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Apple to Eliminate Retail Box Software Inventory

Apple is continuing to disappoint me. I actually have a relatively slow internet speed, and the prices just rose even more. I might buy Aperture through the App Store, or some third party indie dev app, but games, I'd rather buy boxed, along with many other apps.
 
geez

way to make your stores useless apple. Why do you keep taking stuff away? Do you not like to get money from 3rd parties? Now we can basicly not get anything but macs and iGadgets which I usually customize online. Not to mention apple stores are so scarce i would have to drive 3 miles
 
Save some trees and force a few without broadband to evolve. Opens up space in the stores and cuts back on overhead in production. Smart move. I'm sure there will be a few copies available in the stores for extreme cases.
 
LethalWolfe said:
I'm sure stores like Best Buy will still carry the boxed software so I doubt people's ability to get a physical copy will be hampered much. I mean, who actually has an Apple Store w/in driving distance but not a store like Best Buy?
Lethal
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I got neither one less than 2 1/2 hrs away.😛
 
I wonder if we'll soon see Adobe and MS from selling on the Mac app store. Apple's 30% cut can't be much different to what they get when they sell a retail copy anyway.
 
notjustjay said:
I'm just not comfortable with this idea, though I've been sitting here for a few minutes trying to figure out how to articulate why.

I mean, I guess digital downloads work just as well... and they're cheaper too...

One thing I do fear is that this might play further into the anti-Apple FUD. People already have these mistaken impressions that Macs can't use Office, you can only use Apple's own mouse and keyboard... now are people going to see the lack of boxed software in the Apple store and start the whole "Macs have no software" argument all over again?

It will also make it a bit more difficult to buy software for other people. But that's a pretty weak argument by itself 😀
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that was only about apples own software not about adobes or microsofts
 
Great, but NEW iWORK ALREADY PLEASE!

And Keynote better see some significant updates. Some of the limitations are killing me (primarily the lack of pasteboard on the top and left sides of the slide).
 
Fraaaa said:
What's a Dvd? 😕
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There are still many of us that use iDVD for many purposes. I make and mail out probably 60-70 DVDs per year for one particular annual event. Until your average consumer owns a Blu-Ray player (and Apple provides an "everyday use" authoring solution), DVDs are still the way to go, and iDVD still has lots of life in it.

(Despite being bloated, buggy and slow. 🙁 )
 
So what happens if I have no internet connection? Only way to get online is via a public place. Cmon apple not everyone is rich like you 😡

Also MANY people dont know how to download and install... they 100% trust cds to do the job for them.
 
Sounds good. They can use the extra space in the stores. I'm sure FCP will still be distributed on DVD media. They could always build it like Steam. You can buy media to reduce the download time from the store that comes with a code to claim the software on the App Store.
 
I'd guess that Apple stores will continue to sell a few applications in boxed form (OS X, Microsoft Office, Photoshop), but they may eliminate the public racks for the boxed applications. So you'd ask an associate for a copy of the software, and someone would bring a copy from the back storeroom.

I think it's a smart move for Apple. When was the last time you saw crowds around the boxed applications in an Apple Store? Compare that with the racks of iPod/iPhone accessories.
 
iPhoneCollector said:
that was only about apples own software not about adobes or microsofts
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So wouldn't that make the problem even worse? Your newbie almost-about-to-buy-a-Mac guy walks into the Apple store, sees the software shelf, which contains a few titles from Adobe and Microsoft, maybe Final Cut Studio, and NOTHING ELSE, and says "Geez... that's it???" and "Holy cow, look at these prices?! Apple software costs a fortune!"

There's something to be said about a shelf full of an array of colorful boxes of low-priced, high-function software. "Oh, it's all downloadable online now" doesn't look cool. 😉
 
I like it. I can't remember the last time I actually purchased software that came on a CD. I think the industry is heading in this direction anyway...And with the success of the MAS, hopefully we'll continue to see more and more added.
 
aprofetto8 said:
But how would they order it?

Bazinga.
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Bazinga, indeed! Good show.

Jobs clearly sees boxed software going the way of the floppy. And I think he's right, that's the way things should be. They're digits, dammit. Deliver them digitally.

A side benefit for companies that sell software: As people grow accustomed to this method of software delivery, it should be easier to cut down on software piracy. Physical copies will become irrelevant, and there are methods to ensure that most folks can use software only from authorized sources.
 
i remeber multiple occasions where I set up a mac offline with boxed software. sometime we have no internet access and then those boxes are very handy to get a working system set up fast.

but this is where it goes. the internal dvd drive will go away very soon. i'm not too happy about this because you get more and more depended on constant connection to apples servers and their approval of whatever you do.
 
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