It is different because in the case of Commodore 64/Windows/$thirdParty, the developer can do releases, pricing, refunds, etc outside of Apple's control.
To be fair, Apple handles a lot for that 30%. Accounting/Tax records, payment, bandwidth and storage etc.
They could probably afford to take less, but they do take care of a fare bit of hassle from app distribution and selling.
I think people would have a better opinion on that deal if it were optional.
Apple offers to take care of billing/bandwidth/storage on iOS for 30% of revenue? Neat!
Apple demands to take care of billing/bandwidth/storage on iOS for 30% of revenue? Lame.
Do you have a source for that that you can link me to? Because from this, I get the impression that is not the case: https://support.stripe.com/questions/apple-and-stripe-tos-an...
There are 'work arounds' that involve being enrolled in the Enterprise Developer Program, but you're still at Apple's mercy. If they believe you're not sticking 'to the spirit of the program' (e.g. using it just to get around the App Store) they'll terminate.
Basically, your app is not allowed to have any links to sign up, or to your website, and you can do this for eg a SaaS app.
The idea is that then you're not using the app store for marketing, it's only for servicing your existing users.