Would most of there software even qualify if they wanted to sell them on the MAS? I assume that apps can?t use installers and put files all over your system the way Adobe and MS? products do. I think the only apps from each company that would work are Flash and Silverlight since they?re browser plug-ins.
Plug-ins are not allowed either. The other main problem is the use of activations codes, serial numbers, .. etc is not permitted. I can't see MS and Adobe counting on Apple for security. Those companies spend huge overhead on software security, which is not that much effective anyway.
As an indie Mac developer, its hard to imagine running a reasonable business at these price points.
iPhone app store has driven prices so cheap the user can buy it without trying it. Not a big waste of money if they don't like it.
Thats not a reasonable approach for more complex software.
I'm sure users like the idea of cheap software, but if nothing else, support costs don't go away.
You are not going to see Photoshop for $5.99, etc.
Apple can afford to give away iWorks to sell the platform. In the same way that Microsoft gives away IE to push Windows. That doesn't help anyone else.
So I clicked thru to the original article -- the author's "survey" consisted of asking 4 of his developer buddies what their plans were. That's a pretty small sample for such a bold title. Instead of "Mac App Store developers aim for low prices, high volume", I think it would have been more accurate to state that "4 developer buddies aim for low prices, high volume". All 4 of these developer buddies are iPhone game developers. Nothing wrong with games, but pricing in that area will not necessarily correspond with pricing in other areas. Judging from the threads on the Mac Dev forums (open to developers only) I think most of the more serious apps are going to be well north of $10 - mostly $15 to $40, I think. We'll see in 2 days.
...how it will differ from the mobile iOS version, where most apps are a dollar or two, and very few are more than $5 or $10.
... Apple portrayed its iLife apps as listing for $15, and iWork apps being sold individually for $20, roughly the same as those apps currently sell for together in their existing suite packages, but much higher than the $5 version of iMovie for iOS, or the $10 versions of iWork apps available for iPad.
The company also listed a few fictitious titles to fill space, priced between $3 for a utility, $5 for a game, and $30 to $40 for more apps that appeared to be more complex. Those figures were significantly higher than typical iOS titles, but generally lower than existing retail Mac software.
...
I hope that companies such as Omnigroup will take the hint. Even for their iOS version they are currently charging more than what is customary for desktop shareware.
If they ever want to achieve the high sales volumes that indeed may be possible, they should shape up and adapt their prices to the new ecosystem.
If the idea takes off, in the future, we may not have to pay twice (once for the desktop and once for iOS) for software such as Pages, Keynote, etc..
I'll be curious to see if Angry Birds jumps in (and possibly in some form for Windows too) or sticks with its brand as a distinctly mobile game.
Angry Birds was released for the PlayStation 3 this week. It looks like Rovio wants to be on every platform. I can't wait to see the ZX-81 port.
I think the Mac store is going to be a great thing. I know a lot of less techy Mac users who've downloaded and installed far more apps onto their iPhone than their Mac. This is a great thing for Mac developers, even if they will need to adjust their business model.
I hope Apple offers an auto-update feature. It really simplifies the process on the iPad to tap a single button to get this done. But it'd be even better if this happened at a set time.
Think about software like Vuescan that's updated nearly daily. Far fewer trips to MacUpdate and Versiontracker.
I wonder what will become of the excellent Macheist offerings...
My only concern is that there will be three price points for 3 different platforms. I know that iPad and iPhone use iOS, but we all know that angry birds is .99 on the iPhone, $4.99 on the iPad and if they ever develop a Mac OS version, maybe even $7.99. However I actually use my MacBook Pro for work (remote desktop, citrix, as/400) than games or heavy entertainment.
You're concerned about that? That only makes sense, you pay more for Need4Speed for PC than you do for the iPhone version, & even more for console. Pricing has always differed by platform & hardware, there is nothing new about that.
The good news here is that it appears the App store will both help drive prices down & increase title availability for the Mac platform. How is any of that bad?! If Apple ever turns the AppleTV into a console capable device Apple will have an unbelievable arsenal in their armada & the competition has got to be shaking in their boots.
When Apple decided to expand outside the computer business into phones companies should have seen the writing on the wall. Apple saw that the cell phone market was held hostage by companies that were just putting lipstick on pigs & trying to sell them as new product. Their decision to do something about that opened up the reality to them as a company that there was a need out there much greater than just the phone market, a lot of tech categories are held hostage by companies who are content making & selling crap rather than truly advancing technology. Apple isn't the only company that can do it right, they are just the first to make that their focus rather than just throwing random garbage at people & waiting to see which garbage sells.
Hate or love Apple, everyone has to admit they have changed the tech market for the better by pushing other companies to get off their arses & innovate.
Consider solipsism's missive on how wonderful the App Store will be for putting script kiddies who can't market well on equal footing with the hardest working names in the Mac dev community.
Textwrangler by Bare Bones. Script kiddie?
Soulver by Acqualia. Script kiddie?
