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'Premium' App Store Rumors Revived
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$20 iPhone apps will be an excellent new addition. it's quite sad, and embarrassing, to read comments about how that's too expensive...
A) you bought a product of apple, you can no make claims that things are too expensive, especially if things are for said apple product.
B) software developers are technical workers and not your personal slave. if you want free stuff go troll the torrent sites.
A) you bought a product of apple, you can no make claims that things are too expensive, especially if things are for said apple product.
B) software developers are technical workers and not your personal slave. if you want free stuff go troll the torrent sites.
All I really want is more organization in the app store, spliting by price point sounds fine. And yes, $20 is acceptable for an app, not all of us can live on iShoot lite...
I am not too bothered by this concept so long as entry to the "premium" store for the developers requires a certain level of support/commitment. I would expect companies like SAP, Microsoft (yes even them), Apple, Oracle, Adobe to be the ones providing the content, along with the major game creators and such.
Too many of the apps out there really aren't worth more than 99c, yes you may spend your time and your money creating them but when you look at the value the app provides to the consumer many could be viewed as nothing more than a simple experiment with little to no future support/patches etc.
This being said, Apple takes 30% of the sale price of an app, I wonder how many of the top tier mainstream developers are willing to pay Apple for every sale. Lets be honest, many of the software companies are buddy buddy as little as possible as none of them really like each other. I could see some of these companies, especially in the Enterprise arena, wanting to sell you licenses for X copies for install on a normal system and then Y copies that can then be pushed out to the iPhones through the corporate agreement setup Apple has for companies to push there own apps out.
The Premium App Store should still work well for the independent/non aligned developers but for quite a few giving Apple $ doesn't work for them and this will restrict what they are willing to develop.
As to the appstore in general, the iPhone & iPod Touch are both more mainstream consumer orientated than Blackberry, although Blackberry is appealing to consumers as well there is massive amount of support aimed purely @ the business market, as a result the majority of the apps are aimed at the consumer and not the business.
Too many of the apps out there really aren't worth more than 99c, yes you may spend your time and your money creating them but when you look at the value the app provides to the consumer many could be viewed as nothing more than a simple experiment with little to no future support/patches etc.
This being said, Apple takes 30% of the sale price of an app, I wonder how many of the top tier mainstream developers are willing to pay Apple for every sale. Lets be honest, many of the software companies are buddy buddy as little as possible as none of them really like each other. I could see some of these companies, especially in the Enterprise arena, wanting to sell you licenses for X copies for install on a normal system and then Y copies that can then be pushed out to the iPhones through the corporate agreement setup Apple has for companies to push there own apps out.
The Premium App Store should still work well for the independent/non aligned developers but for quite a few giving Apple $ doesn't work for them and this will restrict what they are willing to develop.
As to the appstore in general, the iPhone & iPod Touch are both more mainstream consumer orientated than Blackberry, although Blackberry is appealing to consumers as well there is massive amount of support aimed purely @ the business market, as a result the majority of the apps are aimed at the consumer and not the business.
I agree that this sounds like a great idea. The race to the bottom has been a bit ridiculous, and undoubtedly we would see some better and more full featured apps if there was a premium app store. Such things like more full featured games or word processing apps would likely be more popular if there was a premium store.
Personally I think a $20+ premium section is a great idea if it encourages more big name developers to develop more full featured applications. I certainly can't see Microsoft selling an Office Touch for less than $20, and no matter how much people dislike Microsoft or Office, having a fully compatible version of Office for the iPhone and Touch would certainly be useful for a great many people. I think even Apple would be adverse to selling an iWork Touch for only $10. Similarly with games, the $20 price point would encourage developers to make games that are comparable in scope to those on the PSP and DS, instead of the more bit-sized games that are common now.
I don't follow the logic that setting up a $20 premium section would encourage developers to overcharge for their applications. It's not like having a $20 premium section will prevent people from offering their apps at lower price points. And market conditions still remain, if premium apps just aren't worth $20 then don't buy them and developers would be forced to drop the price accordingly.
Perhaps people prefer smaller, more focused applications and games at a cheaper price point, but there is certainly a niche for applications and games of larger scope and higher price points. It's just a matter of how big that niche is. I think it's great that Apple is moving to push the iPhone and Touch platforms in all directions to see how far it'll go.
I don't follow the logic that setting up a $20 premium section would encourage developers to overcharge for their applications. It's not like having a $20 premium section will prevent people from offering their apps at lower price points. And market conditions still remain, if premium apps just aren't worth $20 then don't buy them and developers would be forced to drop the price accordingly.
Perhaps people prefer smaller, more focused applications and games at a cheaper price point, but there is certainly a niche for applications and games of larger scope and higher price points. It's just a matter of how big that niche is. I think it's great that Apple is moving to push the iPhone and Touch platforms in all directions to see how far it'll go.
