Apple?s App Store: More than 1.5 billion served

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 35
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    It's true that the app store is nothing new in concept. It's also true that no one has previously developed an app store quite like what Apple has with the iPhone.



    You are pushing this steam example too far. Most people have never heard of much less have purchased apps from steam. I'm sure the iPhone app store far exceeds the use and mind share that steam has ever had.



    According to Wikipedia, steam currently has 756 games and 20 million user accounts.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chronster View Post


    If I copied the app store and put it on a refrigerator, then said there was nothing like it, I'd still be completely full of shit. Bottom line is the app store isn't some brand new concept, and yes, the computer technology industry has seen the scale and quality before with steam. It's just weaselly comments from Steve Jobs plain and simple. To me "the industry" does blend smartphones with computers. I guess I'm just nitpicking.



  • Reply 22 of 35
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    It's true that the app store is nothing new in concept. It's also true that no one has previously developed an app store quite like what Apple has with the iPhone.



    You are pushing this steam example too far. Most people have never heard of much less have purchased apps from steam. I'm sure the iPhone app store far exceeds the use and mind share that steam has ever had.



    According to Wikipedia, steam currently has 756 games and 20 million user accounts.



    Agreed. I don't really understand how a PC game portal with less than a thousand titles has anything to do with the App Store or how anyone could imagine that Apple used it as a template.



    You might as well argue that Apple copied Amazon, which also sells stuff online, or claim that there's nothing particularly interesting about the iPhone since many of its functions were already available on desktop machines.



    Apples and oranges.
  • Reply 23 of 35
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Agreed. I don't really understand how a PC game portal with less than a thousand titles has anything to do with the App Store or how anyone could imagine that Apple used it as a template.



    You might as well argue that Apple copied Amazon, which also sells stuff online, or claim that there's nothing particularly interesting about the iPhone since many of its functions were already available on desktop machines.



    Apples and oranges.



    I know you think you don't understand it, but you can if you tried.



    It takes a considerable amount of time to create an entire PC game verses a fart app for a phone. The lack of titles is simply because of the lack of games. And remember, it's limited to GAMES. The app store has apps that have nothing to do with games which gives it the higher number.



    The app store and steam are obviously the same concept. I read steve job's quote to sound like he had come along and done something entirely new. I read it this way because they repeatedly do this. Anything Apple does (even if it's been done before) is somehow revolutionary and new and amazing and blah blah blah



    btw, nobody's comparing apple to amazon. That's just you trying to stretch the argument into something so ridiculous that it blurs the original point.
  • Reply 24 of 35
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Roc Ingersol View Post


    This comes up every time they release numbers. Best guess is that they're counting version updates as discrete downloads.



    Thats 47 apps per secound for a whole year .
  • Reply 25 of 35
    oc4theooc4theo Posts: 294member
    Yes, it is a huge profit generator. To get an idea where this is going and what Apple's own internal projection is, one need to take into account the new server farm that was just commissioned.



    Why would Apple want to spend a billion+ dollars to set up its own server farm? Apple uses Akamai for streaming/stoarge/iTunes/online store. Well that has been going on for over a decade now. And boom, App store exploded that demand, and the projected growth is so high that Apple doesn't want another company to be in-charge of it.



    Apple also said that iTunes was to help its iPod sale. Although Apple never categorize its profit or income from iTunes, it is huge. And the App store potential is even greater.



    App Store has PROFIT written all over it! Big Kahuna Profit!!!
  • Reply 26 of 35
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chronster View Post


    I know you think you don't understand it, but you can if you tried.



    It takes a considerable amount of time to create an entire PC game verses a fart app for a phone. The lack of titles is simply because of the lack of games. And remember, it's limited to GAMES. The app store has apps that have nothing to do with games which gives it the higher number.



    The app store and steam are obviously the same concept. I read steve job's quote to sound like he had come along and done something entirely new. I read it this way because they repeatedly do this. Anything Apple does (even if it's been done before) is somehow revolutionary and new and amazing and blah blah blah



    btw, nobody's comparing apple to amazon. That's just you trying to stretch the argument into something so ridiculous that it blurs the original point.



    How are Steam and the App Store "the same concept", exactly, in non-trivial terms? Why is comparing both of those to Amazon a stretch, while comparing Steam to the App Store not?



    If you want to insist that selling fewer than a thousand games online to the PC market is obviously just like selling tens of thousands of broadly varied apps online or over the wireless network to a mobile device, than obviously you are focusing on similarities (software from assorted vendors sold online at a single site) and suppressing dissimilarities (everything else), so it doesn't seem to be a stretch at all to me to toss other online merchandise aggregators into the mix.



    You seem to mainly be just sort of cranky about Apple claiming to have done something new, but they very evidently have revolutionized the mobile handset application market, with an unprecedented delivery mechanism that has incontestably resulted in an explosion of development for the platform.



    Has Steam resulted in an explosion of game development? Has Steam ushered in a huge influx of game developers? Has Steam resulted in every other player in the market rushing to emulate its success? Has Steam, by popular consensus, utterly reformed the playing field for game sales to PCs?



