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Epic celebrates "the end of the Apple Tax" after court win in iOS payments case

(arstechnica.com)
432 points nobody9999 | 1 comments | 12 Dec 25 16:04 UTC | HN request time: 0.345s | source
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amelius ◴[12 Dec 25 17:58 UTC] No.46246687[source]▶
Why didn't Microsoft, back in the 90s, have an app store that businesses had to pay for to sell Windows applications in?

I mean, it's certainly not for lack of business insight. And you don't need the internet to sell applications.

replies(5): >>46247412 #>>46247610 #>>46248034 #>>46248730 #>>46249765 #
1. asadotzler ◴[12 Dec 25 19:13 UTC] No.46247610[source]▶
Downloading software over dial-up speeds of 14.4 kbps to 28.8 kbps sucked, and most businesses weren't large enterprises so didn't have T1s (which were themselves only 1.5 Mbps) so sending the office manager across town to Circuit City to buy a boxed copy of some piece of software made sense. The app stores of the 90s were "third party" and physical and covered the needs and capabilities of 90s companies. The other "app store" was even more indirect, software makers paying PC sellers to pre-install.