App Store

[kareila]

Anyone tried it yet? Experiences? Opinions?

I still haven't gotten around to updating to 10.6 on my laptop, so I haven't had a chance to poke around yet. I've been seeing mentions of huge price drops on existing software, though, which is a pleasant surprise. For example, Aperture is reportedly $79 after retailing for $199 on a disc.

Comments

[foxfirefey]

I'm in the same boat as you--need to upgrade to 10.6

But I am very tempted to do so soon and see if that fixes Mail crashing every time it tries to fetch a POP GMail account.

[viklikesfic]

I sprung for Pixelmator for thirty bucks, I thought it was closer to Photoshop than Aperture, and what I really need to do is things like banners, buttons, etc. for web design. I'm a little annoyed at some of the price drops just b/c I went through a certain amount of hardship to afford some programs that are now like $15. Sigh. Especially YummySoup, which after I sprang for the second version deleted half my information in a 10K recipe database.

[msilverstar]

I found it amusing that there was no link from the announcement, or any indication of how on earth to find the store!

So far, I don't need anything new, except on old machines :-/

[kareila]

Yeah, it's "update to 10.6.6 and click the new icon next to the Finder on your Dock." But no, not clear at all.

[holyschist]

Lifehacker has a couple opinions on it:

http://lifehacker.com/5726764/why-the-mac-app-store-sucks
http://lifehacker.com/5726393/why-you-might-really-like-the-mac-app-store-in-the-long-run

I am not sure yet what, if anything, I think.

[amadi]

I shorthanded my response to the app store on twitter tonight as "meh." Same interface as the App Store on iPad, which to me is creaky and cranky, and I am very concerned that this is going to have a chilling effect on independent software development for the Mac platform, and as noted in the Lifehacker article, the ideas of free full-feature trials and cut price upgrades for long-term users and other promotional tactics which are now undercut by the cache of being in the Store.

[kareila]

I share your dislike of the interface, but at least it's consistent with their other store interfaces? Consistency has not been noticeable among Apple's priorities lately.

As far as long term effects, in the VERY long term I think the Mac interface and the iPhone/iPad interface are going to converge, and having an App Store for both platforms is just the first step.

[afuna]

Hmmm. I didn't know that about discounts.

I... I will probably get around to figuring it out when I next restart my laptop.

[turlough]

I haven't updated to 10.6 so I haven't been able to look for myself yet. It will be very interesting to see what effect it will have in the long run.

[kareila]

See my comment above... in the VERY long term I think the Mac interface and the iPhone/iPad interface are going to converge, and having an App Store for both platforms is just the first step.

[vlion]

Yeah, there was this meme going around a few days ago about how the app store is likely to kill off a lot of Mac dev shops due to the considerably decreased income/sale.

[kareila]

Presumably the overhead of doing your own marketing and retailing will also decrease, though, offsetting the decreased income?