Links and Notes - May 9th 2021

What is happening in Apple vs Epic?

A long time ago, Oracle and Google got into a fight over whether or not Google was using Java APIs in a way that infringed on copyrights. When that fight went to court, I followed developments fairly closely. And although I predicted who would eventually win incorrectly, I still had a decent idea of what was going on. Fast forward to today, and 4 days into the Apple vs Epic legal battle, I still have no idea what's going on. I mean I understand what the spat is about, I just have no idea what's up with any of the arguments each side is making.

In order to keep up, I've been reading snippets and summaries and tweet threads and write ups. And somehow I get the feeling that this entire case is very very muddled. Especially from Epic's end, all the arguments sound very contorted. Painful even. I assumed Epic's arguments were going to revolve around how Apple does not provide adequate value to be demanding 30% on transactions and no alternative payment mechanisms to be mentioned.

But! It turns out that Epic already has similar deals in place. I think. Deals with companies like Song for the PlayStation store. And it also turns out that Epic wants to make some really weird sounding arguments to practically re-categorize Fortnite from game to some eco system of sorts like Roblox. I could be messing up the explanation of it, but like I said, it's very hard to process any of the news.

It doesn't help that Apple is out there making arguments that don't seem all that forceful. I think.

Basically the water here is murky and although I keep seeing people saying it's a good day for Epic I don't see how it's a good day for anyone in particular. It all looks just messy af

I discovered a "Stylophone" player today

And that discovery was a trip that I'm sad I can't experience again for the first time. I initially found the channel on a meme site where someone had ripped the video to. A kind person shared the YouTube channel in the comments which is how I ended up on YouTube for the meme

And ended up staying for the amazing covers everywhere. Specially this guns and roses cover. Brilliant!!

Give this dude a subscribe. His work is wholesome and fun to listen to.

Also, have a listen to the cover of Metallica's Master of Puppets. Wild!

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Previous links and notes (May 8th)

Posted on May 09 2021 by Adnan Issadeen