Amazon's 'Kindle' App Updated to Remove Direct Kindle Store Links

[Lochias]

Level playing field

Happy now Apple? So much for ease of use. This is pathetic.

Have you tried buying from iTunes on your Kindle lately?

 

[manu chao]

If Apple was truly interested in strong-arming Kindle off of iOS why did they change the rules from the original?

If it was truly an evil, closed, strong-arming platform worse than anything conceived in modern technology, why did Apple acquiesce to some changes to its initial rule?

I am sure Apple was not opposed to the idea of Amazon actually paying the 30%, they gave it a try. In the end they retreated to the just-do-not-have-a-link-to-your-store-in-your-app position.

 

[InfernoShade]

It's obvious most of us have spent our entire lives only as consumers and haven't acquainted ourselves with the most fundamental principles of commerce.

Apple has invested significantly in creating a platform that, among other things, can be exploited by others to make a buck. Apple probably licensed the software code to enable in app purchases. They are offering their infrastructure for processing said purchases. Therefore, it would be foolish for them to let other companies profit from their investments for free (or too little). Honestly, do you believe Amazon doesn't get a cut when merchants peddle their goods on its website?

Frankly, it's silly that you'd be outraged at Apple. As the customer, you weren't being asked to pay a premium for the goods in question. The sellers simply wanted the highest profit possible even if that meant an inconvenience to you. Are any of them selling the same goods for less $ through alternate portals? Probably not.

Remember, when a company like Apple is profitable, it can afford to improve its products and services. Google doesn't even have a system in place to make online purchases easy.

Deft, I really appreciate your attempt but, I'd give up man.

I've been trying for months on a number of tech sites to explain the business model in the simplest ways possible. It's pointless. It's clear most technophiles have no understanding of business. And that's being kind. Even when a actual MacRumors Analyst came in and told people they were misunderstanding the business, people just ignored him. You even get people arguing that Apple should not take a percentage of sales and instead Apple should pay the developers. Nuts. They have ZERO understanding. Give up man. I have.

 

[Lochias]

Pretty good deal

Apple was compensated when Amazon paid for a developer account to publish apps in the app store.

$100 for all the books the world cares to buy.

Now what does Apple pay to sell content to the Kindle?

 

[roadbloc]

Have you tried buying from iTunes on your Kindle lately?

Um... what? Who would even want to put iTunes on a Kindle? That would be as pointless as having iTunes on a toaster. I really do not see the point you are trying to make.

At all.

 

[0007776]

Think of it like free advertising. Amazon uses the iOS platform to make more money, while Apple gets no compensation for putting together the platform and hence establishing the userbase in the first place.

Since the kindle app was what put me over the edge for an iPad apple got at least the sale of one iPad in compensation. I doubt I'm the only one who decided to buy it since that app was available. However it isn't a big deal to lose the button as I mostly buy books from Safari anyway, but I probably won't update the app.

 

[Lochias]

Not quite

Could someone subvert the requirement by making the link to an information page. Such as an "about page" in most applications. Thus you click the link and it takes you to the "About" page for the application (that open in Safari); and then from there you can click another link to open the store?

Just a thought.

And Apple is not going to notice, because...?

 

[ck2875]

Still Links to Kindle Store.

I just found where the Kindle app still links to purchase a copy of the book by taking you to their mobile site rather than in app purchases.

How/where? If you have a book downloaded onto 6 devices and try to download it onto a 7th device, you get a pop up notification saying that you can either purchase another copy or cancel. If you click purchase, then it takes you to the Kindle mobile store with the option to buy another copy without making an in-app purchase.

I'm somewhat surprised that made it through the review process.

(note: sorry if someone already posted this, but i am at work and didn't have time to go through all the prior postings (yet had time to write this )).

 

[nwcs]

Lets see MS has a very strong university support system in place were they give away a lot of their software for cheap to even free. If you want to get your hands on MS dev tools you can get the 1k+ packages for free if you are a student.
Lets not forget the very nice deals that they give universities for upgrades to give to the students. They could clearly charge more for most of that and people would pay it.
MS also is one of the best companies in corporate philanthropy.
Google gives away a lot of their stuff that they could charge for. A lot bigger in the open source development.
Cisco gives away a lot of stuff.
HEB donates huge chunks of food and money to food banks.
Sanuks gives away huge amounts of items.

