Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#41

Post by doctorwho » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:32 PM UTC

Apple hasn't been charging for iOS or the software that ran the first iPod. It's included in the cost of the device, just like the cost of the embedded code in your Keurig is factored into the overall cost of the device.

Software isn't where Apple makes their money. It never was. They NEED software to make their hardware do anything but that's all they ever should have considered. The many years of rivalry with other OS makers was stupid and costly. They weren't really in competition.

You get a free copy of OSX with every Apple computer but charging for OSX upgrades only makes the job of keeping all that hardware running smoothly more difficult. It generates avoidable support calls and support is a huge cost.

If the software (they have to write anyway) is free and hundreds (or thousands) of bug fixes are always just a free download away then everyone benefits. Apple can stop focusing on feature parity with other operating systems and focus on what makes their devices better for their users.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#42

Post by adolph » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:35 PM UTC

bradleyland wrote: post #37

The author doesn't understand Apple. Apple doesn't view software and hardware separately. Coincidentally, I just wrote about this, but I'll copy and paste here because it seems relevant. A friend of mine recently asked me how Apple expected to continue making any money while giving away software that Microsoft charges $200 for. Understanding how Apple can give away their software and still make money comes in underst…

1. My impression was that Apple has had a couple flat/lower year to year quarters in lap and desktops. Their chart of iPad sales shows slowing/maturing of that market segment.

2. Apple sells experiences. If it were selling devices, then software updates for older devices (other than bugs and security/safety) would make no sense.

3. Giving away iWork and iLife is an interesting move that starts building a moat of out-of-the-box productivity software and somewhat incentivizes new sales without totally pissing off previous software purchasers (thru iTunes rebates) and acts as a stronger introduction to their cloud services. It'll be interesting to see if that strategy works enough to continue development on iWork (which I enjoy using although acknowledge is a not widely used product).

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#43

Post by KC8ZKF » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:36 PM UTC

cwp wrote: post #24

felixr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My first reaction after hearing that Mavericks is free was: great, if most people will upgrade, I am freed of supporting the legacy OS X versions. And if software developers cease to support older OS versions, those people with old computers that cannot upgrade have a stronger incentive for buying new hardware.

Nah, that's a very minor consideration at best. "Cease to support older OS versions" means that new versions of applications won't run on older operating systems. It doesn't mean that older versions of applications suddenly stop working. If you're running an old OS on old hardware, running an old application is fine. In fact, it's preferable, because it was written with the capabilities of that hardware in mind.

But the software doesn't exist in a vacuum. Older versions of calendar software stop working because Google or Apple change and the software is no longer updated, for example.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#44

Post by massysett » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:36 PM UTC

Symbol wrote: post #40

microtonal wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if as a developer you only have to worry about a single platform? Actually, this was one of my first reaction as a developer. I developed and maintain a scientific software package (treebank search) that I maintain for Windows (>= XP), OS X (>= 10.7), and Linux (latest Ubuntu LTS). My first reaction after hearing that Mavericks is free was: great, if most people will upgrade, I am freed of supporting the lega…

I won't be surprised if we get to the point where OS updates can be done seamlessly in the background without user prompting. I also won't be surprised if Apple will be the first vendor to sell us on it.

This has already happened and Google has sold millions on it, and the buyers don't even know it.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/balky-carriers-and-sl...

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#45

Post by adolph » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:41 PM UTC

cwp wrote: post #24

felixr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My first reaction after hearing that Mavericks is free was: great, if most people will upgrade, I am freed of supporting the legacy OS X versions. And if software developers cease to support older OS versions, those people with old computers that cannot upgrade have a stronger incentive for buying new hardware.

Nah, that's a very minor consideration at best. "Cease to support older OS versions" means that new versions of applications won't run on older operating systems. It doesn't mean that older versions of applications suddenly stop working. If you're running an old OS on old hardware, running an old application is fine. In fact, it's preferable, because it was written with the capabilities of that hardware in mind.

Yes and no and less so when applications work by using backing services that aren't backwards compatible.

Sure my old Mac Mini will run my old copy of CS3, but I hope that Adobe is still running activation servers if I ever have need to reinstall.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#46

Post by Samuel_Michon » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:43 PM UTC

kbutler wrote: post #13

r0h1n wrote: post #6

> By going free, Apple has acknowledged something that’s been true in the industry for years: Software is a means to sell hardware. What? How has this "been true in the industry for years" ? Maybe its true for smart phones & tablets, that too for just the OS, but how does he go from there to all software and all hardware?

