If Amazon pulls the Kindle reader from all IOS devices, then I'll be leaving with them! Guess I start looking at the Android and WebOS devices.
As much as I love the iPhone and iPad, I'm tired of dictatorial Steve Jobs
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Subscriptions and Amazon Kindle
- Thread starter Arnieaz
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If Amazon pulls the Kindle reader from all IOS devices, then I'll be leaving with them! Guess I start looking at the Android and WebOS devices.
As much as I love the iPhone and iPad, I'm tired of dictatorial Steve Jobs
Guess I start looking at the Android and WebOS devices.
As much as I love the iPhone and iPad, I'm tired of dictatorial Steve Jobs
I actually hope they and others do.
If no-one stands up to Apple, they will keep making more and more rules for others to have to obey.
Its not till major companies say we are not accepting it that anything will happen.
One company is already starting to dig it's heels in and it would be nice if others followed.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/15/rhapsody-wont-bow-to-apples-subscription-policy-issues-statem/
Guess I start looking at the Android and WebOS devices.
As much as I love the iPhone and iPad, I'm tired of dictatorial Steve Jobs
Nothing is stopping users from just purchasing through Amazon.com then downloading the files to their iOS devices.
Also, considering that Amazon released a new version of its Kindle app an hour ago, I'd bet they aren't going anywhere.
Unless apple considers that buying something as a sub. And we don't know if that is the case. But if so then this comes into play.
And since amazon would not be allowed to have you link to themselves from within the app. Anyone that does not know about this, and that will be many more than you think, apple will get a chunk. Since they consider that they brought them to the buyer even if in many cases they did not.
This is a very slippery slope if you ask me.
Guess I start looking at the Android and WebOS devices.
As much as I love the iPhone and iPad, I'm tired of dictatorial Steve Jobs
Mad about what...
Steve jobs is no where near being dictatorial. They are getting greedy to please shared holders and themselves like any of us.
Nothing will stop them from purchasing inside the appneither... Which most iOS users will probsblyndo since it will be easier.
And apps don't have to comply with the new rule until July.
I agree with the OP. This could get ugly before it is resolved. If apps start getting pulled, I will be selling my iPad for an android tablet.
I got rid of my ipad for a galaxy tab and don't regret it one bit. Dolphin browser is faster than safari,plays flash and thumb keyboard is amazing. Having the ability to customize literally everything to work the way I,not Steve Jobs,think it should is very liberating to say the least.
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If they start taking off apps I use, I would also look for another tablet. As of now, I am very happy with the iPad, but it is based on the fact that I can use Zinio, Rhapsody, kindle, etc.. with it. Losing any one of these on iOS would be huge disappointment.
Of course, if apple offered a cheaper alternative to rhapsody, I would definitely be open to switching.
Of course, if apple offered a cheaper alternative to rhapsody, I would definitely be open to switching.
Most will do it for convenience have no clue as to what is happening behind the scenes. And apple in their arrogance thinks anyone buying through the app was brought that person to the product. If this is not hubris I don't know what is.
Here is just once example: You have a subscription to a magazine that then has or gets an iPad app. You therefore downlaod the app so you can read on your iPad. Your subscription it about to come up and you like the magazine so you renew. You use the link within the app because it is there. Apple then takes 30% from this publication. Why because by their logic since you bought it through the app they brought you to the product. But since you were already a subscriber they brought apple to them. And since apple makes it against the rules to have a link within the app to buy from them they have stacked the deck so that most will do it just this way.
And most people will not know about this because they don't visit tech sites that are talking about this. So in their ignorance they are hurting companies that the could have been supporting for years before apple got involed.
I know my wife and I got the iPad because of the differnet readers that were there. We could use the same readers we have on our android handsets. And at the time there were no other options in a tablet for this really. So the fact that all of them could be used sold us on the iPad therefore bring us to apple. But when these new rules go into effect anything bought through the app apple would take their share saying they brought me to the site. When it was the exact opposite.
Here is just once example: You have a subscription to a magazine that then has or gets an iPad app. You therefore downlaod the app so you can read on your iPad. Your subscription it about to come up and you like the magazine so you renew. You use the link within the app because it is there. Apple then takes 30% from this publication. Why because by their logic since you bought it through the app they brought you to the product. But since you were already a subscriber they brought apple to them. And since apple makes it against the rules to have a link within the app to buy from them they have stacked the deck so that most will do it just this way.
And most people will not know about this because they don't visit tech sites that are talking about this. So in their ignorance they are hurting companies that the could have been supporting for years before apple got involed.