This may not be popular around here but I think the price of the iphone dev program should be raised from $99 to $599 with the 3.0 SDK. There needs to be a higher barrier to entry to raise the quality of the apps. A higher price dev fee would do much to do that IMO.
And If a dev balks at this then he's not serious enough for me to waste my time and money on.*
(Why do I feel like one of those field runner guys after saying this?)
*maybe except for the free apps, maybe keep it at $99 for that so hobbyists and people learning can still ship product. maybe.
That may be a good idea, but you can also make a pay scale too. Developers who pay $99 can only charge no more than $1.99 an app and developers who pay $999 fee can then charge greater than $20 per app.
Apple is the one to blame on this one!
They accepted all this crappy apps and now they have to make another section for the real ones. It should be backwards.
How many fart apps do we have?
Is it really necessary? Does it really offers real features?
Shazam for me was the first REAL app that i got for the iPhone..., with good functionality/features and easy to use..
This app store is a mess, you cant even find a decent one from those 25,000. Looking for a new app? Your gonna have to spend 10 hours for you to find it.
They accepted all this crappy apps and now they have to make another section for the real ones. It should be backwards.
How many fart apps do we have?
Is it really necessary? Does it really offers real features?
Shazam for me was the first REAL app that i got for the iPhone..., with good functionality/features and easy to use..
This app store is a mess, you cant even find a decent one from those 25,000. Looking for a new app? Your gonna have to spend 10 hours for you to find it.
I agree with this. The iPhone just isn't a good gaming platform, no matter how hard Apple tries to pound it into our heads. If I was heavy into gaming, I would just buy a PSP.
I tried out the Rolando Lite version and it had the opposite effect on me. What a horrible game. I wouldn't even pay $0.99 on the full version. Maybe it's a great game (it certainly looks fun), but just not on the iPhone.
That makes a lot of sense. I don't like this "premium" idea. There are a lot of great apps out there for up to $5 (like Ocarina). Having a "velvet rope" section implies that the less expensive apps aren't as good or exclusive. And that seems like a slap in the face to all the programmers who have developed great apps but simply don't charge big bucks for them. I mean, is "I Am Rich" better than "Aqua Forest" simply because it costs more?
Could some of these games been delayed for this reason?? Need for Speed: undercover, and the Sims 3 because they are like a premium game.
If they can make apps that are worth $20 then it could work. I would not like to try and guess at this stage.
Worth is in the eye of the individual buyer. Lot's of apps priced $20 and over sell, don't have any better alternatives, and get at least one good review. The app was worth it to that customer, even if it's not you or the masses.
imho.
The idea of a premium App Store is a good one but doing it by price is ridiculous. Developers can charge whatever they want even if nobody buys their app.
Remember I Am Rich anyone???
Remember I Am Rich anyone???
I released a $20 app. Does it sell as many as my $1 app? Nope. Does it have at least 1/20th the sales volume of my $1 app? Actually far better.
Draw your own conclusions.
Beejive is kinda expensive and has sold very well.
Cause is quality, offers a lot of great features and a cool interface.
This is an example of an premium app!
A lot of people bought it cause is as a great idea and they did an amazing job with it!
I hope this new "premium" store offers apps like that one!
Can't wait for ichat tho.. maybe for march 17??
Cause is quality, offers a lot of great features and a cool interface.
This is an example of an premium app!
A lot of people bought it cause is as a great idea and they did an amazing job with it!
I hope this new "premium" store offers apps like that one!
Can't wait for ichat tho.. maybe for march 17??
What determines "commercial quality"?
The price?
The company or group or individual that made the app?
The overall rating?
The number of downloads?
Final Fantasy Crystal Defenders is a commercial game on cellphones, iphone, xbox live arcade, wii and DS AND is made by SquareEnix, a huge gaming company. However, Field Runners is FAR BETTER when it comes to visuals and playability. Which one would you consider "professional or commercial quality"
I paid $25 for Jaadu VNC... and I would have paid $26
The race to the bottom in pricing has been very cool in a way (and a new premium section wouldn't change that) but it's also a barrier to getting big, sophisticated games and apps made.
I approach the concept with cautious optimism. If the games aren't good enough to justify the price, I'll be sticking with the non-premiums of course.
The race to the bottom in pricing has been very cool in a way (and a new premium section wouldn't change that) but it's also a barrier to getting big, sophisticated games and apps made.
I approach the concept with cautious optimism. If the games aren't good enough to justify the price, I'll be sticking with the non-premiums of course.
netbook maybe?
Maybe this gives credence to a tablet/netbook/eBook device. Many new book titles are in the $20 range. Also applications and games for a netbook-like device might well be offered for 20+ bucks or so. Just a thought.
Maybe this gives credence to a tablet/netbook/eBook device. Many new book titles are in the $20 range. Also applications and games for a netbook-like device might well be offered for 20+ bucks or so. Just a thought.