That list above none of it bring in money. Hell they could kill most of it off and still they would bring in just as much revenue. No one would walk away.
I also know of several companies in construction that I do a lot of things as well. CMC I know has done quite a bit for example and they were a joy to work with.

Apple on the other hand has been killing of its Edu program to well it is crap now and you can almost get a better deal going outside of Apple. Kills off it corporate philanthropy (with a promise to bring it back when the company was doing better.)

So Apple's not doing any philanthropy or educational discounts? Um, no.

And you don't suspect those companies use their philanthropic efforts as a means of advertising? So you don't see their logos blasted all around and don't see press releases or news stories about some donation or other? They're just anonymous gifts that don't benefit the company in any possible way?

Google and open source... They take a lot as much as they give. And they find ways to monetize their stuff pretty well with advertising. Microsoft does discount some things and then jack up prices on the other end. Check out SQL Server licensing sometime.

But that's irrelevant. They maximize their profits in a similar way as Apple does (since Apple does have discounts and we cannot say with any certainty what it does anonymously).

Notice I'm not saying it's right or wrong but it's business. And Apple has every right to run their business to maximize profits as they see fit. If it works, bully for them. If it doesn't, they'll change.

 

[Lochias]

To each his own

They should have waited to see if Apple would have pulled their app from the App Store.

Why make the change before Apple actually enforces it?

Would have gotten Apple bad publicity and then if they remove the app, then Amazon could have made the change and resubmitted.

I for one won't be buying through iBooks. In Australia there isn't any content and I don't like being limited to one brand of hardware devices.

I don't like, on the Kindle, being limited to one brand of content provider.

 

[Defthand]

The difference is that no "good" is on Apple servers, bad analogy.

Nor are all goods sold on Amazon fulfilled by Amazon, yet the same conditions apply. Apple provides a vehicle (its hardware, software, and app store) that ultimately enable other businesses to profit. If Apple's platform didn't have the potential to generate more business for Amazon and others, those companies would have yanked their apps altogether.

 

[Lochias]

Logic query

At some point, this is highly likely to become an anti-trust issue. But yes, until then, they can do as they please, within the limits of what customers will tolerate.

As for me, I rarely buy from my iPhone (probably 2/3 of my purchases are from desktop, e.g. at work, and most of the other 1/3 from my Kindle), and if I do, I'm often browsing books in Safari anyways. So for now, I don't really care much. Amazon (and the WSJ and others) are probably going to do fine with it, too.

And this is "highly likely to become" an Apple monopoly issue because...?

 

[cozmot]

I really couldn't care less. I am still able to purchase kindle books via Amazon and read them on my iPad.


I'm curious how many people actually are in the Kindle app and use that link to purchase books compared to going directly to Amazon in a browser? I know personally I do not even think about launching Kindle to purchase books as it is done through a browser with or without a link from an app.

Good point. I've never purchased a Kindle book anywhere but on Amazon's web site. Just like in a real book store, I like to browse, and doing that on an iOS device isn't the same experience.

 

[Lochias]

Appreciation

i see it the complete other way, apple should be glad and appreciate that the developers even bother making apps and make the whole iOS experience what it is

As a business, they should be glad to the extent that it sells products and makes them money.

 

[cozmot]

Deft, I really appreciate your attempt but, I'd give up man.

I've been trying for months on a number of tech sites to explain the business model in the simplest ways possible. It's pointless. It's clear most technophiles have no understanding of business. And that's being kind. Even when a actual MacRumors Analyst came in and told people they were misunderstanding the business, people just ignored him. You even get people arguing that Apple should not take a percentage of sales and instead Apple should pay the developers. Nuts. They have ZERO understanding. Give up man. I have.

Well put; you said it all!

 

[InfernoShade]

Nor are all goods sold on Amazon fulfilled by Amazon, yet the same conditions apply. Apple provides a vehicle (its hardware, software, and app store) that ultimately enable other businesses to profit. If Apple's platform didn't have the potential to generate more business for Amazon and others, those companies would have yanked their apps altogether.

