Re: Only the reg?
What's that got to do with "the iOS ecosystem"? It was doing just fine before Apple decided to insist on in-app subscriptions and ask for 30% of the pie... But the article isn't about this. It is trying to say that HTML applications threaten the iOS App Store model for certain application genres. I was just pointing out that this is nothing new, indeed, it was the *only* way to develop on iPhone OS 1.
Meanwhile, Apple revised their subscriptions policy a while ago in response to complaints. Publishers can charge whatever they want, on or off the store, so subscription-based application developers aren't (are no longer) being driven away from the App Store by the 30% 'burden'. The following article is from a very pro-Apple site but has lots of links to other sources so you can verify this for yourself:
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/09/apple-reverses-course-on-in-app-subscriptions/
Incidentally, on the whole short memory thing - Amazon used to charge publishers a whopping 70% to publish through Kindle Store! They revised this to 30% at the end of 2010, though bloggers are still charged 70%. See "Terms & Conditions" in:
https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com/gp/vendor/kindlepubs/common/get-content?id=200492750
Grim reading. So when it comes to Amazon complaining about Apple's subscription charges, frankly, cry me a river and then remind me who's supposed to be being unreasonably expensive, again?