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Why are you people defending Apple?

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Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#91

Post by chc »

enneff wrote: post #83
jkincaid wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did suck it up and switched to Android. It isn't painless. I now like Android better than iOS, but you need to change your muscle memory and learn where various options are. And all of the apps and content you purchased on iOS are no longer accessible, which is the real pain-point. These things weren't difficult for me, but they're a pretty big hurdle for 'normal' people. If Amazon pulls the Kindle app, a user is p…

Oh, come on. None of these things even existed a few years ago. People are consumers and will adjust to whatever is the newer, better tech.

That's not how people's brains work. When Mom first sees a smartphone, it's a cool new thing. Yeah, there's a learning curve, but it's new, so that's obvious. She'll deal.

Fast forward three years. Mom has developed a lot of habits and expectations. Time for a new smartphone. When Mom buys a new smartphone, if it works differently than the one she had before, it is confusing and you just can't do anything with this piece of crap and why oh WHY can't it just be like her old one?

And asking people to just throw away everything they own and buy it all again? Not only should that extra cost factor into your decision, there's a wealth of evidence that people irrationally weigh sunk costs more heavily than they should.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#92

Post by hughw »

Interesting to contrast Google Apps Marketplace: It charges 20% of "the total amount your customer ends up paying you for your application and related add-ons", specifically including recurring revenue but also excluding sales of items like books (unsure how they would classify e-books for this purpose).

http://developer.googleapps.com/marketplace/fees

20% off the top line for all revenue from a customer they acquire for you. Seems like a bargain for a one-time sale; seems costly in the out years when it's you, not Google, putting all the work into retaining the customer.

Not complaining. Just contributing a data point from a similar effort in a slightly different space.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#93

Post by d5tryr »

jkincaid wrote: post #76
neutronicus wrote: post #6

"And finally, there’s the related notion that anyone who doesn’t like Apple’s rules can pick up and move to another platform, like Android. Which is ridiculous." What? Ridiculous how? This claim is ridiculous. Suck it up and use Android. You'll live. I did.

I did suck it up and switched to Android. It isn't painless. I now like Android better than iOS, but you need to change your muscle memory and learn where various options are. And all of the apps and content you purchased on iOS are no longer accessible, which is the real pain-point. These things weren't difficult for me, but they're a pretty big hurdle for 'normal' people. If Amazon pulls the Kindle app, a user is p…

'normal' people?

Normal people is a pointless term. You may as well just say people.

Saying 'These things weren't difficult for me, but they're a pretty big hurdle for people.' would sound horrible and arrogant, but at least it would be honest.

You, and the author of this article, shouldn't use such a lazy and condescending phrase.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#94

Post by Pooter »

Bossman wrote: post #74
Pooter wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) You're not locked into Apple's devices. ITunes is standard mp4 audio and plays on a variety of platforms; the DRMed video plays through itunes on windows too. 2) Amazon's VOD service provides DRMed video, too. Then what's the issue?

> the DRMed video plays through itunes on windows too That's the problem. The DRM locks it to Apple only software and/or hardware.

Or RealPlayer, MediaCenter, or Songbird.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#95

Post by statictype »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #84
statictype wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The App Store is 70/30 because Apple can take things straight from content producer to customer. When the Apple takes the place of publishing, distribution, inventory, sales, payments and shipping, there's real value for that 30%. This was already addressed in the article. iBooks has a significantly smaller variety of books than Amazon. By becoming the sole gatekeeper for content, Apple is ruling out larger distribut…

iBooks has a significantly smaller variety of books than Amazon. But will this be true for long, now that this particular shoe has dropped? Apple's primary target here is probably Amazon. A company which, incidentally, is no stranger to the art of using a powerful distribution network, an existing customer base, and a DRM-locked e-reader platform as a lever to demand big shares of revenue: http://www.jeremyrossmedia.…

To be clear, I don't actually care about how much Amazon actually makes on each copy sold. What bothers me is that Apple has seemingly made it economically unviable for distributers to exist in the AppStore at all. This means we have to rely on Apple for content on our iOS devices, and until Apple scales up its content sources, the users are losers in this deal.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#96

Post by scottmagdalein »

chc wrote: post #58
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>there's no money to be made Man, I can't read this thread. There is so much hyperbole. I should have recognized the type of people this headline and article would bring out. edit: I don't understand your claim. Your wording wasn't problematic. As I read it before and read it now, you're implying that moving to Android results in "little money to be made". That's the part that I don't really understand I guess.

In response to your edit: My understanding from every report I have ever read is that there just isn't a lot of money in Android apps. Not a lot of developers share, but those who do tend to report underwhelming results compared to what I see from iOS shops (and those who develop for both platforms have said exactly that in no uncertain terms). For example, Kreci posts his profits every month, and the monthly average…

We have an app in the Android Market and the same type of app in the App Store. The Android app makes about $7500/month and the iOS app makes about $3000/month.

We're about to release another paid app in March on both platforms that will be give us more data about the performance of apps in each marketplace. Maybe I should write a blog post about it...

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#97

Post by czhiddy »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #84
statictype wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The App Store is 70/30 because Apple can take things straight from content producer to customer. When the Apple takes the place of publishing, distribution, inventory, sales, payments and shipping, there's real value for that 30%. This was already addressed in the article. iBooks has a significantly smaller variety of books than Amazon. By becoming the sole gatekeeper for content, Apple is ruling out larger distribut…

iBooks has a significantly smaller variety of books than Amazon. But will this be true for long, now that this particular shoe has dropped? Apple's primary target here is probably Amazon. A company which, incidentally, is no stranger to the art of using a powerful distribution network, an existing customer base, and a DRM-locked e-reader platform as a lever to demand big shares of revenue: http://www.jeremyrossmedia.…

If I remember correctly, Amazon's planned Android app store caused a giant ruckus a few weeks back because of the ridiculous pricing policies.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#99

Post by jon_hendry »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #84
statictype wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The App Store is 70/30 because Apple can take things straight from content producer to customer. When the Apple takes the place of publishing, distribution, inventory, sales, payments and shipping, there's real value for that 30%. This was already addressed in the article. iBooks has a significantly smaller variety of books than Amazon. By becoming the sole gatekeeper for content, Apple is ruling out larger distribut…

iBooks has a significantly smaller variety of books than Amazon. But will this be true for long, now that this particular shoe has dropped? Apple's primary target here is probably Amazon. A company which, incidentally, is no stranger to the art of using a powerful distribution network, an existing customer base, and a DRM-locked e-reader platform as a lever to demand big shares of revenue: http://www.jeremyrossmedia.…

"But will this be true for long, now that this particular shoe has dropped?"

iBooks is still an also-ran. Publishers pretty much have to work with Amazon. iBooks is easier to ignore, I should think.

Re: Why are you people defending Apple?

#100

Post by czhiddy »

Bossman wrote: post #74
Pooter wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) You're not locked into Apple's devices. ITunes is standard mp4 audio and plays on a variety of platforms; the DRMed video plays through itunes on windows too. 2) Amazon's VOD service provides DRMed video, too. Then what's the issue?

> the DRMed video plays through itunes on windows too That's the problem. The DRM locks it to Apple only software and/or hardware.

How does Amazon's VOD DRM free you of software/hardware lockin?
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