You can rely on Tomi Ahonen to tell it like it is - in this case musing on the appalling economics in the iPhone app world (there's a summary quote below), talking about the sheer numbers mean that even if you do a great app and are moderately lucky then you'll still lose your shirt. Comments welcome as to how much of this applies in the world of Symbian - Ovi Store, Play Now, etc. - I've a feeling there's a common argument that could be aimed at Symbian app development. Of course, the solution is a) to be insanely good and b) reviewed/feature here on All About Symbian.... 8-)
Read on in the full article.
Tomi is right, 3 billion app downloads mean nothing because almost all of them are free downloads. I , for one, would not pay for an App. Either it's free or it is of no interest to me. (or I just get a hacked copy which is as good as the paid app) not because I dont have the money but because I dont like the idea of paying for an app when all the best apps out there are free (google maps, nimmbuzz, skype, twitter, greader, opera mobile, now ovi maps, etc)
I never even purchased the Nokia maps as great as it was i would always hack it to use free.
The iphone itself though is a cult phenomenon device and many people dont get it because of the apps, they get it because it is an iPod first. Its the Music, stupid!
If Apple would keep the same screen but just make different form factors, perhaps slide out qwerty keyboard one in landscape and one in portrait format (i would prefer it in portrait format like the Palm Pre w/qwerty) it would single handedly own the smartphone market because of its integrated iPod and now App store. Pound for pound it remains the undisputed champ of all phones out there.
I've been posting similar on here for weeks in response to the liars who have been trying to tell us that we need to be developing for iPhone because its where the money is. There are still ways that money can be made whilst enjoying the lovely Xcode/Cocoa iPhone SDK world, but I ain't telling!
fonfreak wrote:The iphone itself though is a cult phenomenon device and many people dont get it because of the apps, they get it because it is an iPod first. Its the Music, stupid!If Apple would keep the same screen but just make different form factors, perhaps slide out qwerty keyboard one in landscape and one in portrait format (i would prefer it in portrait format like the Palm Pre w/qwerty) it would single handedly own the smartphone market because of its integrated iPod and now App store. Pound for pound it remains the undisputed champ of all phones out there.
Pound for pound it's the undisputed champ of all phones? Really? Somehow I don't think so. I think what you meant was pound for pound it's the most expensive phone out there. It's actually one of the least powerful phones (multi-tasking anyone?), operates in an Apple-controlled walled-garden, and is SO powerful that you can't even delete certain file types without using a PC; powerful my a$$.
yes it does come with flaws i give you that one but the things that it does offer there is nothing that can beat it. all the rest it will eventually get with software updates over time, somehow it seems to me that they dont release certain updates on purpose, not that it wouldnt be able to handle but for some kind of sick reason that only mr. guru (jobs) knows about.
Unregistered wrote:yes it does come with flaws i give you that one but the things that it does offer there is nothing that can beat it. all the rest it will eventually get with software updates over time, somehow it seems to me that they dont release certain updates on purpose, not that it wouldnt be able to handle but for some kind of sick reason that only mr. guru (jobs) knows about.
If they put everything into the phone in 2007, then what would they be able to add as a reason to upgrade in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011?
Unregistered wrote:yes it does come with flaws i give you that one but the things that it does offer there is nothing that can beat it. all the rest it will eventually get with software updates over time, somehow it seems to me that they dont release certain updates on purpose, not that it wouldnt be able to handle but for some kind of sick reason that only mr. guru (jobs) knows about.
Always amusing to see the iPhone fanboy reality distortion field out and about in the real world. It's just nonsense on every level. As flat and even declining iPhone sales and market share are showing, people are increasingly seeing the iPhone for what it is - grossly overpriced and underpowered in comparison to the competition. Nokia for one are showing you can have far more capable and powerful and robust phones AND a good UI AND a good appstore all for a very reasonable, if not dirt cheap, price. About 1% - 2% of phones in the world are iPhones and that'll never change significantly. As a developer i target the true mass market - web, SMS, J2ME (far better than it used to be) and S60.
Unregistered wrote:Always amusing to see the iPhone fanboy reality distortion field out and about in the real world. It's just nonsense on every level. As flat and even declining iPhone sales and market share are showing, people are increasingly seeing the iPhone for what it is - grossly overpriced and underpowered in comparison to the competition. Nokia for one are showing you can have far more capable and powerful and robust phones AND a good UI AND a good appstore all for a very reasonable, if not dirt cheap, price. About 1% - 2% of phones in the world are iPhones and that'll never change significantly. As a developer i target the true mass market - web, SMS, J2ME (far better than it used to be) and S60.
iPhones are not especially expensive, there are more expensive phones than the �440 3GS and the �320 3g (UK prices - PAYG). Their flat sales are the same annual pattern that happens as people hold off waiting for the rumoured next generation. I agree that it won't have it as good as it did due to more competition from Android and whatever Nokia come up with in the future.
I also agree that it's a poor phone and not very good pocket computer. But what it does do still better than everything else is make some apps that were really only desktop apps much more usable on a pocket size mobile platform. It is this fact alone that makes me tolerate its shortcomings (and there are many).
It's also a good games and media player.
fonfreak wrote:I , for one, would not pay for an App. Either it's free or it is of no interest to me.
Truely one of the most stupid things I have read on the internet for a long time, and there are a lot of stupid things online!
Talk about sponging off the efforts of others!
I have a wacky idead for you ... how about encouraging progression and development by supporting the efforts of innovators instead instead?
No one says people should pay for everythings, but everyone should pay for something when it is deserving to support future developments.
It's a good job Tomi is around to tell Steve Jobs where he's going wrong!
Maybe Apple will see the light and stop designing mobile devices people want to use.
Developers not earning back development fees is a common trait in programming, but with other forms for modding, ie for scripts etc, developers always get custom work to offset this. This wont or is very unlikely to occur in the mobile world.
Developing for Symbian would probably return a better yield these days than developing for Iphone. But probably the majority of Iphone and other mobile developers are hobbyists doing it in their spare time and then his calculations aren't relevant as it's done as an extra source of income and not costing them anything but some of their free time.
I haven't been a Symbian user for long but the sheer quality of some of the apps is mind blowing and I have no problem paying for them if I find them useful.