    We can also insist that the iPhone itself was nothing particularly special and interesting, since smart phones were already on the market, but the the special and interesting part of course lies in the particulars, as it does for most things.
  • Reply 27 of 35
    trajectorytrajectory Posts: 647member
    Oops. Never mind.
  • Reply 28 of 35
    ccocccoc Posts: 1member
    The result is tremendous for Apple and drives sales for the iPhone and iTouch but how many of these 100,000 developers can really make a decent living ? - see comments at http://bit.ly/q9jIb
  • Reply 29 of 35
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Over 1.5 billion served....now where have we heard that before? The old days of McDonald's before they changed the sign to "Billions and Billions Served"
  • Reply 30 of 35
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    How are Steam and the App Store "the same concept", exactly, in non-trivial terms? Why is comparing both of those to Amazon a stretch, while comparing Steam to the App Store not?



    If you want to insist that selling fewer than a thousand games online to the PC market is obviously just like selling tens of thousands of broadly varied apps online or over the wireless network to a mobile device, than obviously you are focusing on similarities (software from assorted vendors sold online at a single site) and suppressing dissimilarities (everything else), so it doesn't seem to be a stretch at all to me to toss other online merchandise aggregators into the mix.



    You seem to mainly be just sort of cranky about Apple claiming to have done something new, but they very evidently have revolutionized the mobile handset application market, with an unprecedented delivery mechanism that has incontestably resulted in an explosion of development for the platform.



    Has Steam resulted in an explosion of game development? Has Steam ushered in a huge influx of game developers? Has Steam resulted in every other player in the market rushing to emulate its success? Has Steam, by popular consensus, utterly reformed the playing field for game sales to PCs?



    We can also insist that the iPhone itself was nothing particularly special and interesting, since smart phones were already on the market, but the the special and interesting part of course lies in the particulars, as it does for most things.





    Steam allows you to browse game titles, read reviews on them, see a "meta score", see a preview of the game, and once purchased, it is forever attached to your account so you can re-download to another pc in the future if necessary. Steam also features a community aspect where you can join groups and use an instant messaging system to talk with friends, so it one-ups the app store.



    So what is the app store? The app store allows you to browse app titles, read reviews on them, see a rating, see screen shots, and once purchased it is forever attached to your itunes account so you can re-download in the future if necessary.



    They both are a central platform-specific hub that provides an easy access point for a specific type of software content. Amazon is an online store available to anyone and everyone, selling physical items like a store does. You can't keep a list of the items you bought with Amazon then have them send you out a new one whenever you like...



    Now, you can make the point about one being for a mobile device, the other a pc, or that one only has games while another has a wider variety of types, but it's the same thing. It worked good for PC gamers, and it definitely worked out great for iphone users. It was common sense that Apple take the idea of Steam and apply it to their device. BUT NOW, if any other company tries to do the same thing as STEAM DID, they are suddenly copying Apple.



    Yes, I am cranky that Apple claims this was their idea, and that people are copying them when trying to create a central hub for software purchases. But you know, re-reading it, I can see I took it wrong and if Steve Jobs had said "The mobile device market" I wouldn't have spoken. To me, the industry is a broad range of things.
  • Reply 31 of 35
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hillstones View Post


    Over 1.5 billion served....now where have we heard that before? The old days of McDonald's before they changed the sign to "Billions and Billions Served"



    Yeah I'm pretty sure by now, every single person who ever existed could have had at least one mcdonalds item :P
  • Reply 32 of 35
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,755member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Has Steam resulted in an explosion of game development? Has Steam ushered in a huge influx of game developers? Has Steam resulted in every other player in the market rushing to emulate its success? Has Steam, by popular consensus, utterly reformed the playing field for game sales to PCs?



    Exactly. I've had a Steam account since 2004, but it's nothing like the App store - especially in the ways you have outlined.
  • Reply 33 of 35
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DocNo42 View Post


    Exactly. I've had a Steam account since 2004, but it's nothing like the App store - especially in the ways you have outlined.



    the ways he outlined? He's speaking to the result of the product, not the underlying concept of it, which is the main point to begin with.



    jeesh
  • Reply 34 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Roc Ingersol View Post


    This comes up every time they release numbers. Best guess is that they're counting version updates as discrete downloads.



    Happy to see that Apple have specifically now stated that the 1.8 Billion Apps download do NOT include updates. Humble Pie?
  • Reply 35 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chronster View Post


    Steam allows you to browse game titles, read reviews on them, see a "meta score", see a preview of the game, and once purchased, it is forever attached to your account so you can re-download to another pc in the future if necessary. Steam also features a community aspect where you can join groups and use an instant messaging system to talk with friends, so it one-ups the app store.



    So what is the app store? The app store allows you to browse app titles, read reviews on them, see a rating, see screen shots, and once purchased it is forever attached to your itunes account so you can re-download in the future if necessary.



    They both are a central platform-specific hub that provides an easy access point for a specific type of software content. Amazon is an online store available to anyone and everyone, selling physical items like a store does. You can't keep a list of the items you bought with Amazon then have them send you out a new one whenever you like...



    Now, you can make the point about one being for a mobile device, the other a pc, or that one only has games while another has a wider variety of types, but it's the same thing. It worked good for PC gamers, and it definitely worked out great for iphone users. It was common sense that Apple take the idea of Steam and apply it to their device. BUT NOW, if any other company tries to do the same thing as STEAM DID, they are suddenly copying Apple.



    Yes, I am cranky that Apple claims this was their idea, and that people are copying them when trying to create a central hub for software purchases. But you know, re-reading it, I can see I took it wrong and if Steve Jobs had said "The mobile device market" I wouldn't have spoken. To me, the industry is a broad range of things.



    What you are missing is the fact that the App Store has changed the whole concept of App development, sales, marketing and uptake. Steam might be similar but how has actually heard of it, never mind use it. When will Steam pass it's 1.8 billion download mark?
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