The I-Brick Website

[lucy]

Disregarding the fact that I only have negative experience with my I-Brick (I-Phone)... inflexible tied plans, constantly breaking down "DESPITE" being handled with utmost care... and the list goes on... I'm switching back to Nokia...

So me and a couple of friends are having a chat and the topic about how the Apple app store had total monopoly and control on what goes into their (F*&$*&^# Useless Worthless Expensive Paperweight) phone... you know the story already... what really disgust us (not just me) is their goddamn censorshit!... No +18 whatsoever allowed... and other blah-blahs!...

Then we had this idea... I personally wanted to get back at Apple for enticing me to buy this expensive paperweight and I know I'm not alone here...

What if... we provide a place in the interwebs where you can download free and buy commercial apps WITHOUT going thru rotten apple's so called QC... a place where you could sell your fruits of labor without going batshit insane (like after having your app rejected countless times)... a place where you can let your perverted desires and creativity roam free without the chains of censorshit and pig disgusting bureo-processess and be forced to comply with... ugh, morally correct guidelines...

Now now... I'm not on drugs nor am I an evil and twisted person but... don't you think this idea is great?...

End of Part 1

[lucy]

Of course you'd still have to deal with real-life factors like cost and legal crap...

Let's go to the costs... This is the first thing we discussed... how is a website like that gonna survive?... Ad revenues is a good way to get constant revenue but you already know... ads do have some negative stigma to them... so were gonna copy a page from rotten apps and make sure all ads go to a process that will make sure they don't carry any payload and inspect them regularly in case they link to some pretty suspicious websites... like apple apps store...

End of Part 2

[Topagae]

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

[PyTom]

Unless this gets around to visual novels really soon, it's off-topic.

[lucy]

Unless this gets around to visual novels really soon, it's off-topic.

Well... not just VN's but everything that Apple rejected will be accepted... I really wanted to consult people with knowledge on this field here...

Now... about the apps themselves... unlike similar services, or motive is primarily revenge driven... we may or may not earn but we certainly wanna get back at them in anyway possible but were also businessman and our mindset is also focused on feasibility. And for it to be feasible, it has to be self-sustainable... As I have mentioned earlier, Ad revenues but the amount they'll generate will probably be barely enough to sustain the whole thing so for the commercial apps... we'll charge say 15% or roughly enough to even it up or if possible... 2% profit... notice the ridiculous amount?... well... it's a huge market, not huge but let's say you make about 50 cents profit per game sold... and multiply it... see the math?... You go for quantity... every cent counts!... the main goal here is not profit but keeping a self sustaining revenge driven monster... if everything went well, we'll even hire an operations manager who will oversee everything while we watch from the sidelines while doing our own separate lives... and maybe, expand to make a "bit" of profit...

End of Part 3

Now comes the legal consulting and this is where people with experience comes to play... what do you think will be the legal implications of this undertaking... we know this is still a far fetched idea but we (unfortunately) not familiar with legal stuff regarding this field...

[LordShiranai]

I do understand where you are coming from. If I, the consumer, want to download a VN for my phone which is racy or even fully pornographic, that should be my right. I bought the phone, after all.

At the same time, Apple knows that they could probably make money from allowing such things in their app store. However, they have likely done market research and I'm willing to bet they weighed the money they'd make versus the PR shitstorm they'd get from the right wing nutjobs out there. In the end, they probably decided it wasn't worth it for them. Either way, from the very beginning, everyone knew the iPhone was not intended to be an open platform. I see no reason for wanting "revenge" about it.

If you feel that you can exploit a certain niche that Apple is not catering to, then that may be seen as a business opportunity. If you want to know about the legality of opening an alternative app store for Jailbroken iPhones, it would probably be best to consult an actual lawyer.

(Or, if you really dislike Apple that much, maybe you should develop for Android instead?)

[Topagae]

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

[PyTom]

I agree.

