4 ms·

Apple are a multi-trillion dollar company, they don't need more money

jmull 6y ago
That doesn't change the fact that developer resources cost money that has to be paid for somehow. If Apple doesn't charge developers, they could, e.g., pay for it through more margin on device sales, which means Apple customers are paying for it. That sounds nice for developers, but that's going to cause the developer resources to lose developer focus. Developer resources will be treated as marketing expenses and the scope and character of them will reflect this.
- _qulr 6y ago
  You're taking the current Apple developer program as an eternal truth, when in fact it has changed significantly over time. Before the App Store, you could develop for the Mac completely free. There was a developer program, which was much more expensive than $99 per year, but it was mainly concerned with WWDC and pre-release builds. There was even a hardware discount for developers, which was very popular, and effectively made the developer program pay for itself in many cases.
  - addicted 6y ago
    It’s hilarious that according to Apple fans, Apple as a $2 tn dollar company cannot afford the program it was giving away for free as a $10bn company.
    - EricE 6y ago
      You know why rich people are rich? They don't spend all their money! Yup, a bit glib but it gets to the essence...
  - jmull 6y ago
    > You're taking the current Apple developer program as an eternal truth, when in fact it has changed significantly over time. Well, I've been developing Mac software for 25 years, so I've seen the developer program changes. Generally, it's gotten a lot cheaper and a lot better over time. (Except there's never been anything like the old Inside Macintosh books, and I guess there never will be.) I guess that's why $99/year doesn't bother me. Historically speaking, it's a great deal. I'm sure there are more changes to come, but none of us knows what that will be, so there's not much to discuss. > Before the App Store, you could develop for the Mac completely free. I haven't kept track of a timeline on this, so I'm sure you're right, but you're talking about a transient state. Before Xcode you had to pay a lot for Apple's developer tools (which I can't remember the name of), or pay a lot for the superior (or so I believed at the time) CodeWarrior. At first, Xcode itself wasn't exactly free, because it was bundled with the OS updates, which cost a decent amount back then. I guess at various times there has been more or less you could do at the free tier, but it has seemed to me that you could only rarely do a decent job of releasing and supporting mac apps without paying for something.
    - _qulr 6y ago
      > At first, Xcode itself wasn't exactly free, because it was bundled with the OS updates, which cost a decent amount back then. Xcode and Mac OS X were included on disc with Mac hardware. This is how I became a developer. When Mac OS X was released, that was the period when Apple truly embraced open source and Unix. Since iPhone, however, there's been a lot of backtracking in that area, which I find very unfortunate. In general, macOS is becoming more and more like iOS. Consequently, it is becoming more hostile to openness.
valuearb 6y ago
Apple has more money than me, hence they should give me free iPhones and Macs.

That doesn't change the fact that developer resources cost money that has to be paid for somehow. If Apple doesn't charge developers, they could, e.g., pay for it through more margin on device sales, which means Apple customers are paying for it. That sounds nice for developers, but that's going to cause the developer resources to lose developer focus. Developer resources will be treated as marketing expenses and the scope and character of them will reflect this.

_qulr 6y ago
You're taking the current Apple developer program as an eternal truth, when in fact it has changed significantly over time. Before the App Store, you could develop for the Mac completely free. There was a developer program, which was much more expensive than $99 per year, but it was mainly concerned with WWDC and pre-release builds. There was even a hardware discount for developers, which was very popular, and effectively made the developer program pay for itself in many cases.
- addicted 6y ago
  It’s hilarious that according to Apple fans, Apple as a $2 tn dollar company cannot afford the program it was giving away for free as a $10bn company.
  - EricE 6y ago
    You know why rich people are rich? They don't spend all their money! Yup, a bit glib but it gets to the essence...
- jmull 6y ago
  > You're taking the current Apple developer program as an eternal truth, when in fact it has changed significantly over time. Well, I've been developing Mac software for 25 years, so I've seen the developer program changes. Generally, it's gotten a lot cheaper and a lot better over time. (Except there's never been anything like the old Inside Macintosh books, and I guess there never will be.) I guess that's why $99/year doesn't bother me. Historically speaking, it's a great deal. I'm sure there are more changes to come, but none of us knows what that will be, so there's not much to discuss. > Before the App Store, you could develop for the Mac completely free. I haven't kept track of a timeline on this, so I'm sure you're right, but you're talking about a transient state. Before Xcode you had to pay a lot for Apple's developer tools (which I can't remember the name of), or pay a lot for the superior (or so I believed at the time) CodeWarrior. At first, Xcode itself wasn't exactly free, because it was bundled with the OS updates, which cost a decent amount back then. I guess at various times there has been more or less you could do at the free tier, but it has seemed to me that you could only rarely do a decent job of releasing and supporting mac apps without paying for something.
  - _qulr 6y ago
    > At first, Xcode itself wasn't exactly free, because it was bundled with the OS updates, which cost a decent amount back then. Xcode and Mac OS X were included on disc with Mac hardware. This is how I became a developer. When Mac OS X was released, that was the period when Apple truly embraced open source and Unix. Since iPhone, however, there's been a lot of backtracking in that area, which I find very unfortunate. In general, macOS is becoming more and more like iOS. Consequently, it is becoming more hostile to openness.

valuearb 6y ago

Apple has more money than me, hence they should give me free iPhones and Macs.