I know my wife and I got the iPad because of the differnet readers that were there. We could use the same readers we have on our android handsets. And at the time there were no other options in a tablet for this really. So the fact that all of them could be used sold us on the iPad therefore bring us to apple. But when these new rules go into effect anything bought through the app apple would take their share saying they brought me to the site. When it was the exact opposite.
Oh, people will know alright. Either everyones prices are going to go up for content because some percentage will be subject to the 30% Apple tax or content providers will simply dump iOS because they'd no longer have a sustainable margin.
Either way, I'm looking for iPad alternatives as apps like Zinio and Kindle and Skype are far more important to me than iOS. I dumped my iPhone for an Android because of Apples exclusive with AT&T and I'm not afraid to do the same with my iPad for this outrageous Apple policy.
Either way, I'm looking for iPad alternatives as apps like Zinio and Kindle and Skype are far more important to me than iOS. I dumped my iPhone for an Android because of Apples exclusive with AT&T and I'm not afraid to do the same with my iPad for this outrageous Apple policy.
Why would the inclusion of an in-app subscription service have anything to do with buying books? I'm not subscribing to the book.
Kindle also sells subscriptions to newspapers and magazines which would definitely be impacted. Unclear if single purchase books would be impacted but it appears likely given the decision to reject the Sony reader app. And if you look closely you don't buy an Ebook but rather certain very specific rights which could be considered a subscription.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)
Pulling the Sony app is exactly why we're all confused. On its face, the new in-app subscription language doesn't appear to apply to Kindle except for the purchase of subscription-based content like newspapers or magazines. But if that's the case then why was the Sony app pulled? I've never actually used it, but I would assume it worked similarly to the Kindle app (unless of course the option was available in the app to purchase content in-app rather than directing the user to a website in Safari).
jimboutilier said:
Pulling the Sony app is exactly why we're all confused. On its face, the new in-app subscription language doesn't appear to apply to Kindle except for the purchase of subscription-based content like newspapers or magazines. But if that's the case then why was the Sony app pulled? I've never actually used it, but I would assume it worked similarly to the Kindle app (unless of course the option was available in the app to purchase content in-app rather than directing the user to a website in Safari).
I've been a long-time supporter of Apple (Since IIe) and I own an array of their products but I can tell you now I am getting sick of their antics as of late. I haven't seen where this for sure will affect Amazon and eBooks but the bigger issue is this policy will cause prices for everyone to go up. The rule about equal pricing in and out of the app will cause publishers and sellers to up the price outside of the app to cover the increase within. Apple wins, consumers lose. Now I've got to think twice whether I want to hand my cash over to Apple for the iPad 2 as I was planning on doing.
At least they aren't screwing around on the Mac side.
At least they aren't screwing around on the Mac side.
This is great news for Android. I know opinions differ about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the iPad verse the various upcoming Android tablets, but one thing that seemed pretty clear was that iPad would always get the best apps first, with Android versions only being released later (e.g. the Netflix app).
Whether app developers will pull their apps from the app store remains to be seen. I imagine in a lot of cases they will be forced to discontinue their apps because they simply can't make money by giving away 30% of their profits.
In any case, what this will definitely do is give major developers a huge incentive to release apps on Android, and then maybe release the significantly less profitable versions for the iPad as an afterthought if they think they can afford it.
Apple controls the tablet market now, but a year from now I don't think anyone can disagree that Android tablets will control a significant percent of the market (similar to the cell phone market now). At that point, what possible incentive could developers have to release apps for the ipad over Android?
Whether app developers will pull their apps from the app store remains to be seen. I imagine in a lot of cases they will be forced to discontinue their apps because they simply can't make money by giving away 30% of their profits.
In any case, what this will definitely do is give major developers a huge incentive to release apps on Android, and then maybe release the significantly less profitable versions for the iPad as an afterthought if they think they can afford it.
Apple controls the tablet market now, but a year from now I don't think anyone can disagree that Android tablets will control a significant percent of the market (similar to the cell phone market now). At that point, what possible incentive could developers have to release apps for the ipad over Android?
I don't know if I'd go that far. Yes, this is marginally good news for Android in that Apple is stirring up trouble for itself again. But, this latest fiasco applies only to content publishers (and maybe middlemen like Amazon, Netflix, etc.). For the rest of the app developers, it's business as usual and the fact remains that it's easier to monetize one's app in the iOS app store than in the Android Market at the moment. The data shows that Android users just don't pay for apps as much as iOS users.
