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Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

itunes.apple.com

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Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#171

Post by timmaah »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #147

I'm surprised this made it to the number 1 spot on the front page. From the Hacker News Guidelines: You can make up a new title if you want, but if you put gratuitous editorial spin on it, the editors may rewrite it. Xcode 4 is available as a free download for Mac and iOS developers with a paid membership [1], just like the versions before it. Those who aren't paying members of ADC can get Xcode 4 via the Mac App Sto…

You are incorrect.. If you are a member of their Developer Program you can download it for free. I am not and this is the message I get:

You must be an iOS or Mac Developer Program member to download Xcode 4 or you can purchase Xcode 4 from the Mac App Store.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#172

Post by tammam »

noarchy wrote: post #116
tammam wrote: post #85

I think Apple should by Text Mate and charge $4.99 then it would make sense. I like TextMate is much better especially for writing Ruby on Rails

If Xcode isn't worth $4.99, then how outrageous is Textmate's $56 license? I use neither, since free tools are available for what I do, and they get the job done quite well.

Sorry that's not what I meant. I meant Apple should buy TextMate and offer it for $4.99 as I find it better (for Ruby on Rail in my case).

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#173

Post by plusbryan »

[deleted] wrote: post #142
plusbryan wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree: They are charging to set an expectation for consumers and app developers that quality mac apps should not be free.

[deleted]

Is that a trick question? Yes, I am in favor of a development ecosystem that doesn't aim for $0.

Apple probably should have made XCode free regardless, but his point struck me as the most likely reasoning behind Apple's decision to charge for it.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#174

Post by riobard »

I don't like the idea. But the price makes sense: (try to figure out how they decide this price)

1. Xcode is 4.2GB in size. 2. Bandwidth costs about $0.10/GB, so that's $0.42 per download. 3. Every update requires re-downloading. 4. We'll update more than 10 times before Xcode 5 comes out. 5. So let's charge $4.99!

(Of course they pay less than $0.10/GB for bandwidth at their scale. Don't panic about the exact number.)

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#175

Post by thought_alarm »

It's disingenuous to say that XCode now costs $4.99. It still comes with the OS, and I see no problem with them charging a very nominal fee for an early upgrade (for the rest of people who aren't already registered iOS or Mac devs).

This is the first time Apple has offered a major XCode upgrade midstream between OS releases, so there isn't really any precedence for how they should handle it.

As for me, I'm sticking with XCode 3 for the time being. XCode 4 just isn't ready for prime time, in my experience. It is, however, a great leap in usability, so I'm sure anyone who found XCode difficult to learn will appreciate XCode 4. Those of us who are comfortable in XCode 3 are less enthusiastic.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#176

Post by Tycho »

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.

I think non-iOS/OSX developers probably still make up a large number of their MacBook(Pro) customers. And perhaps moreso now with their new version.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#178

Post by rbarooah »

gcb wrote: post #146

buying Xcode to actually raise the market value of a iOS device (more software offerings): $4.99 having to own a mac to do that: priceless ...or actually, $1,999.99 i think i will pass.

Right, because you don't expect to get anything out of it.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#179

Post by tedunangst »

hyperbovine wrote: post #118
raganwald wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Except that's not true anymore: "Apple has for the first time made this full iOS upgrade free to all of its iPod touch customers, rather than charging the customary $10 fee that provoked groans in the past." ( http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/apple-ios-4.0... ) This leads me to believe that the whole accounting rules canard was just a way to make more money. Why did they start charging for XCode? Becaus…

Maybe iOS 4 doesn't offer new functionality? Where functionality is defined as "whatever the law says we have to charge people for"?

The law is not particularly concerned with whether the major version number or the minor version number changed. It's all about what features changed.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#180

Post by lurker19 »

theoretical wrote: post #131
flyt wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody is.

I develop iOS apps on a hackintosh. It's of equivalent spec of a recent Mac Pro, apart from it's an i7 instead of a Xeon.

Could you share some more info on the hackintoah. The amount of info I have read about hardware compatibility fickleness and dsmos security code has terrified me.
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