5 ms·

In-app sales will create huge new opportunities.

by bemmu 18y ago

wvenable 18y ago
From the talk: "Would you like to purchase one rocket launcher for $0.99?" Oh yeah, that sounds like fun. Clearly a great way to be nickle and dimed to death in every application and game.
- henning 18y ago
  Clippy resurrects himself from the grave and pops up in the lower right-hand corner It looks like you're trying to copy and paste. Would you like to pay $0.05 in order to continue? (Continue/Cancel) It looks like you're trying to exit the application. Would you like to pay $0.10 in order to continue? (Exit and pay $0.10/Stay for free) It looks like you're shocked to see one of Microsoft's worst creations pwn your smartphone. Would you like to buy a copy of iLithium(R), iXanax(TM), or iProzac(TM) to soften the blow for $14.99? (Yes/No)
  - mechanical_fish 18y ago
    I have no idea why this is getting downmodded. I think it's funny. Maybe I'm just the right age for this joke. Obviously, this in-app payment feature was deliberately designed to be irritating and intrusive. Apple understands that, to most paying customers, the word micropayment carries a connotation of being slowly and imperceptibly bled to death by vampires. So perhaps Apple is going to provide an API which turns in-app charges into such an ugly, flow-shattering experience that nobody could possibly miss it -- which will also compel app designers to avoid using this feature unless they really have to.
    - wensing 18y ago
      It's possible to abuse any feature. I can see this being a win-win for apps that provide layers of value (depth).
    - ashr 18y ago
      This is an extremely myopic perspective of a feature that opens up possibilities. Like somebody said, everything can be abused. But then people have the supreme authority to reject those who do.
    - neilc 18y ago
      to most paying customers, the word micropayment carries a connotation of being slowly and imperceptibly bled to death by vampires "Most paying customers" are unlikely to have even heard the term "micropayment", let alone to have strong views on the subject.
  - tvon 18y ago
    Funny, though it would be funnier if applied to Windows Mobile and not an Apple product... I mean, Apple products are kind of the anti-clippy, or at least that's how they're known, no?
- unalone 18y ago
  Every good tech implementation will be abused. I'm sure games will come out that don't leech away on their users, just as some will make lots of money by suckering out lots of micropayments.
- snprbob86 18y ago
  I'm sure that was just for demonstration purposes. EA tried that in a bunch of games when Xbox LIVE first offered these features. Customers FREAKED and things have been much more reasonable since.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
Jasber 18y ago
I was surprised to see in-app sales were only for paid apps. I imagine a big market where apps "hook" a user by being free, then make money from in-app sales.
- dmix 18y ago
  Offering in-app sales in free apps would be bad for user experience. When you download a free app you do so without intention to spend any money-only to try it out. A lot of developers may try to abuse this by creating tons of free apps with paid content. Then it will be impossible to know whether the apps your downloading are really free.
  - Jasber 18y ago
    This was my initial response as well, and I agree it could be abused by developers. But I still think there's value in a free app that has paid upgrades, even if Apple has to classify them as "Mixed" instead of Free or Paid.
    - evgen 18y ago
      I am guessing that the in-app upsell feature will lead to a lot of apps dropping prices to the lowest level possible and using the incremental purchase options to increase revenue based on what the users what to get out of the app and what features they want to enable. It could basically lead to a-la carte feature & content selection for some apps.
  - cpr 18y ago
    Don't worry, Apple specifically said you can't do this. (Create a free app with paid content.)
  - vaksel 18y ago
    and pay is better? I pay the $4.99 for your app and then you nickel and dime me to death? In fact for paid apps its even worse because the developer has already gotten the $4.99 from me(which used to be their sole source of revenue up to this point), so any additional money I'd pay would just be bonus, so they have no incentives not to abuse the nickel and dime option
ftse 18y ago
What about in-app payments? Pay Apple 30% to process a micro payment, and pay the customer for the service they have just executed via an iPhone app - a restaurant review for example.
floozyspeak 18y ago
It will definitely be nickle and dime theater.. and HUGE. The push notifications will be a test on whether or not we all start to hate iphones.

