When I was deep in the C# ecosystem, I personally paid for my own JetBrain license.
Do you also not pay someone to host your web apps?
Do you feel the same way about console makers?
It is $500+ (used) computer also.
Cannot use your old PC do develop iOS apps.
$99 may be nothing for most HN users, but for 3rd world developer...
This means there is a glut of older models in second hand market or passed down to kids, cousins, and family friends.
The problem with the 99 dollars is that it’s payable yearly. Yes someone might sponsor you once and give you enough for a single year but they won’t do it ever year. You have to make enough yourself and that’s a tall order of business if you are a student.
Thus no one learns iOS development first.
But I totally get you, Apple is but one company and they've completely bungled reasonable prices in many countries, for example India.
After a couple of years I decided to stop paying $99 a year for hosting a little 5MB app.
My point was not about distributing the app but about paying $99 every year to distribute a free app using the official app store.
