Good. Rhapsody suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuux.
Rhapsody passes on Apple's "economically untenable" sub plans
91–94 of 94 posts
Re: Rhapsody passes on Apple's "economically untenable" sub plans
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Technically, they state you must have the same or better offer. Better isn't the same as cheaper, it can mean more expensive with more features, so an "premium iOS offer with added features" for 30% more could be justified :P
They actually state both "same (or better) offer" and "same price or less" (just not what I wrote :P). But I still think the idea is to avoid what would be perceived as an Apple tax when buying subscriptions in-app.
I stand corrected, it's more yucky than I imagined. I can imagine what's going through their minds doing this, but this is just plain stealing.. they want to drive off any one that sells products that can potentially compete with them (kindle vs ibooks?), but damn, again they're killing off everyone with a bazooka, again. It's like the dev license change to kill off flash apps that ended up hitting almost every top app vendor out there.
They might back down from this like they did for the dev license changes, but this habit of always changing the rules in the middle of the game regardless of who gets hit is really getting old.
Re: Rhapsody passes on Apple's "economically untenable" sub plans
#93Once again, Apple is underestimating the average consumer's willingness to take the path of least resistance. Apple became very niche for graphics & layout artists back in the day and lost a market they could have owned. By trying to hold its customers hostage, they enabled IBM & Microsoft to become household names and the Apple name was "that other kind." They came back because they innovate, but innovation only stays innovative for so long.
They need to distinguish better between their "average Joe" and their "power user" products & strategies because "power user" products will sooner or later become "average Joe" products.
If they wish to limit themselves to a niche market then this move makes perfect sense. If they want volume and to continue market domination, they're repeating history and, regardless of how smart their executives are, I don't think they can pull if off because we don't live in that kind of a world.
I've been wanting an iPad and iPhone like you couldn't believe. But I'm patient and they made me nervous with their exclusive AT&T arrangement so I wanted to see what their next move was. I've been enjoying my Android phone very much. Looks like I'll be doing the same with whichever non-Apple tablet I choose. Too bad.
Re: Rhapsody passes on Apple's "economically untenable" sub plans
#94I've just realized what Apple is up to here - it took me a day, and some of the excellent comments on HN - but I now get it. My inability to see what was going on, was that I couldn't see how Netflix/Amazon/Rhapsody/etc... could operate, profitably, under this plan. The 30% cut would eat their entire margin (and more). And the plan is brutally straightforward and honest, if you just mediate on it for a few days. Appl…
The thought of moving from Netflix, Rdio and Kindle to iTunes strikes me as akin to moving from Gmail and Facebook for photos to MobileMe. I love(d) Apple, but their web services are afterthoughts that can't hold a candle to specialized (or, in Google's case, just brilliant) competition.
How many times does Apple have to shoot their developer base in the head before the developers get a clue?