--When all of the synth apps starting being released how many of you popped for them and just couldn't wait to use those wonderful new synths and now....
How many of those great synths aren't even on your iPad anymore or if they are you don't use them? I remember how unbelievable it was to actually have a Fairlight and later the MiniMoog and what about a PPG? How many of us actually use these?
I bought and recommended several apps that had such great promise (Sessionband for one) and now they aren't even on my iPad, some the developers don't seem to understand live use and some just abandoned the app altogether.
If you're an app developer I hope you understand if some of us don't immediately jump for your synth or whatever we may already have a variation of it and bought ours the second before they lowered the price by 50%!
---And the award for this year's app junkie goes to:
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- KVRist
- 478 posts since 25 Jun, 2010
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- KVRAF
- 1895 posts since 13 Oct, 2002
When I did my taxes this year, I tallied up how much money I spent on iOS apps last year and though I did expect it to be high, I was shocked of just how much I had spent. As a result, this year I totally cooled down and I'm spending 90% less than I did last year, and almost never buy apps at full price. Those < $5 apps sure do add up.
But over the last year, it's become apparent to me that there's fundamental flaws in the way Apple implemented the Appstore.
One is that there's still no real demo mode other than offering a free app with IAPs; often the core functionality of the app precludes using that model. A small price of admission is designed to compensate for that. So in essence, spend money to satisfy your curiosity, and lose it if the product isn't what you expected or never gets updated.
Another problem with the Appstore is long term sustainability of an evolving app. How does a dev make money if the app keeps being developed but there's no other income than the initial price of the app? Of course that's when IAPs for extended features or content come in; but what if these changes are intimately bound to the core of the product? The only way is to create a new derivative product and generate new income; not very gracious to the people who invested in earlier versions. Or swallow the work and hope that more people will buy the app in its later incarnations over the longer term. IMHO, this is forcing app development in a direction that isn't ideal for many products. They really should implement some kind of "upgrade purchase".
The only real winner is Apple with their guaranteed cut of all sales. The Appstore skews traditional software development and pricing in favor of volume at everyone's expense but their own. I honestly don't know if it's sustainable in the longer term. Then again, they live in a post PC world focused on the "average" consumer's needs. The only hope long term is that the average consumer will become more educated...
But over the last year, it's become apparent to me that there's fundamental flaws in the way Apple implemented the Appstore.
One is that there's still no real demo mode other than offering a free app with IAPs; often the core functionality of the app precludes using that model. A small price of admission is designed to compensate for that. So in essence, spend money to satisfy your curiosity, and lose it if the product isn't what you expected or never gets updated.
Another problem with the Appstore is long term sustainability of an evolving app. How does a dev make money if the app keeps being developed but there's no other income than the initial price of the app? Of course that's when IAPs for extended features or content come in; but what if these changes are intimately bound to the core of the product? The only way is to create a new derivative product and generate new income; not very gracious to the people who invested in earlier versions. Or swallow the work and hope that more people will buy the app in its later incarnations over the longer term. IMHO, this is forcing app development in a direction that isn't ideal for many products. They really should implement some kind of "upgrade purchase".
The only real winner is Apple with their guaranteed cut of all sales. The Appstore skews traditional software development and pricing in favor of volume at everyone's expense but their own. I honestly don't know if it's sustainable in the longer term. Then again, they live in a post PC world focused on the "average" consumer's needs. The only hope long term is that the average consumer will become more educated...
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 478 posts since 25 Jun, 2010
-Excellent reply and I agree totally...