Xcode now costs US$ 4.99 • Hacker News Board

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#61

Post by Tichy » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:38 PM UTC

jarin wrote: post #45

ori_b wrote: post #15

This is somewhat strange pricing - it seems ridiculously cheap if they're trying to make significant profits off of it, but pricey enough to prevent tinkerers who don't really know about coding but feel like trying it from getting a start in xcode.

I can understand how the cost of a Happy Meal might deter someone who wants to try their hand at coding. I mean seriously, you're going to spend at least 10 times that amount on programming books, or thousands of times that amount on college classes.

It all adds up. As you say, there are a zillion of things you need. Not the least a Mac (>= 1000 bucks).

If all you want is to learn programming, there are free alternatives to XCode.

How much have you spent on iPhone apps so far? I have friends who spent several hundred €, one Happy Meal at a time.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#62

Post by anonymous246 » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:38 PM UTC

raganwald wrote: post #42

idoh wrote: post #21

I'm guessing that this is a regulatory compliance thing :/

I'm with you. When you give software away instead of charging for it, while simultaneously making your money off an associated product, you are required to do all sorts of backflips over how you account for revenue. This is why certain updates for the iPod Touch cost money while they are free for iPhones: It is entirely driven by how Apple writes up iPod Touch vs. iPhone revenue.

Citation? Sorry, doesn't ring true.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#63

Post by goalieca » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:38 PM UTC

jarin wrote: post #45

ori_b wrote: post #15

This is somewhat strange pricing - it seems ridiculously cheap if they're trying to make significant profits off of it, but pricey enough to prevent tinkerers who don't really know about coding but feel like trying it from getting a start in xcode.

I can understand how the cost of a Happy Meal might deter someone who wants to try their hand at coding. I mean seriously, you're going to spend at least 10 times that amount on programming books, or thousands of times that amount on college classes.

The entire thing is built on open source. I certainly won't be paying and this shift in culture at apple is turning me off. I probably won't be buying another product from them for a while.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#64

Post by igrekel » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:40 PM UTC

joshfraser wrote: post #58

Seeing this reminded me of a Microsoft focus group I was invited to be a part of a few years ago. As a CTO who had decided to build everyone on top of free software, they wanted to know what it take to make me to switch to a Microsoft stack. I told them they were 10 years too late. You see, I made the decision to use LAMP stack not because it was cheaper, but because it's what I knew. And the reason I knew LAMP stack…

Right... and 5$ is hard to pay when your a teenager, just because you don't have a credit card yourself.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#65

Post by kprobst » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:40 PM UTC

jarin wrote: post #45

ori_b wrote: post #15

This is somewhat strange pricing - it seems ridiculously cheap if they're trying to make significant profits off of it, but pricey enough to prevent tinkerers who don't really know about coding but feel like trying it from getting a start in xcode.

I can understand how the cost of a Happy Meal might deter someone who wants to try their hand at coding. I mean seriously, you're going to spend at least 10 times that amount on programming books, or thousands of times that amount on college classes.

There are vast numbers of young people out there that either don't have $5 or have no way to pay for something online even if they had the money.

The potential pool of software developers isn't (and shouldn't be) limited to the US and Europe.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#66

Post by krschultz » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:40 PM UTC

msg wrote: post #34

ori_b wrote: post #15

This is somewhat strange pricing - it seems ridiculously cheap if they're trying to make significant profits off of it, but pricey enough to prevent tinkerers who don't really know about coding but feel like trying it from getting a start in xcode.

It is the difference between free and not free. They are trying to drive developers to use the App Store? Sounds ridiculous coming out of my mouth. They are trying to kill off OSX hobbyist experimentation in favor of iOS? I think I'm getting warmer.

So you can afford a $1500 Macbook for your hobby but not $5 for XCode?

Maybe they're trying to set the precedent that you can charge money for utilities in the app store.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#67

Post by goalieca » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:40 PM UTC

kalleboo wrote: post #51

arnorhs wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some pirated software and cracking patches rely on gdb. So a user has to have xcode installed in order for the cracks to work. At least, it's often a requirement. This might be to make that harder and to thwart software piracy up to a point.

But what's keeping them from pirating Xcode?

And GBD/clang/gcc are all open source technologies.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#68

Post by tensor » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:40 PM UTC

randrews wrote: post #35

ori_b wrote: post #15

This is somewhat strange pricing - it seems ridiculously cheap if they're trying to make significant profits off of it, but pricey enough to prevent tinkerers who don't really know about coding but feel like trying it from getting a start in xcode.

Yes, the more I think about it the less sense it makes. Putting it on the App Store seems perfectly normal, but charging money for something that used to be free, even a token amount, is a really stupid thing to do. $5 is nearly as bad as $50: the difference between charging nothing and something is way higher than the difference between charging something and something higher. Is it to defray hosting costs for a 4 g…

The cynic in me thinks that it's $10 this year, $15 the next, and pretty soon Apple will be doing what Microsoft used to do. If so, it's a real shame.

I remember when I first switched to OS X as a student. The free developer tools were very impressive to me. I remember telling people "See, this is how it should be done. You shouldn't charge people to develop for your operating system. More applications for your system only helps you sell!"

I'm sure the free developer tools were also a factor in Microsoft offering a free version of VS. Now, it seems, as Apple is becoming more and more popular, they are moving more and more in the direction that MS did in their hay day.

It appears that a once fairly open system is becoming slowly more and more closed. I sincerely hope that the cynic in me is wrong.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#69

Post by earl » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:41 PM UTC

joshfraser wrote: post #58

Seeing this reminded me of a Microsoft focus group I was invited to be a part of a few years ago. As a CTO who had decided to build everyone on top of free software, they wanted to know what it take to make me to switch to a Microsoft stack. I told them they were 10 years too late. You see, I made the decision to use LAMP stack not because it was cheaper, but because it's what I knew. And the reason I knew LAMP stack…

Considering that you still need a mac, I don't see how much difference it makes. Note that I still think it's a terribly stupid idea.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#70

Post by DanI-S » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:41 PM UTC

j_baker wrote: post #24

jankassens wrote: post #17

I wonder why they charge for the tools to develop on their platform. Charging for the forums/bug tracker is probably a good way to keep people out who aren't that serious about development, but I don't get why they charge for XCode. It's not like they'd make any relevant amount of money off XCode.

To be fair, this is a $5 fee for a full-featured version of their development tools. Compare that to the cost of a full-featured Visual Studio.

VS is also free to students and small businesses.