“Unavoidably, we have the C-word heat: ‘Steve Jobs is a Control freak. After Closing the iPhone ecosystem, he wants to exert the same dictatorial control over the Mac. Yet another Walled Garden,'” Gassée writes. “That’s simply unfounded, and counterproductive paranoia: Mac software will continue to be sold (and sellable) on shelves and on Web sites. But who gets to approach these venues? Small, independent app developers have a terrible time getting shelf space in retail stores. Making money by selling one’s wares on the Web isn’t an easy task either.”
“Yes, there will be a loss of ‘freedom.’ Today on Macs (and PCs) you can sell code that modifies the machine at any level. It can yield very useful results, or it can wreak havoc, there are (almost) no limits” Gassée writes. “Tomorrow, the Mac App Store will impose restrictions. Some will irritate, some will be acceptable. We’ve seen Apple back down from some of the more aggressive interpreter restrictions for iOS apps, for example. But your neat $10 utility will find customers, updates will be managed, payment processing won’t be a problem.”
Gassée writes, “Even if the new app store has a more modest debut and subsequent growth [versus the iOS App Store], it’ll be a good vehicle for smaller developers who struggle with the inconvenience and cost of today’s channels. It might even have the effect of attracting new developers to the OS X platform.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “krquet” for the heads up.]
The one feature that I love about this: one stop shopping.
” It might even have the effect of attracting new developers to the OS X platform.”
You mean attract developers, developers, developers to the OS X platform.
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And why not? I think it’ll be a smashing idea. We’ll have all the apps we’ll ever need just a finger tip away by browsing the Mac App Store.
That’s why Amazon is such a successful e-retailer – all you could ever want a mouse click away – searchable content too plus user recommendations and ‘genius lists’. Perfect couch potato shopping.
Indeed one stop shopping is a great benefit. I don’t like to spread around my credit card info and this helps. Also, it would allow to find apps that I wouldn’t have. Macupdate and Mac Heist can only do so much. I think security and compatibility ensured by the watchful eyes of Apple would be the deal maker.
But more importantly, this would level the playing fields a bit; before you buy the next bloated iteration of Adobe and MS, why not try the cheaper/leaner alternative just a click away. It helps to get Apples golden seal of approval.
Finally, dear Apple, please consider releasing this as a beta (à la Google) first, lest there be another mobileMe incident.
I’m ready for the Mac App Store to open!
Hoping it opens in a week. Woo hoo!
And so the the last straw is placed that breaks the PC camel’s back. Meanwhile, Redmond dusts off its cloning machine as, once again, it follows Apple’s lead.
Cue the continuing FUD’sters with their deliberate misinformation that developers will no longer be able to sell software through other means (eg. websites, etc.)…..
One thing: Apple could really use a RAD language, ala C#. That would open the door for us C# / Java guys who aren’t used to mangling our own memory or obj-C. Still, it’s good to have a ‘real’ language, like C.
Through MVC and it’s many core frameworks, Apple helps devs make great apps. That’s something you can completely bypass on Windows, if you want to.
I don’t need any more software for my Mac, so I’m not looking for any more software. Thats exactly why the App Store will be a success on Mac. It creates demand, bringing customers who aren’t looking for anything then shows them what they are missing, then provides a one click purchase/install option.
@Cubert, how long until Win Store 7 on Windows do you think?
Pixelmator is a great example. I purchased it recently upon the recommendation of MDN and a little research on my own, and have found it to be a very nice program. I was only a casual user of Photoshop in the past. Keeping that in mind, Pixelmator does everything that I need it to do – masking, layers, blending, etc. That is an example of the type of application that should become more popular and accessible with the kickoff of the Mac App Store.
C = machine independent assembly language.
@Nathan Drake,
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2012.
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@_Bill_,
Do you know about Garbage Collection in Cocoa? It’s also available on the iOS platform now.
@KingMel,
Ditto here about Pixelmator. Got it during that 50% off sale. Probably the best software buy I have ever made – hands down.
@ KingMel
The only thing Pixelmator lacks is text kerning features. Otherwise, it is wonderful.
I like the idea of being able to buy shareware directly from Apple as I trust them (I wouldn’t trust giving my credit card number to a shareware or small softhware developer). As such, I hope Apple gives us the option of downloading the software or sending us a burned CD in themail.
A trusted source for Mac software. That is a good thing.
@Bill
C# is a M$ shitty proprietary language without any serious optimization.
Java is natively cross-platform, and performs far far better