Non sequitor. The comment thread you're on argues that developers on Apple's Mac platform are sharecroppers. Atwood may well think that (it's not totally clear to me), but Shipley clearly does not: he is making more money after adopting the App Store than he was before it, and is content with the control/promotion tradeoff. He says so explicitly in the article we're commenting on.
Maybe the use of the word sharecropper has changed recently with respect to Apple, but as far as I know, it doesn't have anything to do with whether or not you're successful and content with the Land Owner's restrictions. It's meant to signify that you don't have full control over the ecosystem you're living in and that you owe part of the profits you reap from your hard work to the land owner.
In that sense, App Store developers are very much sharecroppers whether they enjoy and accept it or not.
