And of course you fanboy droids will just turn over and cry "Tickle my tummy".
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2011 Apple Design Awards for Both iOS and Mac OS X, App Store Only
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What needs to happen for these awards to mean anything is for an non-profit industry consortium to take the votes and not be biased with several in the industry that matters voting for it. That is how the Oscars, Emmies and Grammys all came about. Wired tried it with the "Webbies" but the marketing types had too much influence.
In summary, these awards should be retitled, "Third Party App Most Contributing to our Product's Bottom Line."
Before it was sooo.... hard. My wrist still hurts from dragging one single file to the Applications folder. Oh, and I just love having to pay sales tax on the apps.
I don't hate the Mac App store, I just don't think it should be a factor in the award. With that said, its Apples award and they can do as they please with it, including making acceptance of onerous terms a prerequisite to compete.
So they shouldn't be able to make the rules for their awards on their platform???
Making things easy isn't a negative, its positive, it streamlines the experience. Considering just how much unused power is inside of many PCs and Macs that until recently were the only way people "computed", it makes sense for companies to make things easier so more people can access and do more with their computers.
We(on Macrumors.com) are not your average computer user. I love tinkering with computers, smartphones, tablets, etc...but that doesn't mean I can't give credit to companies that make using technology easier to do more with.
Apple isn't stupid, they aren't going to cut themselves out of the OS market they helped create and the type of product that their "post PC" devices depend on. Just as iOS has gotten more complicated then it once was(which allows it to do more), OS X can allow more useful features to be used in an improved(read more intuitive and simpler) way. Its all about keeping balance, iOS doesn't need to be able to virtualize Windows XP locally and OS X doesn't need to only have one place to download applications.
Carrot
Isn't the design awards just a fancy carrot in disguise?
Personally, I think that the biggest detriment to developers is control. If you find an app on their website, the developer controls the shopping environment, and licensee terms. By submitting their app, developers loose control first, profit second.
Isn't the design awards just a fancy carrot in disguise?
Personally, I think that the biggest detriment to developers is control. If you find an app on their website, the developer controls the shopping environment, and licensee terms. By submitting their app, developers loose control first, profit second.
What I don't get is why wouldn't any developer want to distribute through the MacApp store? Unless they make a vertical market product (like my company and we would never use any mass-market distribution channel) I can't see why a developer wouldn't?
And please.... don't cry about the 30% margin... it's so freak'n fair by all software distribution practices that is not a reason for any developer not to want to use the AppStore as a channel.
Obviously, Apple is trying to encourage more Apps to get on iTunes or in the App store. Nothing wrong with that.
Of course Apple are free to do what they want, and limit the scope of the awards in whatever way they see fit, but by doing so it lessens the value of winning the award, because it's from a smaller group of apps and is more blatantly self-serving rather than creating the impression that it is more of a recognition of genuinely well-designed software.
I would liken it to the Oscars, where films that are heavy on acting performances gain an instant advantage because most of the voters are actors. That's fine, but it doesn't mean the awards mean as much as if they were voted for by a more independent, disinterested (as opposed to uninterested) group that didn't have a built-in bias to promote the stature of their own section of the industry.
I would liken it to the Oscars, where films that are heavy on acting performances gain an instant advantage because most of the voters are actors. That's fine, but it doesn't mean the awards mean as much as if they were voted for by a more independent, disinterested (as opposed to uninterested) group that didn't have a built-in bias to promote the stature of their own section of the industry.
Because their application doesn't conform to apple's Mac AppStore rules. There may be very good reasons why an application cannot be modified to comply.
Even Apple break their own Mac Appstore rules! ( i.e., XCode ).
Game developers. World of Warcraft. Adobe. Microsoft. All of these developers not only do not distribute on the App Store but can not due to the App Store's TOS. I like the App Store but the control/terms keep a lot of great programs (like World of Warcraft, which one the Apple Design Award multiple times I think) out.
One follows the other. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Apple's current products *are* insanely great. Just ask the people standing in line.
