
Apple has a gajillion dollars. Devs still have to pay $100. - BryanLunduke
http://lunduke.com/?p=2301
======
bluedevil2k
There are hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store, most of which are
terrible. Imagine how many would be in there if there was no $100 fee.

~~~
vibrunazo
Shouldn't better search or discovery algorithms or UI, be a more elegant
solution than just brute-forcing a paywall into it?

Think of the children. I mean, seriously, how many of us were young highschool
hackers who would have just loved the opportunity to build something awesome
for smartphones. But would be halted by Apple's fine?

~~~
smd80
You can build all you want; the tools are available with a free developer
account. The fee only applies if you want to distribute your apps through the
app store. But the tools are way better -- and way cheaper, even after the $99
-- than they were when I was a young highschool hacker.

------
lukeholder
I see the developer fee as just a barrier to entry to submit apps to the
marketing place - kinda just to stop the riff-raff. I suspect it also is
linked to the the legal agreement as some type of consideration.

~~~
TheAmazingIdiot
There already exists a $1500 barrier to entry: the cost of a Mac.

Thanks though, if I want to load programs on my iPhone, I'll do so through
Cydia.

~~~
nachteilig
Mac mini starts at $599. And no need to be hostile--he's making a legitimate
point. By charging a relatively modest fee to use the store--the tools
themselves are free, unlike things like VS--Apple is making sure people have
minute skin in the game.

~~~
SpikeDad
Of course. Even here people can't resist the Apple hate pronunciations. What
do people think they'd be developing if it wasn't for Apple? Would the $X
billions of dollars paid to App developers be made some other way? Basic
games?

~~~
TheAmazingIdiot
I didn't believe I was being hostile. It's just a matter of fact statement
that if I need programs loaded for me and friends, I'll send it to Cydia.

I cannot afford a MacBook, nor the 100$ fee to develop.

------
tzaman
Although I agree with the point made here, Apple probably wouldn't have a
gajillion if they weren't charging developers (not the only income, I know).

"Palace is made of bricks" we like to say.

------
awj
Yes, and can you imagine how much worse the app store would be if the people
screening apps didn't have apple charging a $100 cover?

------
mikescar
What's the point? Either pay the $100, or don't.

How much cash money Apple has is orthogonal to how the developer program is
structured. Maybe the $100 fee has benefits for gatekeeping purposes, but
that's a separate evaluation and discussion.

I'm not an iOS dev, and anything I would do on mobile would be Android first,
so I don't have any reason to try to defend Apple here.

------
cpt1138
Probably the first tier of "keeping out the riff-raff"

------
ISeemToBeAVerb
More than anything, I think the intention behind the developer fee is to act
as an additional buffer against low-quality developers. Personally, I have no
objection to it. If you're serious about putting time into developing for
Apple, $100 bucks isn't really all that big a deal. Furthermore, 30% isn't a
bad deal either considering that Apple is providing you with a large platform
for distribution as well as potential exposure.

------
jpxxx
They would have less than a gajillion dollars if they let any robo-scambucket
inject malicious and worthless products into their many Gardens of Algorithmic
Delight.

Access to a quarter billion users with one-click credit cards is either worth
$100 to you or it isn't.

------
TwistedWeasel
This is only a problem for people who plan to make <$100 from their app

~~~
mistercow
Which includes 100% of freeware, and 99% of weekend "hey let's put this on the
net and see if people want it" projects.

Both of those things used to be a big part of the Mac software ecosystem, but
they're slowly dying away. And if Apple moves forward with its apparent plan
to prohibit unsigned code from running by default, while charging $99/year for
the privilege of having your code signed, both will be effectively extinct
within the next year.

~~~
chaffneue
Agreed. I run an open source project and would love to make an iPhone app, but
it's an out of pocket expense that I can't justify. It's a shame and I'm sure
it's a pain other open source projects feel. I really hope they don't go fully
down that path for OSX. Maybe an alternative would be a free software key, or
something just to help collaboration and improve the social coding aspect.
They could even corral the apps in a different way to lower the QA stakes, so
our free spirited hacker lifestyle doesn't have to mess with Apple's mojo.

------
TwistedWeasel
If I had bought one share in Apple six years ago then they would have paid for
five years of developer membership fees.

------
alpad
Translation:

'Wah wah. Mommy won't let me eat cake! but me like CAKKKEE SO MUCH! Mommy
mean! Mommy have so much cake not let me have any. Stupid Mommy.'

