[LINK] Apple is turning into the evil empire

Ivan Trundle ivan at itrundle.com
Wed Mar 9 09:14:20 AEDT 2011


On 08/03/2011, at 8:15 PM, Kim Holburn quoted:

>> You can't install anything on it that hasn't had the prior approval of Mr Jobs and his subordinates. And if you are foolish enough to break the rules and seek your own route to salvation, then you may find when you next try to sync it with iTunes that it has turned into an expensive, beautifully designed paperweight. If that isn't power, then I don't know

Odd segue into an entirely different discussion at the end of the article. However...

The article rants about a number of issues, but the key focus appears to be the change in subscription terms and conditions for publishers. 

It's an interesting argument, since publishers up until now have expected to have the full details of the subscriber. Apple has now trodden on toes and stipulated that that data is not necessarily available to the publisher, and that 30% goes to Apple (their intention was that any discounts or pricing offered elsewhere should match what is available via iTunes, yet discounts offered outside of the Apple universe might not have the 30% take).

It sounds to me as though this is in the customer's interest, and the debate rages online about who it really serves. There is no doubt that Apple has bitten off a little too much this time around, and the perception is that greed has taken a hold, even if it is the same terms and conditions for all other iTunes-delivered content.

The App Store has only been around for 3 years, so I expect that there is still a long way to go in developing business models that satisfy all.

An interesting in-depth article (which is more balanced and informative) here:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/15/apple-in-app-subscriptions/

iT

--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com ph 0418 244 259





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