It'll be their loss, especially since competitors like MS will follow suit and introduce a similar distribution model. Eventually everyone will be in the game, for the the simple reason that they'd like to duplicate Apple's success.
it just seems...
...insanely cheesy.
they are such a rich, powerful and successful company. They are acting like a company desperate for each small advantage, which is not the way they have acted in the past.
For example, in the past they created great apps and then included them for free in the os releases (imovie, iweb, etc.) Now this may have seemed like bad business because they could have charged for them, but they increased the utility of the computer and helped (over the long term) sales.
Now they could do something similar here, by not taking the immediate, money enhancing stance, instead do the thing that will strengthen the PLATFORM. Reward the very best software, that which enhances the value of the company's computers. No. Instead they do a cheesy move, where they use it as some kind of ploy to get developers to use the app store. Its not the typical "high road", long term, high quality approach I expect from Apple. It is a low road, short term, low quality approach. Why the change?
...insanely cheesy.
they are such a rich, powerful and successful company. They are acting like a company desperate for each small advantage, which is not the way they have acted in the past.
For example, in the past they created great apps and then included them for free in the os releases (imovie, iweb, etc.) Now this may have seemed like bad business because they could have charged for them, but they increased the utility of the computer and helped (over the long term) sales.
Now they could do something similar here, by not taking the immediate, money enhancing stance, instead do the thing that will strengthen the PLATFORM. Reward the very best software, that which enhances the value of the company's computers. No. Instead they do a cheesy move, where they use it as some kind of ploy to get developers to use the app store. Its not the typical "high road", long term, high quality approach I expect from Apple. It is a low road, short term, low quality approach. Why the change?
I'm guessing that valve won't get any love for Portal 2 (I know it isn't released yet, but come on it's gonna be amazing).
Seems a little short sighted when there is so much amazing software not yet in the app store, but apple seem to be trying to promote their store, which I'm still hesitant to use as the macupdate bundles normally keep me happy, likewise thee is so much filler and little killer, or maybe I'm just bitter that NI don't offer a Komplete update for a tenner (200 I'm gonna have to spend soon).
Seems a little short sighted when there is so much amazing software not yet in the app store, but apple seem to be trying to promote their store, which I'm still hesitant to use as the macupdate bundles normally keep me happy, likewise thee is so much filler and little killer, or maybe I'm just bitter that NI don't offer a Komplete update for a tenner (200 I'm gonna have to spend soon).
30% is very good if you usually went through others.
If you sell the software yourself online, it's not an attractive deal. A big example was the delay in getting Slingplayer on iOS devices. They could not have been happy about losing $10 per each of tens or hundreds of thousands of downloads.
Sure, but the point is that this isn't a new award. It's been going on for years and yet suddenly has this requirement that is blatantly geared towards rewarding only those who also give royalties to Apple.
It's their right to do so, but greed is not pretty to watch in any case.
You're Missing the Point
The people that used to review all those apps for the contest now have tens of thousands of apps to review... on the APP STORE. This is a perfectly reasonable request.
The people that used to review all those apps for the contest now have tens of thousands of apps to review... on the APP STORE. This is a perfectly reasonable request.
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They rummaged through non-App Store apps two years ago, but back then there wasn't a 30% cut in it for them.
Luph67 said:
They rummaged through non-App Store apps two years ago, but back then there wasn't a 30% cut in it for them.
agreed. I sometimes wish there were more apps. in the Mac App Store. I think it's great and would love to use it more.
What???? 30% is too much for them? Or is there something else in the terms that drive them away?
My friend... I use to work for Adobe and it's not the 30% margin keeping them away. 30% is normal for distribution.
I think I will put together an award ceremony for the best designed car in the world 2011.
But only if the car maker allows me to stock their car in my showroom with my nice fat mark-up. Otherwise their car will be excluded from the event.
Not that I'm bitter or petty or anything you understand!
But only if the car maker allows me to stock their car in my showroom with my nice fat mark-up. Otherwise their car will be excluded from the event.
Not that I'm bitter or petty or anything you understand!