Jeff Tyrrill

@jeff_tyrrill
15 Followers
18 Following
75 Posts
Software developer. Interests include CRDTs, user interfaces, optimization problems, app platforms, assorted legal topics
Bsky@jeff-tyrrill.com

2/2

1. Allow sideloading and alternate stores. No fees, no buts. Worldwide.

2. Keep their cut at 15%/30%. Make it the best store possible. Courage.

3. Offer a discount not for a crippled store but for apps that pass a high bar of user experience: State saving, proper notification management, full use of platform features (windowing, focus APIs, etc), perfect adherence to the HIG, and no dark patterns. Make being in Apple's store mean something. "The power to be your best" as Apple once said.

"Courage"

Not budging an inch on sideloading or alternate stores. This is a company operating in fear. Fear that they are unable to compete on features, experience, and reputation. What have they become?

Is designing a discounted, crippled store experience what motives Apple executives? The best use of their time and attention?

What Apple should do:

(1/2)

"For adult content, this should include performers."

A glimpse into the rule-crafting thought process: The entire rule (including this quoted part) is 43 words and has many open questions, but they spent 18% of it offering a clarification about porn. Would a *non-porn* video require credit of the actors? The director? The screenwriter? The cinematographer? If you clarify those, then porn gets covered too. It's as if how this impacted non-porn didn't even occur to them. 7/7

If attribution is deemed to be in scope of moderation, the rule should just ban plagiarism, not positively decree attribution rules for every situation. This also addresses the image macro case, as plagiarism arguably isn't being committed with well-known image macros (though I have mixed feelings on that). 6/7
https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/112118311893519299 claims "memes" are not the "target" of the rule (but doesn't state they're exempt), claiming the distinction is "obvious". Assuming "meme" is being used to mean "image macro", why not? Image macros rarely attribute the original creator and if the rule doesn't require this, it shouldn't have been written that way. 5/7

"Content created by others must clearly provide a reference to the author, creator, or source."

What does "others" mean? What if I'm a business and have a license to use the content? Not all licenses require nor expect attribution. For a complex work, does every creator need to be listed? What if a business is posting its own creation—does "others" hinge on whether each particular contributor is a contractor or an employee? 4/7

Unless mastodon.social intends to block lots of mainstream websites, the "low-quality sources" rule can only be applied politically. 3/7

"False and misleading information and links from low-quality sources may not be posted…"

"Low-quality sources" is the actual rule? The daily news cycle is filled with narratives from popular, low-quality sources. As a recent example, think of all the clickbait (but mainstream) tech sites that wrote obviously false articles about the "computational photography" applied in the iPhone wedding dress photos, weeks after it was publicly explained as an accidental panorama shot. 2/7

The weird new rules today on mastodon.social are a case study in overindexing on a few specific situations and disregarding the side effects. 🧵 1/7

https://mastodon.social/about

“Begs the question” does not mean “raises the question,” and while I don’t expect *everyone* to know that, I do expect people who write for a living to be aware of the distinction. (Yes, I ran across another professional journalist who embarrassingly used the incorrect phrase.)