In-app sales will create huge new opportunities.

by bemmu 18y ago

In-app sales will create huge new opportunities.

From the talk: "Would you like to purchase one rocket launcher for $0.99?" Oh yeah, that sounds like fun. Clearly a great way to be nickle and dimed to death in every application and game.

henning 18y ago
Clippy resurrects himself from the grave and pops up in the lower right-hand corner It looks like you're trying to copy and paste. Would you like to pay $0.05 in order to continue? (Continue/Cancel) It looks like you're trying to exit the application. Would you like to pay $0.10 in order to continue? (Exit and pay $0.10/Stay for free) It looks like you're shocked to see one of Microsoft's worst creations pwn your smartphone. Would you like to buy a copy of iLithium(R), iXanax(TM), or iProzac(TM) to soften the blow for $14.99? (Yes/No)
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  I have no idea why this is getting downmodded. I think it's funny. Maybe I'm just the right age for this joke. Obviously, this in-app payment feature was deliberately designed to be irritating and intrusive. Apple understands that, to most paying customers, the word micropayment carries a connotation of being slowly and imperceptibly bled to death by vampires. So perhaps Apple is going to provide an API which turns in-app charges into such an ugly, flow-shattering experience that nobody could possibly miss it -- which will also compel app designers to avoid using this feature unless they really have to.
  - wensing 18y ago
    It's possible to abuse any feature. I can see this being a win-win for apps that provide layers of value (depth).
  - ashr 18y ago
    This is an extremely myopic perspective of a feature that opens up possibilities. Like somebody said, everything can be abused. But then people have the supreme authority to reject those who do.
  - neilc 18y ago
    to most paying customers, the word micropayment carries a connotation of being slowly and imperceptibly bled to death by vampires "Most paying customers" are unlikely to have even heard the term "micropayment", let alone to have strong views on the subject.
- tvon 18y ago
  Funny, though it would be funnier if applied to Windows Mobile and not an Apple product... I mean, Apple products are kind of the anti-clippy, or at least that's how they're known, no?
unalone 18y ago
Every good tech implementation will be abused. I'm sure games will come out that don't leech away on their users, just as some will make lots of money by suckering out lots of micropayments.
snprbob86 18y ago
I'm sure that was just for demonstration purposes. EA tried that in a bunch of games when Xbox LIVE first offered these features. Customers FREAKED and things have been much more reasonable since.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

Jasber 18y ago

I was surprised to see in-app sales were only for paid apps. I imagine a big market where apps "hook" a user by being free, then make money from in-app sales.

dmix 18y ago
Offering in-app sales in free apps would be bad for user experience. When you download a free app you do so without intention to spend any money-only to try it out. A lot of developers may try to abuse this by creating tons of free apps with paid content. Then it will be impossible to know whether the apps your downloading are really free.
- Jasber 18y ago
  This was my initial response as well, and I agree it could be abused by developers. But I still think there's value in a free app that has paid upgrades, even if Apple has to classify them as "Mixed" instead of Free or Paid.
  - evgen 18y ago
    I am guessing that the in-app upsell feature will lead to a lot of apps dropping prices to the lowest level possible and using the incremental purchase options to increase revenue based on what the users what to get out of the app and what features they want to enable. It could basically lead to a-la carte feature & content selection for some apps.
- cpr 18y ago
  Don't worry, Apple specifically said you can't do this. (Create a free app with paid content.)
- vaksel 18y ago
  and pay is better? I pay the $4.99 for your app and then you nickel and dime me to death? In fact for paid apps its even worse because the developer has already gotten the $4.99 from me(which used to be their sole source of revenue up to this point), so any additional money I'd pay would just be bonus, so they have no incentives not to abuse the nickel and dime option

ftse 18y ago

What about in-app payments? Pay Apple 30% to process a micro payment, and pay the customer for the service they have just executed via an iPhone app - a restaurant review for example.

floozyspeak 18y ago

It will definitely be nickle and dime theater.. and HUGE. The push notifications will be a test on whether or not we all start to hate iphones.