off, most music on digital players is ripped from CD's, or obtained through other means in mp3 format. iTunes is very small potatoes in the global music industry and even Apple knows that the iPod a far bigger player in the digital music player isn't always going to be used for iTunes content, which is why Apple gives you the tools needed to convert iTunes music to MP3 format or burn it to a CD.
The idea that a new platform needs to be compatible with iTunes is silly.
The bigger problem is lack of office compatibiltiy. While MS does offer you ways to export your documents in more general formats, that could be the real killer. The iPhone is bought by people who buy Apple and so accept that it is NOT going to be all that compatible with MS software. But android doesn't have the Apple logo, what is its excuse for not being MS compatible?
In a way, I don't think the iPhone and Android are even competitors. iPhone is a single product offered by a company that has no other phones. Android is a platform that any phone maker can use. It would be like saying the Smart Car competes with Honda Engines. Does the iPhone compete with Windows Mobile or Symbian? No, it competes with other phones, specific models, not OS/Platforms. if this google phone fails, there are plenty of others coming out soon, while Apple can hardly afford to start making dozens of phones and a new one every season to suit the tastes of the customer. Neither can google, but the phonemakers can.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
But that's the beauty of 'Open' and why Apple are (hopefully) shooting themselves in the foot with this kind of tactic.
You see most of the critisms that article put at the Android phone were of particular features not included or limited, if the Android does what it claims to then people can simply write an app that performs that feature and there is nothing stopping them releasing it. However, if that feature is lacking on the iPhone or deliberately lacking(many of the critisms were also true of the iPhone) then Apple can prevent it being released.
Therefore the Android has the unrestricted potential of fulfilling all of the lacking features whereas Apple will prevent the iPhone from fulfilling that same potential.
I like many Apple products but this is my classic annoyance - they could be so much better if Apple didn't hold them back so much.
If this were really happening, what would you think?
It doesn't have to hold up in court. Merely the threat of a lawsuit from the wealthy and powerful Apple will silence most small developers. Sure, you would probably win the case in the end, but only after paying lawyers a small fortune to defend you against Apple. And where are you going to get that kind of money if you're just some programmer or tiny company?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Well, I am a business man, and work for a corporation that deals regularly with NDAs and IP. If there is no signature, it's just a statement, and won't hold up in court. We have had lots of companies try to steal our IP, so I am fairly well versed in the intricacies of such agreements, and the implications of not having one.