If I see one more person justify Apple's stupid walled garden by saying, "Well they have server infrastructure to maintain and they design all the frameworks that developers use," I think my head is going to explode.
1) Apple is the one who forces people to use their infrastructure. iOS could easily permit side-loading and the use of third-party SDKs and frameworks. If the costs are so great for them, then open up the platform.
2) People saying this ignore the fact that dozens of other operating systems, widget toolkits, and other developer frameworks exist without requiring a walled garden.
3) In order to deploy apps for iOS, you pay Apple for:
- An Apple device to develop on.
- A developer license.
- A cut of the app's sale price.
- A cut of every in-app purchase.
Does Apple really need to quadruple dip with their developers in order to provide their phones and SDK? Really? 
Never mind that Apple uses their locked down platform to steal ideas from other companies and destroy them by leveraging their deeper system access (see Tile) or that they regularly curry favor with authoritarian regimes by censoring the apps users are allowed to install (see Ice Block). The economic argument just falls flat on its face before any of that.
#Apple #iOS #iPhone #Monopoly