This isn't a subscription issue, but it perhaps points the way things are going with Apple. Is this opening up an opportunity for Android? Below is the contents of an email that SWMBO received today.

It is with a deep feeling of loss and regret that I must announce that I am ceasing all development of IPA Palette. The software will no longer be available for download, and will not be supported in any way.

Apple's new Mac App Store is an unmitigated disaster for open source developers. You should expect that over the next few releases of Mac OS, users will have fewer and fewer options for installing software that has not been "approved" by Apple.

My Mac Pro is completely secure. I have no internet connection. I have no wireless card. It is invulnerable. According to Apple's new policy, I am now a non-entity. It is literally impossible for me to download the new XCode 4.0 legally. I can't buy it at work and then transfer it to my Mac at home because of Apple's DRM. I called the Ann Arbor Apple store and asked if it will be available for purchase on DVD; the answer was an emphatic no.

I can continue to use the free version of XCode (3.2.6) but how soon will it be before Apple decides to change its binary format or deliberately introduce incompatibilities in future OS versions that make it impossible to develop for the Mac without buying into its monopolistic App Store scheme? How soon before I have to "jailbreak" my Mac Pro to install my own software on it?

Don't think it won't happen.

Open source developers are ditching Apple like rats leaving a sinking ship, and so am I.

Effective immediately, all development of my open-source Mac software will cease permanently.

I am grateful for all of the kind words and support I have received from my users, and I am deeply sorry that it has come to this.

Perhaps this is another example of "Apple's gone way too far..."

tanstaafl.