Dude, again give up. This guy will just talk in circles. I tried probably about 30 posts in another thread to explain to this guys and some similar thinkers. I was right were you are, trying to explain how Apple opened a new revenue stream. Its like talking to a wall. They totally don't get it.

 

[redking31591]

google books is back, i just got an update for it

 

[Lochias]

Boy did they ever patent it

will do exactly that! After iOS5 being a ripoff of other OS and cydia apps only (no innovations there coming from apple) why not move to android then anyway? The software is advanced enough with 4.0 coming out soon and the devices are on par when it comes to hardware.

The move is just an inconvinience for iOS users, who will eventually reconsider and buy a different brand afterwards. 30% cut is just too much...especially if you think about, that you bought that iPad or iPhone and own it! The ecosystem is the reason why you bought it...and not a platform to make you pay apple even more money. The revenue for iOS hardware is already the highest compared to other devices....
Can´t wait for Amazon´s tablet to show some ecosystem muscles as well

One reason not to move to Android might be that the supply of devices may dry up in December when the ITC makes final its determination of patent infringement.

 

[InfernoShade]

i see it the complete other way, apple should be glad and appreciate that the developers even bother making apps and make the whole iOS experience what it is

Here's a perfect example!

Yeah, why bother making apps for iPhone at all. Not like Apple helped us make money we never would have ... oh wait, what? How does this business work?!

Sorry, bushido to single you out, But Defthand needed an example, and here you were.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

One reason not to move to Android might be that the supply of devices may dry up in December when the ITC makes final its determination of patent infringement.

you do know that ITC is will not make a final determination until next summer at best and even then they might not ban imports.

 

[phanfave]

Shameful

Today neither Apple nor Amazon won.

Today the consumers lost. Simple as that. I love Apple products, but I'm not defending them here.

 

[Rigby]

Pointless and petty on the behalf of Apple. It's just going against everything they believe in about being "user friendly" it's not as if they need the 30% when each quarter they post is a record one.

The core of the issue is that Apple wants to pull more business into its own sales channel (the iTunes store) and restrict the competition with other channels (like direct web purchases from the content provider). Apple has every right to take a cut for in-app purchases that go through the iTunes store (essentially they provide charging services). What they should not have done IMO is to dictate that content providers cannot sell their content for higher prices through iTunes than elsewhere. This is anti-competitive. Allow them to charge a little more for in-app purchases to compensate for Apple's cut if they want, and then let the customer decide whether the convenience of an in-app purchase is worth a surcharge.

Will there still be a way to purchase Kindle books for the iPhone/iPad app after the update, as my mother is going to be buying an iPad for reading and the Kindle App provides more competitive pricing, in my opinion

Of course. You can buy Kindle books through the Amazon shopping app.

 

[Lochias]

Big deal

While I agree that Apple can do anything it wants with its platform where do you get the notion that Apple is providing Amazon with customers? Are you really under the impression that if there wasn't an Amazon app on an iphone that Amazon would have no customer base?

And on Amazon's part, they likewise have the right to make their own decision about the app. I think their decision is the correct one, remove the in-app purchase button and cut Apple out of the revenue loop.

For full disclosure I'm a Nook user and don't have any real interest in this fight, when I buy from Amazon I always purchase physical books.

johnpq

Where <I> "get the notion that Apple is providing Amazon with customers" is from me. I saw the Kindle app and liked it. So I started buying books.

No one claims that Amazon business is so terribly dependent on Apple. BUT where it IS directly dependent (bought from the app), they would like to share in the transaction. Amazon says no. Okay. So we go to the web site. Both Apple and Amazon seem to look after their financial interests -- and their customers -- pretty well. Why is the button (which, in fact, I never used -- always browsed) such a big deal?

 

[Popeye206]

off the top of my head.
Google, MS, Cisco, HEB, sanuk

ROFL!!!! OMG.... you're kidding right? Google, MS and Cisco???? Really? They don't try and maximize their profits? ROFL!

That is sooooo funny!

 

[Oletros]

One reason not to move to Android might be that the supply of devices may dry up in December when the ITC makes final its determination of patent infringement.

How how ALL Android devices would dry up?