ScreenFlow by Teleflow. Script kiddie?
Movist by some Korean developer. Script kiddie?
Mactracker by some Canadian developer. Script kiddie?
Not at all. All of those you listed are among the best names in the business I noted above, and have nothing in common with the marketing and customer relationship incompetence you described as being the problem the App Store will solve.
I gave ?a? scenario. Here?s another one...
Scenario B: A fairly large well known Mac developing group will create a version of their app to sell on the MAS. This is will be a free and/or paid version of one or more of their apps. They will also continue to sell their apps on their own websites but use the MAS as a way to increase their marketshare, revenue and profit. They wrote on their MAS entry to check out their website for a trial version.
Funny how that works. BTW, since when is Acqualia and Teleflow, not to mention some unnamed Korean and Canadian developers, the "best names in the business?? Your trolling is even weaker than usual today.
...until Apple makes MAS the only way to install apps it's a good option for developers to retain at least some of the revenue they currently enjoy.
I think they make medications for paranoia.
Quote:
Cute: so you added some unknowns in a list that included TextWrangler and Dropbox. Okay, mea culpa, I thought you had some sort of point to make but I'll admit that I fell for what turned out to be some weird trick question.
I tricked you by making you not read the comment you replied to.
Quote:
I envy the amount of free time you have on your hands.
I earned it by working smarter. You should try it sometime.
"All the crew at the Pixelmator Team is very excited about the new Mac App Store, as users and, especially, as developers. I believe (and it’s not just me) that the Mac App Store is going to be an absolute hit."
"Specifically for us, the good thing is that once we are in the Store, we will finally be able to focus completely on Pixelmator improvements, quality, and new features instead of worrying about how to reach our customers. We would be very happy to be able to simply focus on creating the best image editor for the Mac."
"......we won’t need to spend time and energy developing our own update systems, Web store shelves, licensing systems, anti-piracy measures, and other things like that. We are good at creating the best Mac apps – and should do only that.
"All the crew at the Pixelmator Team is very excited about the new Mac App Store, as users and, especially, as developers. I believe (and it?s not just me) that the Mac App Store is going to be an absolute hit."
"Specifically for us, the good thing is that once we are in the Store, we will finally be able to focus completely on Pixelmator improvements, quality, and new features instead of worrying about how to reach our customers. We would be very happy to be able to simply focus on creating the best image editor for the Mac."
"......we won?t need to spend time and energy developing our own update systems, Web store shelves, licensing systems, anti-piracy measures, and other things like that. We are good at creating the best Mac apps ? and should do only that.
Comments
Would most of there software even qualify if they wanted to sell them on the MAS? I assume that apps can?t use installers and put files all over your system the way Adobe and MS? products do. I think the only apps from each company that would work are Flash and Silverlight since they?re browser plug-ins.
Plug-ins are not allowed either. The other main problem is the use of activations codes, serial numbers, .. etc is not permitted. I can't see MS and Adobe counting on Apple for security. Those companies spend huge overhead on software security, which is not that much effective anyway.
iPhone app store has driven prices so cheap the user can buy it without trying it. Not a big waste of money if they don't like it.
Thats not a reasonable approach for more complex software.
I'm sure users like the idea of cheap software, but if nothing else, support costs don't go away.
You are not going to see Photoshop for $5.99, etc.
Apple can afford to give away iWorks to sell the platform. In the same way that Microsoft gives away IE to push Windows. That doesn't help anyone else.
...how it will differ from the mobile iOS version, where most apps are a dollar or two, and very few are more than $5 or $10.
... Apple portrayed its iLife apps as listing for $15, and iWork apps being sold individually for $20, roughly the same as those apps currently sell for together in their existing suite packages, but much higher than the $5 version of iMovie for iOS, or the $10 versions of iWork apps available for iPad.
The company also listed a few fictitious titles to fill space, priced between $3 for a utility, $5 for a game, and $30 to $40 for more apps that appeared to be more complex. Those figures were significantly higher than typical iOS titles, but generally lower than existing retail Mac software.
...
I hope that companies such as Omnigroup will take the hint. Even for their iOS version they are currently charging more than what is customary for desktop shareware.
If they ever want to achieve the high sales volumes that indeed may be possible, they should shape up and adapt their prices to the new ecosystem.
If the idea takes off, in the future, we may not have to pay twice (once for the desktop and once for iOS) for software such as Pages, Keynote, etc..
Hint, hint, Apple: show the others how to do it.
I'll be curious to see if Angry Birds jumps in (and possibly in some form for Windows too) or sticks with its brand as a distinctly mobile game.
Angry Birds was released for the PlayStation 3 this week. It looks like Rovio wants to be on every platform. I can't wait to see the ZX-81 port.
I think the Mac store is going to be a great thing. I know a lot of less techy Mac users who've downloaded and installed far more apps onto their iPhone than their Mac. This is a great thing for Mac developers, even if they will need to adjust their business model.
