Reflecting on the DMA 40 Years After the “1984” Super Bowl Ad
On January 22, 1984, Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh to the world during the television broadcast of Super Bowl XVIII. Titled after George Orwell’s novel, the “1984” ad is widely regarded as a watershed moment in television. I was reminded of this ad last week during the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Macintosh. If you haven’t had the chance to read the wonderful articles by Harry McCracken, Jason Snell and Steven Levy, I recommend setting aside the time for them. Last week was was quite the trip down memory lane.
Which brings me back to the “1984” ad. When seen in context of Apple’s recently announced changes to the App Store in the European Union in response to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), I can’t help but notice the obvious: that today’s Apple is no longer the rebel represented by the woman athlete wielding the sledgehammer in “1984”, but rather the Big Brother-like counterpart. Let’s take a closer look at Big Brother’s speech from the ad:
We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology—where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory thoughts. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death, and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!
With its relentless pursuit of control over every aspect of its mobile platform, particularly its monetization, what is today’s Apple but an entirely new Big Brother, ripe for disruption–or at least regulation? After reading John Voorhees’ excellent breakdown of Apple’s response to the DMA, I once again can’t help but state the obvious: Apple’s commissions on App Store sales remain as arbitrary and greedy as they have always been.
In its announcement, Apple failed to justify the why behind the just-announced Core Technology Fee the same way it has failed to justify its 30% commission over the years. It would seem that Apple feels entitled to monetizing their intellectual property each time their devices are purchased and each time users purchase apps from the App Store, never accounting for the way these same apps make their devices more appealing to consumers. This has always felt like double-dipping to me. Let’s not forget Apple already has other avenues of multi-million-dollar revenue, like their deal with Google to keep it as the default search engine on Safari or the way that Apple has maintained device storage tiers low to encourage users to subscribe to services like iCloud+.
I’m not proposing that Apple should not profit from their intellectual property. Like the Macintosh, the iPhone is a remarkable piece of technology. It’s no hyperbole to say that the iPhone transformed many societies around the world. Apple deserves to make a buck, but with a valuation of 3 trillion dollars, isn’t it time for legislative bodies around the world to step in to protect small businesses, so they too, can remain profitable in the age of the iPhone? The EU and other countries seem to think so. For all its flaws, the DMA is at least an attempt to break through with a sledgehammer into the garden of commissions that is Big Apple. What is needed today are legislators who understand how technology works, so that they can better regulate Apple to prevent them from charging the outrageous commissions they have imposed on app developers for the last 15 years.
Standing United
2023 was the year of the unionized worker. In the union strikes by the Screen Actors Guild, the Teamsters, the United Auto Workers, the Writer’s Guild and even the union I belong to, we witnessed the power of standing united to demand fair wages for fair work. While unionizing app developers may sound far-fetched, working together to demand fair treatment from Apple, Google et.al. isn’t entirely out of the reach of app developers either. If you are a small business in the United States trying to earn a living in any app marketplace (not just the App Store), you can write to your representatives to demand they take seriously their role in protecting small businesses. Like the EU, the United States Congress needs to introduce regulation similar to the DMA, and hopefully in a way that effectively sets limits to the outrageous commissions companies like Apple impose on app developers in perpetuity, creating multiple levels of profit on top of profit.
Who Am I?
My name is Christian Correa, I’m a software developer and small business owner living in Washington state. I have multiple apps in different stages of development, of which I’ll be writing about right here in the upcoming months. I wrote this article to reflect on my concerns as an aspiring app developer. In the Apple-adjacent tech circles, we frequently get to hear from established independent app developers, but not necessarily those who, like me, are working to break into this industry. Well, we are here and we are paying attention. If you wish to support me, subscribe to this blog and follow me along my path to releasing my first app. I’ll be reflecting on business models, native apps versus web apps, multi-platform app development in general and .NET MAUI development in particular. Thank you for being here. ❤️