[shaan7]

> If you are shocked that companies take a fee for distribution then wait until you see how things work in the real world.

That is not a good analogy. Supermarkets, retailers etc charge a fee from the vendor because that is their primary source of income ("bread and butter", if you may). In the OP's case, the "supermarket" is an iPhone device which the user has already paid a premium price for.

EDIT: bduerst covered this already https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23571076

[scarface74]

So a company is only allowed to have one revenue source?

Grocery stores also have slotting fees.

[shaan7]

Depends on how you define "allowed". EA was "allowed" to charge extra money for unlocking key Star Wars characters even after you paid in full for Battlefront II. So, the idea is less about what is "allowed", but rather where the line is drawn between justified commercial profit and monopolistic/bad behavior*

> Grocery stores also have slotting fees.

Again, the whole point I'm trying to make here is that comparison to grocery stores just doesn't work (because of reasons mentioned in the first comment)

* English is not my first language so I'm having trouble finding the perfect word.