5 ms·

I know you're being tongue-in-cheek, but it seems like a lot of others aren't. This is only five dollars folks. You get a hell of a lot of value for that five

by jkahn 16y ago

I know you're being tongue-in-cheek, but it seems like a lot of others aren't. This is only five dollars folks. You get a hell of a lot of value for that five bucks. I don't think Apple will even recoup their development and distribution costs with that. I'm guessing the main reason for the price is to deter every man and his dog from downloading it - anyone who cares can part with five bucks.

blake8086 16y ago
Won't Apple recoup their costs through selling a platform strengthened by everything Xcode-using developers create?
- rbarooah 16y ago
  Won't developers recoup their costs by selling software through a platform strengthened by Apple's massive infrastructure and marketing?
jcl 16y ago
It is a puzzle. At one time, developer tools were priced to extract money from developers. Then, when third-party free tools came along, platform owners realized that market share and lock-in was much more valuable and started giving their tools away for free. But now Apple is neither charging to recoup development costs nor giving tools away. It is strange that the cost should be so close to free yet not actually be free. My working assumption is that Apple is charging to ensure that each developer must experience the App Store purchasing process at least once, thereby encouraging them to write apps for it.
- varikin 16y ago
  But, if you pay for the Mac Developer Program, you can download it from the website. So either $5 or $99/year. But you need to pay $99/year to submit apps to the app store—at least iOS app store, I assume the same for Mac App Store. So developers don't have to experience the app store. I think it is to deter everyone from installing XCode just because they can. That 4+ GB download isn't free on their side. It is just enough of a pain point to make sure the user is sure they want it, but not so bad that people have to save up for it.
  - reemrevnivek 16y ago
    Well, each time a single app sells on the app store, they get 30%. If we assume it costs $5 to host XCode, then if each developer averages 17 downloads, they'll make a few cents off of each one. If we assume that one developer in a thousand gets 17,000 downloads, they'll still make money. The argument for covering their hosting costs seems hollow to me, even if we assume it actually costs $5.
arctangent 16y ago
Does it matter in the slightest if every man and his dog does download this set of tools? The more people (or dogs) who download this framework, the greater the potential revenue for Apple. I understand that it is "only $5". But Apple makes $billions, so why the heck do they need to make $5 off someone who may want to code for their platform?
- jkahn 16y ago
  It's not about making money. It's about detering those that have no interest in downloading 4-5GB in software they'll never use. There are LOADS of people out there that do that. I know many people like this. The kind that download every Ubuntu release in ISO format, yet run Windows. Anyone that is revenue potential for Apple is going to pay. Actually, many of them are already paying $99/year anyway, so they get it gratis. And you're mistaken about the assumption that anyone who downloads this, at any price, represents greater potential revenue. Charging a tiny nominal sum for something of value is common practice to deter time-wasters. Not just in the software industry, either. There is a psychological effect as well - if you pay for something, you are more likely to ascribe value to it, and more likely to investment time into it. What's the bet that this comes free on the Lion disc, anyway.

by jkahn 16y ago

blake8086 16y ago

Won't Apple recoup their costs through selling a platform strengthened by everything Xcode-using developers create?

rbarooah 16y ago
Won't developers recoup their costs by selling software through a platform strengthened by Apple's massive infrastructure and marketing?

jcl 16y ago

It is a puzzle. At one time, developer tools were priced to extract money from developers. Then, when third-party free tools came along, platform owners realized that market share and lock-in was much more valuable and started giving their tools away for free. But now Apple is neither charging to recoup development costs nor giving tools away. It is strange that the cost should be so close to free yet not actually be free. My working assumption is that Apple is charging to ensure that each developer must experience the App Store purchasing process at least once, thereby encouraging them to write apps for it.

varikin 16y ago
But, if you pay for the Mac Developer Program, you can download it from the website. So either $5 or $99/year. But you need to pay $99/year to submit apps to the app store—at least iOS app store, I assume the same for Mac App Store. So developers don't have to experience the app store. I think it is to deter everyone from installing XCode just because they can. That 4+ GB download isn't free on their side. It is just enough of a pain point to make sure the user is sure they want it, but not so bad that people have to save up for it.
- reemrevnivek 16y ago
  Well, each time a single app sells on the app store, they get 30%. If we assume it costs $5 to host XCode, then if each developer averages 17 downloads, they'll make a few cents off of each one. If we assume that one developer in a thousand gets 17,000 downloads, they'll still make money. The argument for covering their hosting costs seems hollow to me, even if we assume it actually costs $5.

arctangent 16y ago

Does it matter in the slightest if every man and his dog does download this set of tools? The more people (or dogs) who download this framework, the greater the potential revenue for Apple. I understand that it is "only $5". But Apple makes $billions, so why the heck do they need to make $5 off someone who may want to code for their platform?

jkahn 16y ago
It's not about making money. It's about detering those that have no interest in downloading 4-5GB in software they'll never use. There are LOADS of people out there that do that. I know many people like this. The kind that download every Ubuntu release in ISO format, yet run Windows. Anyone that is revenue potential for Apple is going to pay. Actually, many of them are already paying $99/year anyway, so they get it gratis. And you're mistaken about the assumption that anyone who downloads this, at any price, represents greater potential revenue. Charging a tiny nominal sum for something of value is common practice to deter time-wasters. Not just in the software industry, either. There is a psychological effect as well - if you pay for something, you are more likely to ascribe value to it, and more likely to investment time into it. What's the bet that this comes free on the Lion disc, anyway.