In the centralized cloud world there has been the potential for a big firm to stream the whole world of content, services and apps for an ad free flat rate subscription. Problem has been content strikes.
Note that before this stuff would run on the serverside. Now Amazon is telling its customers, no ads and no bills its free to you and we will pay developers by the minute based on how much you use their wares. Note the twist. They will pay developers for stuff that runs on your hardware , your power bill your network bill in exchange for a little phone home action. I’d imagine a work around for the phone home might be streaming from the serverside possibly with more of a subscription flavor.
This model if it catches on has the power to drive centralization further. The proper counter is a free(dom) model where wares are offered openly without strings or ads (crucial) and survive on the tipped likes of potentially 8 billion plus people. Ripping of wares won’t bar the propper accrual of anonymous and non anonymous tips, and that may be key.
Well, I don’t know how the average boneheaded “consumer” thinks, but my way of thinking is this:
Amazon Underground => Wait, Amazon? => I don’t want it
Whatever the scheme, if it’s Google, FB, Amazon, etc. it’s probably best to stay away.
But again, the average “consumer” is “practical” (i.e. a fool).
The plan tells you clearly they will pay by time. Question one: how the hell do they know how much you use the app?
Well, guess what, they take that and a bunch of other metrics (when, where, with whom, etc.) and data-mine the crap out of you. Thanks but no thanks.
I used to have iPhone(s) but now I’m on Android and it’s the most disgusting OS I’ve ever seen in my life. At least on iOS I was able to easily jailbreak it and install anti-adware programs whereas in Android even the most elementary utility wants to know everything about you. Free WiFi scanner? Need to have access to your photos and user identity!
Fxxx off!
So I disable most crapware from execution (because I can’t uninstall them) and use just 4-5 apps that I can’t do without.
Anyway, Amazon Underground - not for me. (I buy stuff at Amazon, also Kindle, but even that is a ludicrous habit).