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App Culture vs. Free Culture
zridling:
Is 30% that bad when you consider it means you don't have to set up a store, actually handle credit card fees, or pay for the bandwidth? I'm seriously asking as it doesn't seem that bad to me. I dislike Apple's policies and the corporate attitude they project, but I'm not sure I see this 70-30 split being so outrageous.-TheQwerty (July 07, 2010, 06:13 AM)
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It's outrageously high, I think. You do 100% of the work and they take 30%! Why not 5%? It's not like they need the money; they've already made their treasure on the hardware, and if you're buying Apple, they know you're coming back very soon to upgrade. The only reason Apple, et al., set up "app stores" is to get their pound of flesh. I'll bet if I sold Apple hardware in my own store, they wouldn't let me take 30% of the $600 for an iPhone.
Oh wait, they retain complete control (and still manage to be insecure and drop calls). Welcome to my nightmare.
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PS: My old cellphone is just about to go (bad speaker), and when it does, I won't replace it. The bill collectors will scream 'round the clock!
TheQwerty:
It's outrageously high, I think. You do 100% of the work and they take 30%!-zridling (July 07, 2010, 05:45 PM)
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But you aren't doing 100% of the work. You aren't maintaining a website, you don't have a store, you don't pay any of the fees to collect money from your customers, you aren't paying for the bandwidth to push this all to customer devices. None of that comes cheap and it all eats into time that could be better spent on the app.
Go ahead and sell you $0.99 app to customers through PayPal; they're going to take $0.10 to $0.33 cents of every purchase and they are doing a heck of a lot less than Apple for you.
The only reason Apple, et al., set up "app stores" is to get their pound of flesh.-zridling (July 07, 2010, 05:45 PM)
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Oh come on! The app stores also serve purposes for the consumer and the developer. There is a great convenience for both that comes with creating a central location to sell/purchase apps.
I'll bet if I sold Apple hardware in my own store, they wouldn't let me take 30% of the $600 for an iPhone.-zridling (July 07, 2010, 05:45 PM)
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Of course not, but that's not how you'd sell it anyhow. They'd sell it to you, the distributor, and then you'd price it pretty much however you like and sell it to the consumer. The app stores are a different distribution model more like consignment shops.
The only problem I see with the App Store is the fact that developers and consumers have no other (entirely legal) option when it comes to iOS devices. There is no competition to Apple's 70-30 deal. If they allowed installing apps from other stores or side-loading like Android does then your entire completely controlled nightmare doesn't exist. Fine, it would still it exist but what would it matter how bad their store is if no one has to use it?
steeladept:
I tend to agree with TheQwerty on most of the points made. However....
Of course not, but that's not how you'd sell it anyhow. They'd sell it to you, the distributor, and then you'd price it pretty much however you like and sell it to the consumer. The app stores are a different distribution model more like consignment shops.
-TheQwerty (July 07, 2010, 08:16 PM)
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Not so. Apple will not sell it to you at all unless you agree to their marketing terms which include telling you how much you can charge for it, how much you will buy it for, and how you are allowed to market it.
mouser:
I agree with TheQwerty's point about it providing some value as well.
For me -- the core problem with the App Stores is much more fundamental and foundational, and that is that all of the incentives for such a store push it to favor the money-making applications being sold. The store makes money when people BUY things. The author makes money when people BUY things. The store makes money (like google ads) by selling ads to promote the things you can BUY. But no one makes any money on things that are free.. the store makes no money, the free software authors don't pay for ads, etc.
This means that there is every incentive and a constant financial motivation to promote and encourage commercial applications from companies that will buy ads, and every incentive to make it harder and harder for free software developers to get access and exposure.
In a sense, with the App Stores (much as with google ads), the game is rigged from the start. Freeware authors are allowed in, but they can never be allowed to displace the profit source that comes from ads and companies selling things. If free resources ever get within striking distance of impacting the profit from paying companies, additional walls will go up to adjust the scales. Maybe this means charging for secure certificates, maybe this means excluding apps that don't pass some elaborate evaluation process, etc.
The app stores do provide a service to the end user.. my concern is that there may be a huge risk that once you have an App Store that becomes *THE* gateway that all users use to find and choose software, you have essentially let the big corporations set up a checkpoint that ensures that the big monied developers have preferred access/exposure and that the small indie free authors fall farther into oblivion.
wraith808:
Is 30% that bad when you consider it means you don't have to set up a store, actually handle credit card fees, or pay for the bandwidth? I'm seriously asking as it doesn't seem that bad to me. I dislike Apple's policies and the corporate attitude they project, but I'm not sure I see this 70-30 split being so outrageous.-TheQwerty (July 07, 2010, 06:13 AM)
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It's outrageously high, I think. You do 100% of the work and they take 30%! Why not 5%?
-zridling (July 07, 2010, 05:45 PM)
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Isn't this where I supply the same argument that was raised in the Kindle vs Nook pricing thread?
The basic 'rule' of optimal pricing (in a free market) is to "charge what the market will bear."
-40hz (July 07, 2010, 09:28 AM)
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