A Conversation About The App Store
Posted By Paul Kafasis on July 11th, 2008
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of chatting with Chuck Joiner of MacVoices. We discussed the launch, the control Apple has, and more. Check out the episode here
This was all prompted by a post I had on the Inside iPhone blog entitled A Broken System, which you may also wish to read. We’re certainly hopeful that things will start to straighten out, but currently, the entire system of developing for the iPhone needs some improvements.
Jason Newton says:
July 11th, 2008 at 12:54 pmI find it hard to believe you have had such difficulty developing for the iPhone. Rogue Amoeba is, in my opinion, one of the best developers out there. I regularly use your software. Audio Highjack Pro, Airfoil and Fission – all absolutely first-class products. Your reputation for producing solid, reliable software is undeniable.
In light of some of the very poor efforts at coding currently masquerading as Applications on the store, I do not think it will be too long before companies such as yours begin to shine on the iPhone.
Good luck and I hope it all turns out right for you guys.
Peter says:
July 12th, 2008 at 11:05 amInteresting Story.
The first thing that comes to my mind when i look at the App Store is that they will try to sell all Macintosh software via something like App Store sooner or later. Then it will be time to move to Linux…
And i liked your article on “Paying for Software”! Do you know if there are people paying for Linux software?
Paul Kafasis says:
July 12th, 2008 at 3:28 pmJason: Much obliged for the praise! As of late yesterday, we were indeed finally accepted to the program. In the end, this seems to be shaking out alright, but I certainly stand by the belief that the system was broken, and poorly managed.
Peter; It’s certainly a concern, but I don’t believe it’ll ever happen. An App Store for Mac OS X would be ok, provided it’s not the exclusive way of getting software (as it is on the iPhone).
As for selling software on Linux, it’s a tough proposition. I believe there is a small amount of payware on there, but the userbase is generally not composed of people looking to pay someone else to make software. Paying for a support contract is far more common, but that’s not really an interesting business model to us.
eyei3 says:
July 12th, 2008 at 7:37 pmHow about making an Airfoil app for jailbroken iPhones?
Paul Kafasis says:
July 13th, 2008 at 2:32 pmeyei3: Unfortunately, making software that requires jailbroken phones really isn’t economically feasible for us. We’ll see how that shakes out, but given the widespread availability of software from the App Store, I can’t imagine the jailbreak community growing – I’d bet on seeing a lot less interest in it in the future, which is unfortunate.
Ed says:
July 14th, 2008 at 3:30 pmAs a user of Airfoil, I’d love to see Airfoil Speakers for the iPhone. With the release of Apple’s Remote for iPhone, this could give you a whole new user-base plus introduce new users to Airfoil itself… Obviously Airfoil itself is not feasible on the iPhone currently.
Please! :)
Paul Kafasis says:
July 14th, 2008 at 8:09 pmEd: You and me both. The problem is, do we charge for it? I doubt it. So, it’s a freebie, that hopefully helps sell Airfoil units. It’s appealing enough on that level, and I’m hoping we do it (if for no other reason than for my own use), but we’ll have to see. Stay tuned!
praump says:
August 13th, 2008 at 4:36 pmI would gladly pay for airfoil speakers for my ipod touch.
Xav says:
September 8th, 2008 at 8:27 amAirfoil on iPhone/Touch! Please!! (and I would be more than happy to pay for that!)