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Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

businessweek.com

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Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#51

Post by ryandrake »

cygwin98 wrote: post #28

The fragmentation issue in Mac OS X [1] is the hurdle that has been holding me off from writing apps for Macs. According to [1] (published about half a year ago), the Mac OS X market share breakdown: 26.8% Mountain Lion 10.8 28.0% Lion 10.7 35.1% Snow Leopard 10.6 10.0% Leopard 10.5 and Tiger 10.4 If we assume that half of the macs running Snow Leopard (10.6) are pre-2007 and ineligible for 10.9, we have about 72.3%…

Doesn't seem like Apple is really concerned with fragmentation, as they deliberately prevent their newer operating systems from installing on older hardware. They understandably would rather sell newer hardware. I'm pretty much stuck on Lion because Mountain Lion and above will not install on my hardware (which incidentally means I cannot develop for iOS7 since XCode5 requires ML+).

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#52

Post by Samuel_Michon »

cygwin98 wrote: post #28

The fragmentation issue in Mac OS X [1] is the hurdle that has been holding me off from writing apps for Macs. According to [1] (published about half a year ago), the Mac OS X market share breakdown: 26.8% Mountain Lion 10.8 28.0% Lion 10.7 35.1% Snow Leopard 10.6 10.0% Leopard 10.5 and Tiger 10.4 If we assume that half of the macs running Snow Leopard (10.6) are pre-2007 and ineligible for 10.9, we have about 72.3%…

I just looked at the sales figures Apple reported. Apple has so far sold 95 million Macs that run the Mac App Store (Apple sells between 4 and 5 million Macs per quarter). The Mac App Store came preinstalled with Lion and was added to Snow Leopard in version 10.6.6.

If you are planning to offer your app on the Mac App Store, you don’t need to worry about compatibility with Leopard and Tiger, as those customers won’t see your app anyways. To me, that seems like a much better situation for developers than it is on the Windows side, where 40% of users still run XP.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#53

Post by Samuel_Michon »

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.

Doesn’t ChromeOS already automatically apply OS updates on restart?

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/177889?hl=en

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#54

Post by gshubert17 »

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-…

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

On the other hand, I am more likely to buy an expensive device, knowing that updates will be available. In my mind, updates help the device retain its usefulness and value.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#55

Post by theorique »

netcan wrote: post #38
theorique wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As Joel Spolsky said: "commoditize your complements". http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html

I'm not sure if that includes the complements that you yourself produce. At least that's not what Joel argues. There are business models (eg, razors & razor blades) where you commoditize one to sell the other, but commoditizing complements that someone else now makes at razor thin margins is the coup.

I think it can be both.

For example, in the Apple context, they commoditize software (including operating systems, mobile apps, and desktop apps) in order to make their platform attractive and appealing, and then make their money through high profit margins on hardware sales. An operating system is a special case of software, since it's so much more intimate with the Apple-designed and controlled hardware than most (any?) other applications.

In this case, creating their own software is a cost that makes money indirectly, by making their hardware and their platform more attractive. And certainly, more apps and cheaper apps (commodity) available for Apple computers (non-commodity) is good for Apple, whether those apps come from Apple themselves or from external developers. (Obviously having both is good for different reasons - in house, you have more control; external apps create a developer base with lock-in).

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#56

Post by Samuel_Michon »

mvkel wrote: post #14

Disagree. It's about selling apps, not hardware. What holds Apple back is user OS adoption. With iOS updates being free, users can get the latest apps, and Apple doesn't need to worry too much about backwards compatibility. OS X didn't have that luxury until today. With the free play, Apple is giving their customers zero reason to stay on older versions. They want to see 90 percent adoption rates in 6 months. Why? Th…

> It's about selling apps, not hardware.

Apple makes very little from app sales, profits from iTunes purchases (including both App Stores) are under $1 billion a year. Apple rakes in tens of billions in profits a year from Mac sales, and even that is a minor business compared to profits from iOS device sales.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#57

Post by Samuel_Michon »

iSnow wrote: post #22

Man, this brings back memories of MacOS 7.x, the last versions that could be downloaded free of charge. Only 20 years later, it again costs nothing. Nice.

I believe you’re confusing updates and upgrades. Apple OS updates have always been free. Also, the Mac OS X 10.1 upgrade was free.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#58

Post by bradleyland »

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-…

Just a nit pick on the word experience. Experience is ephemeral. It has no link to the tangible thing that we're buying. The experience is the result, but I disagree that we can take the abstraction that far. A movie theater sells an experience. An app developer sells an experience. Apple sells devices.

When I say device, I mean the totality of the hardware, the operating system, and the core apps. This, to me, is the atomic unit of a product that Apple has packaged. To go the step further to "experience" is too broad.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#59

Post by cygwin98 »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #52
cygwin98 wrote: post #28

The fragmentation issue in Mac OS X [1] is the hurdle that has been holding me off from writing apps for Macs. According to [1] (published about half a year ago), the Mac OS X market share breakdown: 26.8% Mountain Lion 10.8 28.0% Lion 10.7 35.1% Snow Leopard 10.6 10.0% Leopard 10.5 and Tiger 10.4 If we assume that half of the macs running Snow Leopard (10.6) are pre-2007 and ineligible for 10.9, we have about 72.3%…

I just looked at the sales figures Apple reported. Apple has so far sold 95 million Macs that run the Mac App Store (Apple sells between 4 and 5 million Macs per quarter). The Mac App Store came preinstalled with Lion and was added to Snow Leopard in version 10.6.6. If you are planning to offer your app on the Mac App Store, you don’t need to worry about compatibility with Leopard and Tiger, as those customers won’t…

Even for the same method each version of Mac OS X can behave slightly different, which causes pains for the users due to crashes and the developers to scratch their heads to reproduce. I've read quite a number of blog posts that the developers tried to reproduce a bug only happens to Snow Leopard. Extra code had to be written only for that. You can imagine how the code will smell if extra efforts need to be made for each version. That's the fragmentation issue I talked about and had concerns with.

Re: Why Apple Wants Its Software to Be Free

#60

Post by racbart »

At today's Apple, both software and hardware are means to sell 3rd party software. They earn so much on their ecosystem that it's more profitable to give OS updates for free and provide more unified and less fragmented ecosystem to both users and 3rd party developers.

Lowering prices for next generations of their hardware is also a sign that they really want to put their foot in as many users' doors as possible. I think they rarely lowered hardware prices just couple years ago, before they had this massive revenue stream called App Store.

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