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Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

ben111 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:11:20 -0000

I disagree because games for Nintendo DS and PSP are about 10x more than these prices. With the app store you don't have to go to a physical store, and with this you just download them and you can play. The DS game of Monopoly comes with monopoly, yahtzee, boggle, and battleship. This costs about $40. On iPhone/iPod Touch, it costs $13. You get a better deal with the App Store than you get with Nintendo, or Sony. And by the way, nobody is forcing you to buy hangman (and there are many free versions), and tetris is only $5, not 10. To buy the apps, you click buy with the price on the button, and it's not like you don't know what you're paying for, like it suggests here: "but can’t Apple institute some form of creative control to ensure developers aren’t trying to pull one over on you?" Although this article is over a year old, I think that it was not based on facts, like people are being forced to buy these reasonably priced apps.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

tina — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:58:10 -0000

anyone with a windows mobile phone is alreadly paying ten dollars or more per game or app, so whats the big fuss over paying that for something on a iphone. i have a windows mobile phone and have paid up to $15 for a single app, get over it if you dont like the prices, DON'T GET THE PHONE!

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Kenneth — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:48:23 -0000

You got a real good point over there but you know people out there are just being a bitch. They would rather pay $5 for a cup of coffee and not drink it than to pay $1 for an Application that they might use it daily. Why do you think piracy is popular?

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Michael — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:52:37 -0000

Wow I can't believe all the complaining. I guess you guys have never paid a shareware fee in your life. If you had even the most basic piece of shareware costs a couple of quid (couple of dollars to you US types). So paying 5 dollars for a game or even 20 is pretty good value in my opinion especially considering the time and efforts of the developers.

Put it this way - how much do you pay for a cup of coffee? How long does it take them to make it. How many time can you drink that particular cup of coffee. QED, App store applications are pretty good value!

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Aio — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:09:19 -0000

Seriously, what a whining rant, a worthless article. How about pulling off your ads, I hate being exposed to them while reading such a thoughtless article. Apps like beatmaker and others that have fairly serious development behind them are worth a price (how much, dont know) but this provides a great opportunity for developers and end users alike. Some stuff should be free but the good apps are worth a few bucks here and there. If you think something is too expensive, stop whining and simply dont buy it.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

sorepheet — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:51:33 -0000

Having a 1st Gen iPhone still running 1.1.4 I'm looking forward to 2.0 and the App Store. However I'll have to wait wherein my iPhone is jailbroken and unlocked to use both T-Mobile and the Installer/Cydia Applications. As soon as there is a software unlock to jailbreak and unlock 2.0 I'll be able to mess around with App Store.
I've been downloading free applications for months. Granted they don't all get along and I've had to restore my phone a few times, but I find solace in knowing that most of the apps in the App Store are just crummy things that have been available on Installer for months.
If you're upset about the cost, jailbreak your device and download apps for free. the fact that anyone would spend money for a hangman game or iBeer is silly.
Set your devices free in order to truly maximize utility.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

na — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:01:54 -0000

one word baby , Piracy , it is bound to appear and retaliate against the money grubbers

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Luke Noel-Storr — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:40:29 -0000

I can't believe you are bitching about paying a poxy $1.99 for a game.

God damn these evil developers, trying to make an honest living. They should do everything for free, who cares if they can't afford food and clothes!!

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Mark Galit — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:45:42 -0000

I have only one thing to say to the writer of this article.... DON'T BUY THE APPS IF YOU THINK THEY ARE OVER PRICED. The App Store is treading on unchartered waters and everyone is taking a stab in the dark with their pricing. The cream of the crop will rise to the top and everyone else will fall by the wayside. I mean come on, you have to start somewhere.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

TPP — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:16:28 -0000

Who needs objectivity when you can be a fanboy instead!

When the App Store was announced, Apple was specifically asked about what will make it better than just jailbreaking the phone and getting apps for free. Apple (and all the fanboys) said the advantage was higher quality applications from established developers.

Well, the App Store came and what do we get...the same crap than on jailbreaked phones, but more expensive.

Wonderful.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Lyle Johnson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:03:48 -0000

Am I the only one who read this article as sarcasm? Isn't the author joking about the fact that most of the apps are in fact pretty inexpensive?

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Tony T — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:55:08 -0000

I agree with most of the comments here. Let the market decide. Developers need to make their money too and there are plenty of free apps out there. Why are you so upset?

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

drrotmos — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:52:07 -0000

I agree with the title of this post. I totally disagree with the rest.

The way I see it there are two problems with the App Store. First of all, the prices are too low. With these prices it will take way too many sales to recoup the development costs, and even more to turn a profit. These prices are probably not going to work out in the long run.