This is actually basic economics - reduce the price of your complementary goods. Thus, Apple wants to drive the software cost to zero, to increase sales of hardware (this includes apps). Google wants to drive the software and hardware cost to zero, to increase ad viewing. Amazon wants to drive the software and hardware cost to zero to sell more content.

> Apple wants to drive the software cost to zero [...] Google wants to drive the software and hardware cost to zero [...] Amazon wants to drive the software and hardware cost to zero

But where does that leave Microsoft? It makes most of its profits from Windows and Office products. For enterprise, this probably isn’t a problem, as most of those customers pay Microsoft for seats, not software versions. For the consumer market however, I don’t think Microsoft can afford to charge for software upgrades much longer. Perhaps Microsoft’s strategy is to convert those users to subscribers: have them pay one annual fee to get support and the latest releases of Windows, Office, and online storage.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#47

Post by slantyyz » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:43 PM UTC

a_c_s wrote: post #35

dhruvmittal wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wish they'd gone ahead and made iWork free across the board (or perhaps for Mavericks users), rather than only with the purchase of a new device.

This likely has to do with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). iOS updates used to cost a nominal amount of money because new features have to have new revenues. (Why? Imagine you are selling a physical good, and promised a 1 year warranty - you have to reserve some revenue to cover the costs of honoring that warranty. If you didn't it would artificially inflate profits now by hiding future liabilities.)…

I think the GAAP part of it is that Apple has to be consistent with their previous revenue recognition strategies.

GAAP itself doesn't force similar companies to recognize revenues in the same fashion that Apple did with the iPhone, i.e., you can make a phone and provide software updates that provide new features for free.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#48

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:50 PM UTC

adolph wrote: post #42

bradleyland wrote: post #37

The author doesn't understand Apple. Apple doesn't view software and hardware separately. Coincidentally, I just wrote about this, but I'll copy and paste here because it seems relevant. A friend of mine recently asked me how Apple expected to continue making any money while giving away software that Microsoft charges $200 for. Understanding how Apple can give away their software and still make money comes in underst…

1. My impression was that Apple has had a couple flat/lower year to year quarters in lap and desktops. Their chart of iPad sales shows slowing/maturing of that market segment. 2. Apple sells experiences. If it were selling devices, then software updates for older devices (other than bugs and security/safety) would make no sense. 3. Giving away iWork and iLife is an interesting move that starts building a moat of out-…

[deleted]

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#49

Post by Samuel_Michon » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 4:50 PM UTC

felixr wrote: post #12

microtonal wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if as a developer you only have to worry about a single platform? Actually, this was one of my first reaction as a developer. I developed and maintain a scientific software package (treebank search) that I maintain for Windows (>= XP), OS X (>= 10.7), and Linux (latest Ubuntu LTS). My first reaction after hearing that Mavericks is free was: great, if most people will upgrade, I am freed of supporting the lega…

> My first reaction after hearing that Mavericks is free was: great, if most people will upgrade, I am freed of supporting the legacy OS X versions. And if software developers cease to support older OS versions, those people with old computers that cannot upgrade have a stronger incentive for buying new hardware.

> people with old computers that cannot upgrade have a stronger incentive for buying new hardware.

Sure, but if that were Apple’s main objective, they would’ve made Mavericks’ system requirements a lot higher. Mavericks runs on 6 year old iMacs.

Today, I installed Mavericks on my mom’s 2008 MacBook. It is noticeably faster. Before, my mom was considering buying a new notebook. Now, she’s going to hold off.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#50

Post by Samuel_Michon » Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 5:03 PM UTC

cwp wrote: post #24

felixr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My first reaction after hearing that Mavericks is free was: great, if most people will upgrade, I am freed of supporting the legacy OS X versions. And if software developers cease to support older OS versions, those people with old computers that cannot upgrade have a stronger incentive for buying new hardware.

Nah, that's a very minor consideration at best. "Cease to support older OS versions" means that new versions of applications won't run on older operating systems. It doesn't mean that older versions of applications suddenly stop working. If you're running an old OS on old hardware, running an old application is fine. In fact, it's preferable, because it was written with the capabilities of that hardware in mind.

Also, Apple is going to keep offering older versions of apps in the App Store, for machines that can’t run Mavericks.

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/10/22/previous-versions-coming...