Mugenjohncel, your best bet is to vote with your feet. By developing and releasing products for iOS - even a jailbroken iOS - you encourage people to buy iOS devices. Apple makes money. When you release for other platforms, like Android, people who support openness get your money, and Apple doesn't get a dime, or the local equivalent thereof.

One of the nice things about Android is that you're not limited to Google's App Market. There are already several alternative app stores, including an adult-centric one. (NSFW, obviously.)

[LordShiranai]

It's completely "Legal". The problem with "Legal" is that just because it's legal doesn't mean Apple can't swing the hammer, or sue.

Actually the problem is this...

IANAL, but I would venture to say that there is a reasonable chance that Apple would lose such a lawsuit if it actually made it all the way through court.

Unfortunately, you would probably go bankrupt from trying defending yourself, and you'd be out of business before a judgment is reached. Once you're out of the picture, Apple would drop the suit to avoid the case setting any precedent against them.

You're better off going to Android. I say this as an iPhone owner. I have no real regrets with purchasing one because it does what I really bought it for, but I'll probably be switching to Android for my next phone as well.

[Topagae]

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

[IceD]

Right. Instead of damn Apple crusaders and their fanboys/fangirls, you should really get to android. It's basically what Linux is for PC, it came from linux, and it is a linux. So, it has to better

You know, After I bought my LG GT540 I am really amazed, what can be done with it. Those phones have so much potential... Honestly, right now, they don't even use a half of it. You can write documents, .odt, docs, txt files, play music, play videos, make photos and video with decent quality. You can play games, too and there are tons of incredible apps available. Imagine - everything, from virtual compasses to dev apps and rootkits. I already seen various emulators, and while they need work, they run games fine. A large number of them is free, the rest can be bought for silly prices. The processing power is so big, like even such complex and detailed games like HawX can run on it without any problems. And for LG, it's only a latest Quallcom processor with OpenGL support, don't forget there are already much powerful CPU's, as Snapdragon series with integrated GPU chipsets in them. Even if it's a 480x320 screen, it is still, undoubtly large, enough to run games and see everything cleary. Android runs smooth and looks neat, it's interface is so clear and simple, it won't get you much time to learn to handle it. If you're a great developer, you can do miracles with android phones. And customization, all of that CUSTOMIZATION!

I love my new phone. I still remember the first nokia series when they appeared in Poland. I never believed I'm going to see a personal computer in my pocket, but here it is

If I'd be going to port my games, or chose another platform to create them, it would be android. Ren'Py will be open, Ren'Py is free. Android is open (almost), android is free, too. And there are NO RESTRICTIONS with it. Furthermore, the DEV kit is simple to use and very practical; you can even test your apps "on the run", on your own phone. There is also a sandbox, and you can emulate them without no problem on PC. With current rise of personal mobile devices, android as well as few other systems are the future. You can cleary see that by the incredibly growing community. I've already seen apps from developers around the world, bah - I'm starting to think that japanese and koreans have went mad on android since number of their native apps had rised incredibly from the time I started to watch android market. It's a good sign. And with all the competition both around developers of those devices and prices falling down, you can be sure more and more people will own them, and that number steadily grows.

I'd say. You've got an opportunity here. A big one. We all have. For me, VN's might become a BIG SHOT for mobile devices. Something to read & watch and listen while you're waiting for the 2nd our in the hospital for your turn to get to the doctor, riding the bus or just awaiting for your friends to arrive. It's great... And we can still preserve culture. Ren'Py is an incredible engine, thanks to Pytom. If you're good enough, you can do miracles with it. People we're buying tons of java games for like 5-8$ around me for those old generation phones. So they will propably happily pay the same or even a bigger ammount for something, that looks far more better. All we have to do now, is wait and hold fingers crossed while Pytom will be porting the engine to android.

Let the apple rot. Get an android, that's what I'd like to say. This is the best opportunity you can get now, don't let it go away.