The other problem is that there are to many crappy apps. For example, the four flashlights, all those crappy apps with no purpuse like iBeer or other apps that clearly were done in like 10 minutes.

What the App Store needs is better quality control. Get rid of those useless apps. Also, get rid of those developers who add leading spaces to get listed earlier in the alphabetical listing. If you can't behave, you don't belong in the App Store with the real developers.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Len Kendall — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:23:41 -0000

While things are a novelty (which the new iphone is currently) people will pay for being the "first." Once adoption grows and more people jailbreak their phones then the rise of free applications will dramatically reduce the cost of the paid applications.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Andrew Knott — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:29:08 -0000

Get over it... Don't buy it if you don't want it... It's not rocket science... geeezuz.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Patrick — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:34:04 -0000

I have no problem to pay $20 for a game, if it is worth it, but the games that I saw until now, aren't. Does the 3D quality, that we are seeing in games like crash bandicot, is best they can make, or is it only because they had not enought time to make something decent?

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Anderson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:13:25 -0000

Apple does this because it knows what kind of people use iPhones.
Simple consumers. No businessmen or technologically educated people. It enables free market at the app store, with developers charging whatever they want (sometimes free),because Apple knows that it deals with the sort of people that have no idea what they should or shouldn't pay for.
If your audience is simple, no need to put much thought behind the pricing structure. Let the market balance itself.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

FalKirk — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:12:44 -0000

There are so many things wrong with this article that it's hard to know where to begin.

There is no such thing as a fair price. There are now 7 million iPhone owners. Each of them is an individual that may value things differently than you do. You don't get to tell me how much an application is worth because you don't know how much it is worth to me.

There has never before been an application sold on the App store. For you to expect developers to hit some mythical "right" price that exists only in your head is not only unfair and arrogant - it's impossible. How about you be a little more gracious and allow developers a whole week for them to become perfect like you.

Get some perspective. Your big gripe is that the average cost of the top ten programs is $6.49. Dude, that's a big mac with fries and a coke. And the app doesn't give me high cholesterol or make me fat.

Get some more perspective. Have you compared App store prices with the prices of applications being sold on other platforms? I think you'll find that the App store is selling a bucket load of free and 99 cent programs that put some of the $20 programs on other platforms to shame.

Find a real problem to focus on. Fortunately we no longer let people like you decide for us what is valuable and what is fair. We have free markets. The pricing problem is self-correcting and is already being corrected. A web site called PinchMedia http://www.pinchmedia.com/f... is carefully tracking the pricing of the iPhone and prices have dropped already.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Ben Nevile — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:11:52 -0000

This is one of the most irritating articles I've read on any blog this year. Yeah, a lot of the iPhone apps are trivial trinkets, but nobody is forcing any of us to pay for them. It's beyond me how $2-10 for any piece of software can be considered "outrageous" in an era where many of us don't think twice about shelling out $3-6 for second-rate "premium" coffee drinks.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

nafnosseb — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:58:16 -0000

fairplay enforced trialdemo software=cracker heaven.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Bryan Kress — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:10:41 -0000

I felt like after watching the keynote presentation that the apple iPhone apps were suppose to be fairly affordable. It looks like a bunch of vulture app developers are gonna make the quick buck until some other developers create similar apps at a rock bottom price.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Al Delgado — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:18:55 -0000

I imagine someone somewhere has started a blog that reviews apps at itunes. The market will shake things out. ho hummm

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Pyrovolley — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:16:50 -0000

I am happy that your readers are smarter than you. Clearly, you have never had to write software to earn a living. Instead you WRITE about the innovations that developers make and profit from that. All the while you are preaching to people that free software is the way! Really? Free software is the way? Sure, for a leech like you it is. The Hangman app is not innovative. Far from it. But for you to suggest the AppStore is flawed because it's actually a platform for developers to earn a living is crazy talk. This is the point where I recommend you listen to the other comments that point out this is America, and we support free markets. Want prices to go down? Don't buy any apps. Supply and Demand. Wow.

You know what? If you think you can do better, pick up a compiler and start coding. Until then I suggest you focus your attention on figuring out what the next big innovation I create will be so that you can proceed to earn your living off my back. Pfft.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

Michael — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:05:27 -0000

I absolutely agree, the apps are just too expensive. There are just too many apps that cost $9.99 and very few of them are really worth $9.99. Crash Nitro Kart should really cost $7.50 and Twitterrific should really only cost $2.99.

Re: iPhone App Store Prices are Outrageous and it Needs to Stop

DangerousAl — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:05:00 -0000

Give me a break! Quit complaining! No one's forcing you to do anything! So far this is the worst posted in here.