The beginning of the end for traditional software purchasing

[RichEdwards]

Software for your computer. All downloaded instantly. All cheaper. Just like adding "apps" to your cellphone.

http://www.apple.com/mac/app-store/?sr=hotnews.rss

[Roadwolf]

I think this is going to be great... the only thing that will probably not change for some time are some of my professional level apps not being downloadable through this yet (Adobe Creative Suite 5). Adobe has that as an option, but don't know if they will let it be available to download from the Mac App Store with Apple getting their cut.

 

I think it will be a great addition to the their other stores though.

[Bob Palin]

I don't really see how that is different from downloading an installable app now? Except that you've given Apple a say in what you can download and some money for the privilege. It will turn into just another attempt by Apple to censor what is run on 'their' machines.

[Roadwolf]

Bob, don't confuse the App store with the Mac App Store... this is just a way (and not the ONLY way) to get software for your Macintosh. It is just a convenient way to purchase Mac software as opposed to either buying it and having it shipped to you or going on the web and SEARCHING for that perfect piece of software. It is just a clearing house for software. All legally licensed software that meets system requirements and legal issues should be readily available. If you want sketchy or poorly built apps, you can still go out and buy them elsewhere. I don't see that changing.

 

But I will admit that DVD copies of software will soon be a thing of the past. Downloadable versions are soon to be the standard, if they aren't already.

 

And to the comment about Apple censoring their stores... I get that comment... they curate their collection and have minimum standards as to what goes and what doesn't... that is the price you pay to have a pretty good experience with the App store. But, even Apple has admitted to making mistakes about the approval process, especially in the beginning of the store. I think that they have loosened up some of their restrictions (with the ones about porn, copyright issues, defamation, etc. still in place). If people don't like it, then they can go elsewhere (Android marketplace for one).

[Bob Palin]

But I will admit that DVD copies of software will soon be a thing of the past. Downloadable versions are soon to be the standard, if they aren't already

I think they are pretty much gone now, the only thing I've bought on DVD in the last few years is Microsoft Visual Studio which is huge.

 

My censorship comment was referring to Apple's rules about what can be run on the iPhone (or was it iPad) and that those apps had to be developed using approved Apple tools.

[Roadwolf]

My censorship comment was referring to Apple's rules about what can be run on the iPhone (or was it iPad) and that those apps had to be developed using approved Apple tools.

 

I think I basically covered that on what can and cannot be allowed in my previous post, but the way you develop for the two devices (of which I own both the iPhone 4 and iPad Wifi/3G 64 GB) is using the Apple SDK (which is free to download), which uses a non-proprietary software language (C++) I believe. The SDK, which I have downloaded, only works on a Mac, so you do need that to be able debug your application. I like that Apple has strict standards, because that allows for the software to work as advertised, not just on the current iteration of iOS, but on future versions, with little to be reworked save for some bug fixes. I have a friend who is not a Mac guy but is exploiting the popularity of the iPhone and iPad and has commented that Apple's approach for developers to create software for the devices is very trick and seamless compared to Android. He has no complaints.

[ghaverkamp]

I don't really see how that is different from downloading an installable app now? Except that you've given Apple a say in what you can download and some money for the privilege. It will turn into just another attempt by Apple to censor what is run on 'their' machines.

 

The benefits are largely for the software developers, who will not have an easy way for users to find their programs and for users to pay for their programs.

 

Users have the benefit of having an easy to use and install set of applications. OS X applications are already easy to install most of the time. Few use an installer; it's just dragging the application bundle to the Applications folder. However, this will make it easier.

 

No one's forcing this on anyone. Standard applications will continue to be out there; in fact, given the limitations of the runtime environment of the Mac app store, they'll be necessary. It's a convenience.

[leikam]

Digital downloads are already the standard in video games and music albums. The only reason for digital consumer products to be delivered via physical media is bundling other physical items like artwork, documentation, etc. If you do get a CD, chances are it will only contain a program to download the content anyway. No need to ship 6 disks in a box anymore.

