THE MAN FROM DELMONTE Steve Jobs has flexed his considerable muscle in knocking out outspoken Iphone developer Tommy Refenes.
Refenes, is famous for producing the $400 Iphone application innovatively titled 'Zits and Giggles'. The application became a social experiment for the coder who kept on increasing the price to see how many people would pay for an overpriced, under featured product. Unsurprisingly given the audience, he was onto a winner.
At the recent Games Developer Conference, Refenes launched into a scathing attack on Apple's App Store, calling it "awful" and "horrible", interspersed with even more colourful language. Clearly this expression of views was too far for Jobs who prefers a "it's my way or the highway" approach to management. Refenes' app was yanked from the App Store, however we understand that he, himself isn't sleeping with the fishes just yet.
The application has seen a number of price rises as part of his social experiment with the developer saying that 14 people purchased the app when it was priced at $299 back in February. Prior to being taken off the App Store, "Zits and Giggles" was going for $400.
It's perhaps not all that surprising that with Iphone users typically being a vain bunch, on 15 March one rabid fanboi splurged $400 on what was described as "the most advanced dermatological simulator".
Apple didn't provide any reasoning for the removal of "Zits and Giggles", however it did send the developer an email with a telephone number to call. This sort of cloak and dagger, melodramatic pantomime doesn't really foster the image of the App Store as a grown up, reliable place of business for any serious developer.
Clearly Refenes was having a laugh at the considerable expense of well heeled Iphone users who would pay silly money for essentially useless applications. However companies who base their whole business model on the App Store would want a more communicative process allowing them to work with an all seeing, controlling gatekeeper.
Refenes has so far been unable to get an answer from Jobs' Mob and unsurprisingly thinks the removal has more to do with his public rant at Jobs' expense rather than the ever increasing price of his application. The first price rise, to $15, occured over five months ago and it's unlikely that Apple would want to curb prices too tightly as the firm takes a cut from each sale.
This is the latest episode in Apple's daft developer policies that have seen chosen Ipad developers having to jump through hoops just to get the oversized Iphone a few weeks early. Refenes has shown that should you speak out against Jobs' Mob you will be banished to the wilderness.
For those fanbois who are blinded by Steve Jobs' self-positioned neon halo, the App Store has now brought the industry's version of Caesar control of both hardware and software on his devices.
No longer content with simply providing an application programming interface to developers, Jobs has gone the whole hog and bestowed upon himself the power to decide not only what hardware his operating system runs on but exactly what applications can be run on the operating system. Where will the egomaniacal needs of Jobs end? Last week we reported that Jobs requires developers to keep devices in a particular room. Perhaps developers can expect to be told to wear a black turtleneck when coding for Apple devices, too.
For now the App Store is restricted to devices and applications that meet with Saint Jobs approval, but many of which are of questionable usefulness. Yet, judging by Steve Jobs' need for ultimate control, maybe we can expect to see all Apple products tied to the App Store.
--------------------
Ciekawe jak by zareagowały urzędy antymonopolowe, jakby Microsoft zablokował używanie jakiejś aplikacji za to, że jej twórca skrytykował Billa Gatesa.