guru3d Elon Musk: App Store Fees a "Global Internet Tax" Sides With Epic Games

[UltraMega]

Quote

Elon Musk has shifted his focus to Apple's App Store, claiming that Epic Games is correct and Apple is  "de facto a global tax on the Internet."

Shortly after news surfaced alleging Musk wanted to be Apple's CEO and Cook denying that, Musk responded with a series of tweets rejecting the claim and stressing that he and Cook had never talked or sent an email. Musk stated that "Apple's app store fees constitute a de facto worldwide tax on the Internet" as one of the reasons he believes "Epic is right."

Elon Musk Calls App Store Fees a "Global Internet Tax" and Sides With Epic Games (guru3d.com)

 

Like him or not, it's an interesting take. Simple while adding a good perspective. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by UltraMega

[Andrew]

The only reason he is getting involved in this is because of the Tesla app. Most Tesla owners have iPhones, this means that to make the app available, Tesla has to pay a fee to Apple in order to get it on the store.

[UltraMega]

4 minutes ago, Andrew said:

The only reason he is getting involved in this is because of the Tesla app. Most Tesla owners have iPhones, this means that to make the app available, Tesla has to pay a fee to Apple in order to get it on the store.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Even if he stands to gain a bit from being able to get around apple fees, I think it's an interesting take to think of online app store fees as an internet tax. I'm not sure I would fully agree with that logic for something like Steam since Steam is designed to be used on hardware that Valve has nothing to do with, but I on the flip side between Apple and Google there is definitely an duopoly in the smart phone business that raises some issues, more so with Apple than Google since Apple does everything from hardware to software in house and more tightly controls their platform. 

At the same time it's hard to deny that a company should be able to have fees on an app store for hardware they create. I don't think anyone would argue that Sony shouldn't be able collect a fee for selling games on PlayStation consoles, but I suppose since Sony has steep competition from Xbox, Nintendo, PC, and mobile when it comes to gaming, it's less of a monopolistic situation. 

But then again, video game stores are more straight forward. They sell a product and the store takes a fee just like a physical store. In Apples case I think it's true that there have been situations where an app adds some kind of extra functionality that Apple wants to market themselves in some other way so they ban the app and do it themselves, and their ability to do that separates them from the rest I suppose. 

If someone designed a good physical product, lets say... a better mouse trap, and they want to sell it in a store; if that store then decides to design their own high quality mouse trap and decides not to sell the other mouse trap anymore, the guy who designed the first mouse trap can go sell it at a plethora of other stores. When Apple does that to a dev, there is no where else for them to turn, they're just screwed. 

Anyway, I didn't mean all of that as a reply to what you said Andrew, just using it as an opportunity to put out my thoughts on the issue. 

[tictoc]

A bit ironic since Musk runs the biggest walled garden in the car industry.  No independent dealerships (that's why you can't buy a Tesla in a number of states),  very few independant repair shops, and a more or less never ending ongoing list of GPL violations.

 

Tesla uses the same excuses Apple uses to justify their closed ecosystem.

[Andrew]

1 hour ago, tictoc said:

A bit ironic since Musk runs the biggest walled garden in the car industry.  No independent dealerships (that's why you can't buy a Tesla in a number of states),  very few independant repair shops, and a more or less never ending ongoing list of GPL violations.

 

Tesla uses the same excuses Apple uses to justify their closed ecosystem.

Yeah. Anyone who thinks Musk is against Apple doing this is for the greater good. He's not. He just doesn't wait to pay Apple to host the Tesla app. Nothing more, nothing less.

[UltraMega]

I don't particularly like Elon Musk myself but I still think it's an interesting argument. For sure he's not doing this for the greater good but that doesn't mean the argument has no valid point to it. 

[Mistio]

Hmm the Pot calling the Kettle Black *hahah*. 

 

[Avacado]

The man put a car in space and will probably have have human beings on Mars within 20 years. He most likely is a narcissist, but at least he's advancing the tech that might allow for my grandchildren to live after we've destroyed our home. As far as i'm concerned, he can do whatever the hell he wants, he does anyway.  

[Mistio]

40 minutes ago, Avacado said:

The man put a car in space and will probably have have human beings on Mars within 20 years. He most likely is a narcissist, but at least he's advancing the tech that might allow for my grandchildren to live after we've destroyed our home. As far as i'm concerned, he can do whatever the hell he wants, he does anyway.  

 

A family member, on my partner's side worked for Tesla. 

The things he said echoed Amazon's treatment of employees. 

One aspect that shocked me is the investment Tesla makes in their workforce to have access to shrinks and psychologists in order to continue working 7/7. 

 

[schuck6566]

Next he'll be suggesting a bitcoin variant just for use on Epic....