4 ms·

This is nonsense. By what criteria, besides "I like it" is "An individual sells a product at a one-off price to a entrepreneur who then is able to make a living

This is nonsense. By what criteria, besides "I like it" is "An individual sells a product at a one-off price to a entrepreneur who then is able to make a living off of it." the ideal form of business? Adobe went from this model to SaaS, and their user growth has taken off, because it turns out paying the full cost of the software in a front-loaded fashion is really expensive. I remember pirating visual studio when I was a child, because it cost thousands of dollars that I could not afford, but these days it is free because platform providers have realised that increasing developer share is more important, and now finance their platform via the 30% take.

Dylan16807 8y ago
Microsoft doesn't make their money off a percentage take at all.
- Retric 8y ago
  That’s the basic model for the XBox with Microsoft selling it for a loss at the beginning and making it up from a cut of software and peripheral sales. The App Store’s 5% cut is not currently a major revenue stream for them, but it’s still revenue and would be a big deal for most companies. https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-store-taking-5-cut-of-all-apps-2018-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-store-taking-5-cut...
  - Dylan16807 8y ago
    XBox is hardware and a completely different thing. > The App Store’s 5% cut is not currently a major revenue stream for them, but it’s still revenue and would be a big deal for most companies. Do you have a citation for how much money it is? And it's only a big deal if it's larger than expenses, which I'll believe but not assume.
    - Dylan16807 8y ago
      I'm curious why the downvotes. To be clear, I searched through some microsoft financial info to try to figure out what app store revenue is, but I couldn't find the number. It's very genuine curiosity.
Digit-Al 8y ago
You are very much mistaken in two ways. Firstly, Visual Studio is not free. There is a free version that can only be used by learners, hobbyists, and those creating free software. This is a cut-down version from the commercial product, which offers more features and is required if creating commercial software. Secondly, Microsoft do not finance VS from a 30% take. As I said above, if you want to develop commercial software you have to buy the commercial version. Instead, the free version is a "hearts and minds" exercise. Get people used to the free version when they are learning and when they are creating free software. If they then want to create commercial software their first instinct will be to plump for paying for the commercial version. On the other hand, some of those replying to you are also mistaken as VS is also available on subscription as well as standalone.
- Eridrus 8y ago
  You can use the community product to make commercial software: https://www.quora.com/Can-startups-use-Microsoft-Visual-Studio-Community-for-development-of-commercial-applications https://www.quora.com/Can-startups-use-Microsoft-Visual-Stud... The windows app store store does take a cut, though it seems to be reduced to 15%: https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2018/05/07/a-new-microsoft-store-revenue-share-is-coming/ https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2018/05/07/a-new-micr... But even if it was just a hearts and minds exercise - why do you want hearts and minds? As a strategic play to support other parts of your business, i.e. Windows, even if it's not the Windows store. In any case, it doesn't really matter the specifics are at MS now, you could look at Android or iOS instead, where the dev tools are free and they are definitely taking a 30% cut, and contrast that to a few decades ago where you had to shell out a few thousand dollars if you wanted MS' dev tools at all. Or take a look at Unity which has a subscription, which people are pretty happy with.

Dylan16807 8y ago

Microsoft doesn't make their money off a percentage take at all.

Retric 8y ago
That’s the basic model for the XBox with Microsoft selling it for a loss at the beginning and making it up from a cut of software and peripheral sales. The App Store’s 5% cut is not currently a major revenue stream for them, but it’s still revenue and would be a big deal for most companies. https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-store-taking-5-cut-of-all-apps-2018-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-store-taking-5-cut...
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  XBox is hardware and a completely different thing. > The App Store’s 5% cut is not currently a major revenue stream for them, but it’s still revenue and would be a big deal for most companies. Do you have a citation for how much money it is? And it's only a big deal if it's larger than expenses, which I'll believe but not assume.
  - Dylan16807 8y ago
    I'm curious why the downvotes. To be clear, I searched through some microsoft financial info to try to figure out what app store revenue is, but I couldn't find the number. It's very genuine curiosity.

Digit-Al 8y ago

You are very much mistaken in two ways. Firstly, Visual Studio is not free. There is a free version that can only be used by learners, hobbyists, and those creating free software. This is a cut-down version from the commercial product, which offers more features and is required if creating commercial software. Secondly, Microsoft do not finance VS from a 30% take. As I said above, if you want to develop commercial software you have to buy the commercial version. Instead, the free version is a "hearts and minds" exercise. Get people used to the free version when they are learning and when they are creating free software. If they then want to create commercial software their first instinct will be to plump for paying for the commercial version. On the other hand, some of those replying to you are also mistaken as VS is also available on subscription as well as standalone.

Eridrus 8y ago
You can use the community product to make commercial software: https://www.quora.com/Can-startups-use-Microsoft-Visual-Studio-Community-for-development-of-commercial-applications https://www.quora.com/Can-startups-use-Microsoft-Visual-Stud... The windows app store store does take a cut, though it seems to be reduced to 15%: https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2018/05/07/a-new-microsoft-store-revenue-share-is-coming/ https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2018/05/07/a-new-micr... But even if it was just a hearts and minds exercise - why do you want hearts and minds? As a strategic play to support other parts of your business, i.e. Windows, even if it's not the Windows store. In any case, it doesn't really matter the specifics are at MS now, you could look at Android or iOS instead, where the dev tools are free and they are definitely taking a 30% cut, and contrast that to a few decades ago where you had to shell out a few thousand dollars if you wanted MS' dev tools at all. Or take a look at Unity which has a subscription, which people are pretty happy with.