"...Last month, the publisher was set to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app, where consumers would download the magazines via Apple’s iTunes but would pay Time Inc. directly. But Apple rejected the app at the last minute, forcing the Time Warner (TWX) unit to sell single copies, using iTunes as a middleman, multiple sources tell me.
Since then, Time Inc. executives “have been going nuts,” trying to figure out how to get Apple (AAPL) to approve a subscription plan. One of the more desperate suggestions, which apparently didn’t get traction: Pulling the publisher’s apps out of the iTunes store altogether...."
This isn't the first time someone spent all their time and energy and developed a really cool app only to be rejected. If Apple's fundamental claim for tigher control of AppStore is to ensure quality, how come Time Inc's application is being rejected? It is completely unfair of Apple to want a cut on every transation. I pity the magazine publishers who are working with really thin margins but still have to give a share of their revenue to Apple just because it controls the ecosystem.
If Microsoft came any closer to any of the things Apple has been demanding, folks would have screamed "Anti-Trust". I really think Apple is taking the path of self destruction on many fronts. I have been telling many of my friends that Year 2010 would be the best year for Apple. Let's see if I am right next year.
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