The only reason Apple can pull a stunt like this is because there are over 100 million users of their devices. They control the gates to a very compelling group of consumers, all of whom are one click away from purchasing content. That's incredibly valuable. The only way this will backfire on Apple is if content owners (or large middlemen) leave the iOS app store en masse. But if I'm one of these content owners, then I'm also afraid of putting myself at a disadvantage relative to my competitors who DON'T pull out of the iOS app store. To people who keep up with this sort of news, I may seem like some sort of vigilante protecting the consumer and attempting to courageously thwart the evil Apple empire's monopolistic tendencies. But, most consumers will probably just wonder why they can't access my content through their iOS devices when they can through my main competitors' offerings. And if I decide not to pull out from the iOS app store and just raise prices instead, I'm still sitting pretty if I'm one of the big, established content owners - for content sold through the iOS app store, I've just passed on this new Apple tax to my customers; for content sold through other channels, I'm now making more money than I was before.
Why couldn't Kindle just put some text on their app that says "Please visit Amazon website to purchase new Kindle books". (with no link)
Then, I go to amazon.com in my safari browser on my iPad (which amazon rebuilt to recognize iPad traffic) and launches the bookstore in which I can purchase a book.
Then, I go back to my Kindle app, and it syncs my new purchase. I don't think Apple would stop this. I also don't think Kindle would pull their app.
Then, I go to amazon.com in my safari browser on my iPad (which amazon rebuilt to recognize iPad traffic) and launches the bookstore in which I can purchase a book.
Then, I go back to my Kindle app, and it syncs my new purchase. I don't think Apple would stop this. I also don't think Kindle would pull their app.
Fair enough, but it sounds like you bought the iPad based on peer pressure, not your personal requirements. Besides, flash is a non-issue these days - I make thousands of web-hits a month with my iPad, and maybe twice would it have been nice to have flash enabled. That's how insignificant and crap it is.
As for the browser being faster than Safari, you make it sound like there are no alternatives, or that it's a life or death difference in speed... Swapping an iPad for a Tab was a bad move, especially with the larger one coming out.
On a side note ... would a service like Dropbox who is free for basic version but who offers an upgrade of 50 gig per month and cost somewhere close to 9$ (I think) per month or a yearly payement be subject to Apples new rules ?
Does Skype qualify for these new rules (having a monthly or yearly payment for Skype's unlimited US-Canada calling)
If so ... OMG I hope these apps don't leave the Store ......
Can anyone tell me if the rules apply to them as well ?
Does Skype qualify for these new rules (having a monthly or yearly payment for Skype's unlimited US-Canada calling)
If so ... OMG I hope these apps don't leave the Store ......
Can anyone tell me if the rules apply to them as well ?
I've read the policies but, honestly, I'm still confused by them. On the face of it I don't like them. But I'm going to give it a bit of time. Like some on some other things, Apple changes their mind or gives ground under pressure and things return to normal. I'm thinking of the trouble they stirred with ads last year and certain interpreted code. It was too drastic out of the gate but got more reasonable before it became a problem.
Except that now, if non-free content is offered through the app, Amazon MUST offer the books at the SAME PRICE inside the app as they charge outside the app. So, Amazon would be losing even more money on ebooks to keep the app on iOS. Basically, you cannot keep users from buying content through iTunes. Remember how long Jeff Bezos held out when the publishers went to the Apple pricing model? If Apple insists on 30%, Amazon will leave. I will follow shortly, since I have a large collection of Kindle books.
This has made me pause and consider Android. Apps like Kindle will either have to pay the 30% and keep current prices which I doubt is feasible when the books are already so cheap.
Or they will have to raise prices. Essentially for Amazon to make what they are making now they would have to raise prices across the board including on their website purchases since Apple is requiring price to be same in App and online. This is the clincher as it forces pricing outside the Apple ecosystem higher if publishers etc... want to make what they are making now.
Or they will leave Apple altogether.
This really stinks on Apples part.
I will not buy another ios device until I see how this shakes out.
Or they will have to raise prices. Essentially for Amazon to make what they are making now they would have to raise prices across the board including on their website purchases since Apple is requiring price to be same in App and online. This is the clincher as it forces pricing outside the Apple ecosystem higher if publishers etc... want to make what they are making now.
Or they will leave Apple altogether.
This really stinks on Apples part.
I will not buy another ios device until I see how this shakes out.
Agreed. Would not have considered Android before, but now I am concerned that I could buy the next-gen iPad only to have Netflix, Amazon Kindle, and Pandora leave the app store universe.
That would be bad. I'm currently evaluating the Honeycomb tabs while I wait to see what the iPad 2 has in store ...