[smm2000]

Throughput, expectation of service and number of tables/waiter are very different for coffeeshop/casual diner and place that sells $60 steak. In casual restaurant you can expect one waiter per 8 tables compared to 4 tables/waiter in fine dining place. People easily take 2x time to eat the same amount of food in fine dining place compared to something cheaper. In fine dining place waiters are better trained/educated (ever tried to ask for wine recommendation at Denny's?) and dress nicer.

Higher tips per person are totally expected in fine dining place purely from economic perspective.

[dheelus]

Agreed and my analogy is imperfect at best. However, assuming I am eating at a fine-dining establishment, why should tips be percentage calculated? Shouldn't the tip amount be the same regardless of whether I order the expensive items on the menu or the (relatively) cheaper ones? Which is basically what Apple's argument boils down to.

FWIW, I don't really have a dog in this race (except as an AAPL stockholder I want the stock to do well). If any judgement mandates that the license fee be charged on the cost of the chip and not the device, then I'd like to see that be extended to the App Store ToS as well.

[firethief]

Proportional tipping is much better at aligning the waiters' interests with the restaurant's than a flat tipping model would be; better customers get better service.

[wolco]

Wouldn't tipping some amount before give better service than tipping after? What if tipping was related to the number of services and/or difficulity of each service?

[hacking_again]

In my experience, customers that are friendly and treat the staff like equals get better service.

[Domenic_S]

If I go to Denny's and order a coffee, the waitress pours the coffee and stops by every so often to refill it. They get a $1 tip.

If I go to that same Denny's and order 4 Grand Slams, the waitress waits on the cooks, and then makes one trip to my table. They get a much higher tip for less work.