 

In this environment, a network of retailers is obsolete and Apple's free to leverage their high profile to compete with companies that used to distribute software for them. It's a way to keep the company at the center of the experience of using the products they make. Great brand move on their part.

 

[Francois_Dumas]

I don't know... I've been selling our products via 'download' for many years and CD's and DVD's are just a fraction of the market these days. What's so special?

[sgendler]

 

No one's forcing this on anyone. Standard applications will continue to be out there; in fact, given the limitations of the runtime environment of the Mac app store, they'll be necessary. It's a convenience.

 

Do you really think that will remain true? Steve makes no secret of the fact that he would love to lock down OS X the way iOS is locked down. I have no doubt that the mac app store will be used as a test bed to see if they can get enough traction to begin the process of locking the platform down. In the long term, I think apple is going to try to force us to say good bye to apps written in alternative languages, running unix apps on os x, open source apps, etc. And as an iOS developer, I can't emphasize enough how obnoxious apple's attitudes are when it comes to using any API's that they consider 'unauthorized' - even APIs that their own apps are free to use. It gives them way too much leverage to just take anything they like and make it themselves since they can basically deny you access to the market by keeping you out of the app store. Even if users can theoretically download it for themselves, how long before the app store become the de-facto monopoly for all apps on the mac - at least as far as 'average' users are concerned? It's not like Apple doesn't have a long history of stealing innovations by outside developers and integrating them with their platform.

 

Which isn't to say that I think any of this will be an effective strategy but I don't think that will stop Jobs from trying it - it was the geeks who led the resurgence of mac as a desktop/laptop platform and they'll lead the masses away again just as quickly. I think apple thinks that they'll be able to leverage integration with iOS devices to keep people on the mac platform, but I have my doubts. I'm not looking forward to going back to linux on my daily-use machine, but I suspect that is in my future.

[sgendler]

I don't know... I've been selling our products via 'download' for many years and CD's and DVD's are just a fraction of the market these days. What's so special?

 

But when you develop downloadable software for direct download, you don't have anyone telling you what language you can use, what kind of content your app can have, which OS APIs you are allowed to call, what the UI must look like, etc. We'll see just how open the Mac platform remains 2 or 3 years after the app store launches.

[Francois_Dumas]

Well, sort of.. We develop software for Windows and MS does have a say in what works and what doesn't ;-)

[Roadwolf]

Do you really think that will remain true? Steve makes no secret of the fact that he would love to lock down OS X the way iOS is locked down. I have no doubt that the mac app store will be used as a test bed to see if they can get enough traction to begin the process of locking the platform down. In the long term, I think apple is going to try to force us to say good bye to apps written in alternative languages, running unix apps on os x, open source apps, etc.

 

Sorry, but I can't see this... Apple has historically had a closed system for tight integration between software and hardware, but not that tight as to keep developers off the platform with Apple being the sole distribution channel for all things Mac OS X. They would be foolish to go this route. If they do, they would be killing a lot of innovation on a DESKTOP environment. As to Steve Jobs wanting to lock down the Mac like iOS, where do you get that idea? I have never heard any reference to that, seen actions that support that notion, or see any move on Apple's part to do that, even with Lion coming next year.

 

There may be a time where, in the future, that the Mac and iOS could merge to become a hybrid of what the two now are, but we are getting ahead of ourselves to assume that the Mac App store is the beginning of Apple controlling what can and cannot be on their OS X hardware.

[Bob Palin]

As to Steve Jobs wanting to lock down the Mac like iOS, where do you get that idea? I have never heard any reference to that, seen actions that support that notion, or see any move on Apple's part to do that

This is the start of that move!

[RichEdwards]

Steve Jobs is taking over the world. (I got this as an early Christmas present from a friend who thinks I'm a shill for Apple. )

 

 

[Green RT]

I don't know... I've been selling our products via 'download' for many years and CD's and DVD's are just a fraction of the market these days. What's so special?

