[kevingadd]

Apple has made the argument in court that a given app can be essential for work or education, so customers have no choice but to acquire that app any way they can.

On that basis and others, while I think it is appropriate for a company to make a profit, there has to be a thing as "too much".

Apple (according to evidence in this case) currently earns like 20 billion USD per year off the 30% cut. To me, this is absolutely more than necessary, and while it's not exactly the same as how the cost of insulin has gone from $0.05/unit in 1991 to ~$0.30/unit presently, apparently apps are essential, so it's worth asking just how much it's reasonable for Apple to skim off the top. In the end, the cost of that 30% fee will get passed on to the customer one way or another, and Apple allows that to happen as well.

[dash2]

Ok. But consumers aren’t forced to purchase an iPhone. They could pick Android. Presumably they are considering the whole package when they make that decision, including the tradeoff between app expense and app reliability. I certainly tried Android and went back, for reasons which included that the Play store seemed to have a lot of junk and not much good stuff.

[kevingadd]

If my mom buys an iPhone and then finds out two years later that it was a mistake, at that point she probably has a bunch of apps she'll have to re-buy on Android (Apple gives developers no way to offer cross-buy like this), and she may need to switch providers for things like e-mail or messaging if she was relying on Apple's email service or iMessage. This creates a lock-in effect because not everyone can afford to drop a bunch of money to leave the walled garden.

I think in general people like you or me are savvy enough to not get harmed by these Apple policies, but court cases like this are about protecting everyone.

[dash2]

This could be true, but is there any evidence for it? I have a ton of apps. Very few cost more than $5. Most were free, though sometimes with a paid-for service (e.g. Dropbox, Evernote) - which I would still get if I changed platform. If I claimed this lockin wasn't a serious problem, could you prove me wrong?