Apple is terrified of having to work for all that money they charge developers. Granted, they do provide a service and they should be compensated for it, and I'd never argue otherwise. Still, they're terrified of competition. Right now, developers have no choice but to use the App Store. If they did have another choice, Apple would actually have to compete to make the App Store attractive to developers. They'd have to -- dare I even say it? -- compromise. They wouldn't get to rule like gods from on high, handing down fiats that cannot be questioned.