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by MichaelCollins 1437 days ago
Front doors that only allow themselves to be unlocked if the person knocking on the other side has been vetted and certified by the paternalistic door manufacturer, who by the way, gets a 30% cut of any deal you might make with that person.
1 comments
simondotau 1437 days ago
I’d buy that door, and I’m not even kidding. It sounds fantastic.
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dane-pgp 1437 days ago
Even if the door manufacturer uses a heuristic which frequently prevents your friends from visiting, but does allow dodgy salespeople to try to squeeze money out of you?
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simondotau 1436 days ago
That is analogistically opposite to my experience as an iOS device user. When are my friends being blocked? Who are these dodgy salespeople you speak of?

I use an iPhone because I value the managed experience, somewhat more like an appliance than a computer. I already have enough computers in my life. I don’t want more of them.

I’ve literally never had any issue transacting with businesses through my phone. I can download the food delivery app and get dinner. I can download the transit app and get to where I’m going. What are these scams you speak of? Who are the dodgy people that Apple would allow through my hypothetical door?

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dane-pgp 1436 days ago
The friends being blocked are people who want to make an app for you but don't want to pay a developer tax to Apple.

The dodgy salespeople are the ones selling over-priced apps that ask for unnecessary permissions.

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simondotau 1436 days ago
Oh no, how terrible. My friends have to pay 15% commission (30% for my extremely wealthy friends who are not in need of sympathy) in order to cover API licenses[1], app store operating costs[2], card transaction costs, gift card costs (including a margin for the retailer), and by no means least, the attached goodwill of transacting via Apple where consumers have high confidence of refunds and easily cancelled subscriptions.

Of course, all of that covers the few friends who want to take my money. In reality, nearly all of my friends aren't selling anything, they just want to hang out in my pad. They value my company in other ways which the door doesn't concern itself with.

And if it turns out one of my friends wants to surveil my home and send the information onto a third party, the door makes sure I'm okay with that first. Thanks, door! While it's true that the door isn't perfect and can't spot every scam, I'm still overall more comfortable in my home.

And when I want to risk getting beaten up by the local mafia, I don't need to uninstall my door — I can just hop into my very comfortable patio shed any time I want. It doesn't even have a door at all, only some Windows.

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[1] Epic sets their price for commercial use of their APIs. Why can't Apple? I've never understood why Epic are allowed to be such hypocrites here.

[2] Epic hasn't been able to turn a profit on their Epic Games Store with a 12% margin. And they're not even maintaining an entire ecosystem; just a file downloader and game launcher client.

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