His complaint about Apple in this instance wasn't about the app itself. It was with their APIs which limit background loading that he took issue with. Perhaps this post was in some way a reaction to people who share my opinion about his recent writings, but I suspect he doesn't really care.
The reason Apple did the subscription stuff was because only they could. They simply do not allow anything on the app store to have in-app payments unless they pass through the app store itself and they get their tasty 30% cut.
As an aside: I dislike the word fanboy too. I do however like extremist, zealot, fanatic and dogmatist. They just roll off the tongue - fanboy is just too modern in comparison.
I never once claimed that Gruber has never had a bad word to say about Apple. I follow his blog, and I agree with you that he's as impartial as I am about the things Apple either produce or endorse. What I do claim however is that in recent debates over open web standards, he has fought Apple's case without so much as an acknowledgment of the opposing arguments.
As for the "extremist...." remark, I wasn't insinuating that Gruber was any of these things. I was trying to appeal to the sensibility of someone who thinks "Hey, you are doubly wrong, congratulations!" is somehow a more constructive response than my initial comment. I've clearly failed in this regard.
The reason Apple did the subscription stuff was because only they could. They simply do not allow anything on the app store to have in-app payments unless they pass through the app store itself and they get their tasty 30% cut.
As an aside: I dislike the word fanboy too. I do however like extremist, zealot, fanatic and dogmatist. They just roll off the tongue - fanboy is just too modern in comparison.