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Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store

(www.theverge.com)
1704 points ardit33 | 2 comments | 13 Aug 20 19:03 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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lordleft ◴[13 Aug 20 20:04 UTC] No.24147974[source]▶
Imagine if Microsoft did this on PCs. a) prohibiting the installation of non-windows store software (sideloading) and b) insisting that all purchases done via apps give them a 30% cut. I think this is a ridiculous practice on the behalf of Apple.
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eggbrain ◴[13 Aug 20 20:20 UTC] No.24148287[source]▶
I mean, couldn't we just replace Microsoft->Sony and PC->Playstation and the argument falls apart a bit?

> Imagine if Sony did this on Playstation. a) prohibiting the installation of non-PlayStation games and b) insisting that all purchases done via their store give them a 30% cut.

Many platforms are like this -- and many also have the majority marketshare. Is this a call to redefine what platforms can and cannot control?

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ClumsyPilot ◴[13 Aug 20 20:26 UTC] No.24148405[source]▶
There is a distinction between a general purpose computing device and a gaming console. I depend on my computer for important aspects of my life, not just entertainment.

I perceive capricious behaviour like this ad a threat to my liberty and well-being.

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viro ◴[13 Aug 20 20:36 UTC] No.24148624[source]▶
"There is a distinction between a general purpose computing device and a gaming console." Whats the distinction? gaming console use x86 now. is it the keyboard support? the gpu ?
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jchw ◴[13 Aug 20 20:40 UTC] No.24148688{3}[source]▶
What its marketed as and who it is aimed at. Nobody ever bought a nintendo NES to use as a personal computing device, it wasn’t that they looked at the specsheet and it had a 6502. There were in fact PCs with 6502s and powerpcs as well. In any case, I still think video game consoles are stupid but they at least have some incentives to do a walled garden type thing (anti-cheat, anti-piracy) and lacking general code execution they actually stand a reasonable chance of accomplishing that (versus iOS where I am currently typing on a jailbroken device.)
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1. kalleboo ◴[14 Aug 20 02:18 UTC] No.24152452{4}[source]▶
> Nobody ever bought a nintendo NES to use as a personal computing device

Although interestingly, the Japanese console makers have continually tried to push the computer/development angle.

When the NES was released in Japan before the US, it was branded the "Family Computer" and you could get a keyboard and a version of BASIC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_BASIC

Sony has had multiple attempts, with a consumer homebrew dev kit for the PS1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Yaroze ), and Linux for the PS2 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_for_PlayStation_2 ) and later PS3.

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2. jchw ◴[14 Aug 20 02:59 UTC] No.24152750[source]▶
Yep, those are pretty cool and also make it more sad that video game consoles continue to go down this road of lockdown.

Of course Sony also had OtherOS on PS3. It's a bit sad it ended the way that it did.