[NEW] Apple, Its Control Over the iPhone, The Internet, And Yes, The Metaverse
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An essay on platforms, power, prosperity, principles, and profits. https://www.matthewball.vc/all/applemetaverse

I started this essay in August 2020 and it took me months to get a good handle on it and to stop discovering additional issues

@benthompson has been chronicling this for months, but it was unbelievable hearing how many small, and equally powerful companies are terrified of Apple

This piece from Roblox's S-1 is particularly interesting (IMAGE ONE), and contrasts well with who can and cannot / wants to and does actually contest Apple (IMAGE TWO)

Apple's policies are designed to stifle platforms, such as Roblox or Snapchat, which would intermediate it from developers and consumers. This feature, not a bug.

In effect, a Roblox dev could only substantially grow their revenue share if Apple built its own Roblox-like platform, which Apple operated at break-even (which the App Store was intended to do but doesn’t) and it didn’t pay Apple's App Store (which all Apple services do)

There are many other issues, but the inability for new platforms to emerge and support highly profitable developers is the most problematic.

The Internet is full of and so great because so many value-added middle-platforms could emerge.

But again, this is a feature of iOS, not a bug.

Jobs is very clear: developers should not use cross-platform development tools, but instead iOS tools. They should make the best iOS apps, not the best apps. And this will be better for users, and thus better for the developers.

This position is a kind of circuitous monopoly logic. Developers are only better off developing only for Apple is if Apple’s OS runs all relevant devices, its standards power all experiences, and Apple successfully develops the devices or services for every possible category.

This isn’t/won’t be true. And the mobile gaming ecosystem on iOS is massively bigger because developers use Unity, even when iOS drives the majority of their revenues. This is because Unity allows a developer to easily reach the entire global market. More players, rev, investment

Success of cross-platform tools/experiences may suggest Apple’s control isn’t a problem. But this assessment ignores Apple’s attempt to ban Unreal, its success stymying web-based rendering engines and cloud games, anti-platform policies and store fees

Anyway, I didn't intended to re-do the essay via Tweetstorm. It's not possible. This is a HUGE issue... because iOS... IS the digital economy of the West.

Which is why this matters.