I've wanted a Mac for many, many years. The only Apple product I own is a classic iPod. When I heard the iPhone was coming to Verizon, I got all giddy. I figured I would wait till the Summer and get the next iPhone model that comes out (I currently have an old Droid). I've even been driving by Verizon stores, debating to go in and see what my upgrade options are. Then Apple made an announcement.
They have a new way for people to sell subscriptions on iTunes, iPhones, iPad, etc. If you sell a subscription through Apple they take 30%. With this technology you can continue to say “There is an App for that” which is what helped launch the iPhone and iPod touch into the world. You could do everything on the device.
But now they are getting greedy. Now if you app sells something through your App, Apple is also taking 30%. To clarify, if your app was not free they took 30%, and now if you sell something in your app, they are taking 30%. I don't consider buying a book from Amazon a “subscription.”
Most people speculate this is so Amazon's Kindle app will have to remove the “Kindle Store” link in their app (which does make it super easy to buy books). Apple wants to make it harder to order from their competitors, so people will visit Apple's bookstore. From a business stand point this makes sense. Why help your competitor, right? Well in my opinion because allowing your competitor on your device did the following:
1. Showed your confidence in your product. Your not afraid to have your competitor on your device because you know the iPad is cooler than a Kindle.
2. It made your device THE device that could do EVERYTHING. When people develop for mobile, they create an iPhone version first, and an android version second (followed by Blackberry). There is a weight loss Application called Lose It! (its very popular, and very easy to use). One of the reasons I was thinking of swapping out my Droid for an iPhone is I can't the Lose It! app on a droid format (they say they are working on one, but have not set release date).
By making rules that hinder an Apps usefulness, you hinder the usefulness of your own device.
On one other note, this move by Apple (to me) shows some fear. I like this as I truly believe that Apple NEEDS competition. They have some of the brightest ideas coming out of that camp. By being able to chew into their market, they are forced to work harder, and hopefully, smarter.
Right now I think this move is dumb, and I don't want a company dictating what my apps can do. This shows that previous to this decision Apple had made a “mistake” by allowing these features in Apps. Well from a customer service perspective, you never provide a “new” product with less functionality than the previous version.
