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Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

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Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#191

Post by jarin »

plusbryan wrote: post #157
jonursenbach wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely agree with you, having grown up on free tools, but $5 is a lot easier to ask a parent for than $99/year to get access to this kind of stuff.

It's doubtful that today's parents need to be convinced of such things. Not only is $99 cheaper than that piano of yesteryear, it also has a significantly higher rate of return.

Seriously. If one of my kids asked me for 5 bucks to buy Xcode, I wouldn't hesitate for a second. I wouldn't even make them do the dishes first.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#192

Post by masklinn »

schellack wrote: post #162
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…

If you look at Facetime on the Mac App Store, it costs $0.99. If you get a new Mac, though, it's free (included). Xcode has historically been included on the install media for OS X (e.g., with Snow Leopard). It's still a separate install, of course. I expect Xcode 4 will still be available on the OS X Lion install media. Buy OS X 10.7 and the media will most likely include Xcode 4. This is a normal Apple pattern.

We shall see. But this $5 is a lot higher than what they charged for in the past (though the 802.11n drivers were $3 I believe)

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#193

Post by elai »

jonursenbach wrote: post #93
potatolicious wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to think of what would've happened if I had to ask my parents for their credit card every time I had to download some tool when I was a kid just messing around with programming. I probably wouldn't working in the field today, that's for sure.

I definitely agree with you, having grown up on free tools, but $5 is a lot easier to ask a parent for than $99/year to get access to this kind of stuff.

The whole using a credit card online adds a lot of hesitation for parents, even if it's $5. It did for mine.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#194

Post by jarin »

noarchy wrote: post #106
rbanffy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xcode 3. You can grab it from http://developer.apple.com/

I do wonder: for how long will Xcode 3 remain available on Apple's site? I also wonder what they may attempt to do to effectively break Xcode 3, or make it where Xcode 4 is necessary for future development? I wouldn't put it past them.

Let's rage about things that haven't happened yet.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#195

Post by Bud »

Tichy wrote: post #61
jarin wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's required that you buy a new Mac? That's news. I thought you could pick one up used on Craigslist for a few hundred bucks.

Oh wait, you can.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#196

Post by masklinn »

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…

> Xcode 4 is available for free download [1], just like the versions before it. For those who don't want to go through the fuss of registering (for free!) as an Apple developer, they can buy Xcode 4 via the Mac App Store.

Alas, this is incorrect. Try to log in with a free developer account and it will tell you to go buy it on the AppStore you dirty hippie.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#197

Post by aperiodic »

allenbrunson wrote: post #182

If you are a member of one of Apple's dev programs, Xcode is still free: "Xcode 4 is a free download for all members of the iOS and Mac Developer Programs. Log in to your account to begin the download." http://developer.apple.com/xcode/index.php

Those programs are $99/year, though.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#198

Post by masklinn »

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.

According to the LLVM lead dev (Chris Lattner on IRC), this is due to Apple's accountant's interpretation of SOX (Xcode 4 is too different from Xcode 3 to be considered an update, they see it as a new product):

> it is due to some bizarro accounting rule. xcode4 is sufficiently new that it doesn't count as a free update or something. paid adc members should get free access. yeah, clearly we're trying to monetize it... doh

Same story as with FaceTime except worse. Apple's accountants seem very very weird.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#200

Post by masklinn »

ptomato wrote: post #141
rbanffy wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eclipse: $0 NetBeans: $0 DevShed C++: $0 Emacs: $0 The complete GNU compiler collection: $0 Xcode 3: $0

Xcode 3 was included with a $129 dollar OS and only would run on that one or later. Xcode 3.2 was included with a $29 OS and ditto.

Actually you could download Xcode (and the iOS SDKs) for free from Apple's website. It would only run on your $129/$29 OS, but technically you didn't have to use the shipped copy ever.
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