neoncat

mike1 said:

I'm sure they will get flack for it, but I hope there will be a way in settings to prohibit the download of anything that isn't from the app store.

I am foreseeing the nightmare ahead when my click-happy mom starts accidentally/unwittingly downloading stuff from all the ads in her games and e-mail etc.

This is a scammer's dream.

I hope people can find the time while clutching all those pearls to realize that this is a problem almost entirely of Apple's own creation. By discarding the value of the safety of their platform to chase every possible cent of revenue, they willingly dismissed concerns like yours. There were measures Apple could have taken to protect the walled garden for all its benefits. They chose not to because those choices would've represented giving up the chance to squeeze every last dime out of the construct.

Now, no one wins: App Store revenue will decline, and safety will be compromised. It's classic Apple—die on every hill, convinced to the end they are right, and at the end having nothing at all to show for it. Blinded by arrogance, avarice, and greed.

FCP is an afterthought in the general video production industry at this point. It exists as fanboy service for people who absolutely have to have an entire Apple stack. There are much better, more faster moving options with far more aggressive and interesting development pathways and much larger and more active support communities that run just as well, if not better, on Apple's excellent hardware. The profile in this video doesn't surprise me in the least. 

entropys said:

Why not just straight with Mastercard or visa? Logo issues?

Might even make it easier to expand Apple Card overseas.

Because Visa and Mastercard don't issue cards. They run the payment networks that move money from banks to merchants as a result of a purchase and handle granting access to that network to card issuers and merchants. The issuing bank is who maintains the relationship with you, the cardholder, and does things like determine the credit risk, collect payments, etc. This is different than AmEx which is both an issuing bank and controls their own payment network, but that's why there's only one AmEx versus lots of Visas or MasterCards. 

As a result, Apple would need to charter a bank to issue the card itself, subjecting itself to the intense regulations that banks operate under. And a bank cannot just exist to issue credit cards—it would need to be capitalized through some other means, like consumer banking or lending. It is much smarter for them, with much lower risk, to partner with an existing bank. Whether or not GS was the right choice or not is up for debate. I suspect if Chase indeed takes over at some point, the whole process will become much less fraught with the sort of problems GS suffered.

EDIT: Beaten by Caskey by 1 minute!  

This may be semantics, but it's not really "native" support. Access will be via Safari, not via a native app, with all the implied limitations as a result. It's not a lot different than how you're able to use any one of a number of game streaming services on the iPad already.