Scary scenario: Lets say Apple and MS get to 50% share each on desktops/laptops. Won't that mean they could do whatever abuse they want to without scrutiny just because none of them is a monopoly?
>But you can’t say it’s surprising that the rules are evolving toward more money for Apple while improving the experience for users — that’s win-win from Apple’s perspective.
How is it an improvement to be unable to read the books you've already bought or movies you have already rented on the iDevices?
Even Microsoft didn't pull such shit for Netflix on the Xbox 360. And the consoles are subsidized for a big loss which was to be made up by purchases by the customers.
Apple makes a profit on every iDevice sold, every iApp sold, through iAds and on the $99/year developer fee. No wonder they're literally swimming in cash but still pull such new shit for even more control and money. If Microsoft did something like this with Windows, they would have more money than what the US has in circulation, which is probably where Apple is heading.
At some point the industry is going to tell Apple to get lost and stop supporting the iDevices which is going to hurt Apple, which coupled with Android's rise might push Apple into a niche like on the desktop.
>Apple makes a profit on every iDevice sold, every iApp sold, through iAds and on the $99/year developer fee.
What evidence do you have to support the allegation that Apple makes a profit on every App sold?
Firstly, there's the cost of having the application tested, approved, uploaded and categorised. There's also the cost of hosting the app as well as the credit card processing fees. Users have the right to re-download any app they've purchased in the past. What about a 99c app that weighs in at 2GB? Does Apple really make a profit after credit card processing fees and bandwidth costs?
As for the $99/year developer fee, there are costs involved in providing support, moderating forums, and approving applications.
You mean it cost millions to approve and sell Angry Birds? Bandwidth is pretty cheap these days and most apps are quite small.
>As for the $99/year developer fee, there are costs involved in providing support, moderating forums, and approving applications
I am sure Xcode costs a lot to develop etc. But Apple still gives it away to developers and has free documentation, examples, forums etc. Why?
You're excluding the benefit of the Apps which make the iPhone more valuable to the users and are a big reason that people buy iPhones. No wonder Jobs like to tout the 300k+ app number every chance he gets.
My assumption has always been the primary reason for the $99 cost is the code signing, similar to buying an SSL cert. There may also be a bit of a filter-function involved: if you aren't willing to spend $99, they don't want you in the playground.
Honestly, I really doubt they are making much money on developer tools (unlike, say, Microsoft). Remember, you only need to pay the $99 to publish (not to develop) and only one person per company has to pay it, so of those 300k+ apps, the actual number of developer subscriptions is a lot lower.
Apple may not make money on developer tools wrt software, but they certainly sell plenty of macs to developers as a requirement to develop for their platform.
>But you can’t say it’s surprising that the rules are evolving toward more money for Apple while improving the experience for users — that’s win-win from Apple’s perspective.
How is it an improvement to be unable to read the books you've already bought or movies you have already rented on the iDevices?
Even Microsoft didn't pull such shit for Netflix on the Xbox 360. And the consoles are subsidized for a big loss which was to be made up by purchases by the customers.
Apple makes a profit on every iDevice sold, every iApp sold, through iAds and on the $99/year developer fee. No wonder they're literally swimming in cash but still pull such new shit for even more control and money. If Microsoft did something like this with Windows, they would have more money than what the US has in circulation, which is probably where Apple is heading.
At some point the industry is going to tell Apple to get lost and stop supporting the iDevices which is going to hurt Apple, which coupled with Android's rise might push Apple into a niche like on the desktop.