 

The difference is that it opens up the market to millions of small developers who now can market their apps without having to go into the distribution business, electronic or otherwise. That is the reason there are so many apps available so cheaply for the iPhone and I expect it will have a similar effect on desktop apps. For $99 a year a developer gets access to Apple's distribution system. That is a very low entry price. You don't need to set up web site or accept payments or anything else associated with marketing. Apple does all the marketing for you. I expect Microsoft will follow its usual course and play johnny-come-lately with the same thing for windows apps in a year or two.

[Bob Palin]

The difference is that it opens up the market to millions of small developers who now can market their apps without having to go into the distribution business, electronic or otherwise. That is the reason there are so many apps available so cheaply for the iPhone and I expect it will have a similar effect on desktop apps. For $99 a year a developer gets access to Apple's distribution system. That is a very low entry price. You don't need to set up web site or accept payments or anything else associated with marketing. Apple does all the marketing for you.

Private communism.

[Green RT]

Private communism.

 

??? Sounds like an oxymoron. Like military intelligence or religious tolerance or Microsoft Works or moral majority or motorcycle safety.

[sgendler]

This is the start of that move!

 

 

exactly!

[sgendler]

I don't know... I've been selling our products via 'download' for many years and CD's and DVD's are just a fraction of the market these days. What's so special?

 

The difference is that it opens up the market to millions of small developers who now can market their apps without having to go into the distribution business, electronic or otherwise. That is the reason there are so many apps available so cheaply for the iPhone and I expect it will have a similar effect on desktop apps. For $99 a year a developer gets access to Apple's distribution system. That is a very low entry price. You don't need to set up web site or accept payments or anything else associated with marketing. Apple does all the marketing for you. I expect Microsoft will follow its usual course and play johnny-come-lately with the same thing for windows apps in a year or two.

 

First, it is $99/year PLUS 30% of your revenue. Second, apple does no marketing for you whatsoever. You may or may not wind up on a list of popular apps in a category or two, which will keep you visible (thereby reinforcing your presence on the list), but the vast majority of apps have a hard time gaining any visibility in the app store at all. The app store does nothing but provide a distribution channel and payment processing. The payment processing probably does have some value for small developers (though paypal's commission is MUCH smaller and just as easy if not easier to set up), but the actual distribution of the software is trivial, whether using the app store or not. Perhaps the biggest benefit for a small developer is automatically managing update notification, especially if app store apps will appear in the built-in software update app that comes with OS X - as I expect that they will. It takes a reasonable amount of work to build reliable update notification directly into an app and maintain the infrastructure so that it always functions correctly, even when an old version is run years into the future.

 

 

The app store is popular on the iphone because there is no other mechanism for getting apps onto the phone. The volume of apps is high because the iphone was the trendiest new thing when it came out, not because the app store is some huge enabler. The overwhelming majority of those apps are functional copies of each other, or just individual hackers trying to leverage the $0.99 price point by wrapping widely available information/functionality into trivially implemented iphone apps in the hope that someone will pay for them. I don't know of any iphone users who have a wider variety of apps on their phones than they do on their desktop/laptop computers. There is nothing 'new' or 'trendy' about developing apps for the os x platform so I don't expect the app store to change anything for developers in any significant manner. It is, however, the beginning of apple starting to try to exert much more control over what is and is not developed and available for their desktop OS.

[Green RT]

The app store does nothing but provide a distribution channel and payment processing.

 

Agreed, but that distribution channel and payment processing is huge for a small developer. As a customer, I am much more likely to give Apple a few dollars for an app that I find with their app search mechanism than I am to pay someone for an app that I find through Google from some developer I have never heard of with their own web site that I have to navigate.

 

The Mac is a neat platform too, and has a loyal following of developers but it never attracted the wealth of apps in a short time that the iPhone did. The difference is the app store. It just works for both customers and developers.