In a thread about movies, it's perhaps more relevant to talk about how those two platforms handle movies.

In a browser, the top category on Google's "Movies & TV" is "New to buy or rent". The buttons on the page for a movie are labeled "$X.XX Buy" and "$X.XX Rent". In the Google TV app on my android phone, the two buttons are "Rent 4K // $X.XX" and "Buy 4K // $X.XX".

The splash images in the Apple TV app iOS say "Buy or rent it now.", and the buttons on the page for an individual movie are labeled "Buy $X.XX" and "Rent $X.XX".

There needs to be a carrot or stick to discourage this kind of practice. Perhaps when companies sue users for piracy, the valuation of what was "stolen" should be dependent on the nature of that company's sales practices. e.g. A company that merely "rents" media in a deceptive way would only be eligible to claim small fractions of a penny on the dollar were stolen when prosecuting a pirate. This way companies would be encouraged to respect user ownership rights if they want their own rights to be respected.

How about if it doesn't say RENT, it means you own it and first sale doctrine applies. We can't let them weasel and wordsmith their way out of things.

Apple does the same thing as Google, the button is only labeled "Get" for free apps, for paid apps it's labeled with the price.

Paid apps largely failed as a business model though (why would a consumer take a risk on buying a paid app that they can't try before they buy) so most apps that you pay for are free apps with IAP subscriptions... which I guess makes it a little more explicit that you're renting the app, for better or worse.

wow, sidestepping like that sucks.

Strangely, some kindle books actually do meet california criteria of "buy" by allowing a download of the book in .pdf or .epub format.

But when you go to buy them, it still seems to say:

  By placing an order, you're purchasing a content license & agreeing to Kindle's Store Terms of Use.

There is no other indication in the item description of this difference.

It is only later in your library that it quietly says:

  Download available in additional formats

I think that's a great effect, they are no longer lying. I don't want to see a button that contains all the terms. What else would you want?

Yet another victim of an overspecific law.