Think about software like Vuescan that's updated nearly daily. Far fewer trips to MacUpdate and Versiontracker.
I wonder what will become of the excellent Macheist offerings...
Thanks...I didn't have a pencil and paper at hand!
Best
If you needed a pencil and paper to figure that out you might find it a wee bit difficult to develop a app.
My only concern is that there will be three price points for 3 different platforms. I know that iPad and iPhone use iOS, but we all know that angry birds is .99 on the iPhone, $4.99 on the iPad and if they ever develop a Mac OS version, maybe even $7.99. However I actually use my MacBook Pro for work (remote desktop, citrix, as/400) than games or heavy entertainment.
You're concerned about that? That only makes sense, you pay more for Need4Speed for PC than you do for the iPhone version, & even more for console. Pricing has always differed by platform & hardware, there is nothing new about that.
The good news here is that it appears the App store will both help drive prices down & increase title availability for the Mac platform. How is any of that bad?! If Apple ever turns the AppleTV into a console capable device Apple will have an unbelievable arsenal in their armada & the competition has got to be shaking in their boots.
When Apple decided to expand outside the computer business into phones companies should have seen the writing on the wall. Apple saw that the cell phone market was held hostage by companies that were just putting lipstick on pigs & trying to sell them as new product. Their decision to do something about that opened up the reality to them as a company that there was a need out there much greater than just the phone market, a lot of tech categories are held hostage by companies who are content making & selling crap rather than truly advancing technology. Apple isn't the only company that can do it right, they are just the first to make that their focus rather than just throwing random garbage at people & waiting to see which garbage sells.
Hate or love Apple, everyone has to admit they have changed the tech market for the better by pushing other companies to get off their arses & innovate.
Will apps that need access outside the User account be allowed? For example, iStat Menus. How about apps like Senuti for recovering data off iDevices?
$1 x 1,000,000 = $1,000,000 x 70% = $700,000
That makes me want to become a developer.
I know he said $1, but that really isn't an option, so
$0.99*1,000,000=$990,000
$990,000*.70=$693,000
deleted
Consider solipsism's missive on how wonderful the App Store will be for putting script kiddies who can't market well on equal footing with the hardest working names in the Mac dev community.
- Textwrangler by Bare Bones. Script kiddie?
- Soulver by Acqualia. Script kiddie?
- ScreenFlow by Teleflow. Script kiddie?
- Movist by some Korean developer. Script kiddie?
- Mactracker by some Canadian developer. Script kiddie?
- Angry Birds by Rovio. Script kiddie?
- Dropbox. Script kiddie?
- 1Passowrd by Agile. Script kiddie?
You sure have a funny definition there.deleted
Not at all. All of those you listed are among the best names in the business I noted above, and have nothing in common with the marketing and customer relationship incompetence you described as being the problem the App Store will solve.
I gave ?a? scenario. Here?s another one...
Scenario B: A fairly large well known Mac developing group will create a version of their app to sell on the MAS. This is will be a free and/or paid version of one or more of their apps. They will also continue to sell their apps on their own websites but use the MAS as a way to increase their marketshare, revenue and profit. They wrote on their MAS entry to check out their website for a trial version.
Funny how that works. BTW, since when is Acqualia and Teleflow, not to mention some unnamed Korean and Canadian developers, the "best names in the business?? Your trolling is even weaker than usual today.
deleted
...until Apple makes MAS the only way to install apps it's a good option for developers to retain at least some of the revenue they currently enjoy.
I think they make medications for paranoia.
Cute: so you added some unknowns in a list that included TextWrangler and Dropbox. Okay, mea culpa, I thought you had some sort of point to make but I'll admit that I fell for what turned out to be some weird trick question.
I tricked you by making you not read the comment you replied to.
I envy the amount of free time you have on your hands.
I earned it by working smarter. You should try it sometime.
deleted
"Specifically for us, the good thing is that once we are in the Store, we will finally be able to focus completely on Pixelmator improvements, quality, and new features instead of worrying about how to reach our customers. We would be very happy to be able to simply focus on creating the best image editor for the Mac."
"......we won’t need to spend time and energy developing our own update systems, Web store shelves, licensing systems, anti-piracy measures, and other things like that. We are good at creating the best Mac apps – and should do only that.
Pixelmator
"All the crew at the Pixelmator Team is very excited about the new Mac App Store, as users and, especially, as developers. I believe (and it?s not just me) that the Mac App Store is going to be an absolute hit."
"Specifically for us, the good thing is that once we are in the Store, we will finally be able to focus completely on Pixelmator improvements, quality, and new features instead of worrying about how to reach our customers. We would be very happy to be able to simply focus on creating the best image editor for the Mac."
"......we won?t need to spend time and energy developing our own update systems, Web store shelves, licensing systems, anti-piracy measures, and other things like that. We are good at creating the best Mac apps ? and should do only that.
Pixelmator
Those Pixelmator script kiddies, when will they learn¡