

More on Apple's 30% cut of Kindle book sales, etc. - dctoedt
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9209580/Apple_s_new_App_Store_rules_affect_Amazon_s_Kindle?taxonomyId=12

======
bowmande
I find this absolutely insane. Apple is acting as a payment processor that is
charging 30%. I thoroughly enjoy Apple's product, but taking 30 percent of in-
app purchases seems crazy.

~~~
barista
They made the platform. You need to realize that if the platform didn't exist,
there wouldn't be all these mobile apps in the first place.

~~~
ezy
Why do people argue this point? It's not insane because people have to do what
Apple wants, no one except for a few entitled folks are arguing this. They can
do what they please.

It's insane because Apple have been suckered by their own advertising. Yes,
the iPad is one of a kind at the moment, but the android tablet is right
around the corner. And that android tablet will be running Kindle and Nook
apps.

While the payment platform and app store helps create the ecosystem for apps
to exist, the iPad owes it's current success to the the apps people sell for
it, not to the payment platform or the app store. The app store and the UI
library is a precondition, but it is not sufficient -- if no one made apps for
it, no one would buy an iPad.

An iPad without Kindle is slightly worse than a sh*tty microsoft win7 tablet
IMO. iBooks is currently not very successful as an alternative. because unlike
iTunes, Apple has established competitors who execute very well in this space.

If they try to play hardball with Amazon, Google Android tablets will then
just wipe the floor with Apple... same way microsoft did in the 90's. More
likely, Amazon is playing hardball with Apple... Maybe Apple will make an
"exception" using some tricky accounting to get a part of that 30% back to
Amazon.

~~~
Terretta
> * An iPad without Kindle is slightly worse than a sh _tty microsoft win7
> tablet IMO._

Assuming, of course, that the only thing people do with their iPads is read.

(Personally, I can't make myself read for very long on an iPad anyway. I do
fine on Kindle DX and Sony Reader. I would do best on a folding two screen
eInk device the size of the tall Sony Reader, that opened to reveal two facing
pages.)

~~~
ezy
It's not the only thing, but I'd argue it's a common use. I mean part of the
selling point for the iPad was using the internet, which is essentially
reading most of the time.

------
randrews
Well, this invalidates what I thought Amazon should do: remove all purchasing
of books from the Kindle app and make it only able to download and read books
bought from the website (which it would not link to).

Apple's now saying, if you sell something somewhere else that can be shown in
an iOS app, you need to also sell it through Apple for the same price.

I guess when Amazon pulls the iOS app, I can break the DRM on the books I buy
from them and read them on Stanza.

~~~
ryandvm
> I guess when Amazon pulls the iOS app, I can break the DRM on the books I
> buy from them and read them on Stanza.

Nobody can blame Amazon from pulling the iOS app. I'd be shocked if they
don't. Apple is literally requesting _all_ of Amazon's margins. I guess you
can do whatever your ethics permit, but my takeaway is that perhaps you
shouldn't be buying devices from such tyrannical manufacturers.

The Honeycomb tablets cannot come soon enough...

------
mrcharles
Anyone want to place bets on when Amazon pulls the iOS app? Seems the only
possible retaliation at the moment.

This is absurdly anti-competitive.

~~~
ghshephard
Actually, I'd argue it's absurdly competitive. How would you maximize the
value of your 160 million IOS Device platform?

Don't get me wrong - this pisses me off, as approximately 50-75% of my usage
of the iPad is reading content like the WSJ, NYT, and, especially, my Kindle
Books.

For the very first time, today, I'm actually considering purchasing an Android
Tablet for my 2011 Tablet Upgrade - a thought that would have never, ever,
entered my mind prior to this behavior of Apples.

With that said - I understand what they are trying to do - but, I think they
are being short sighted. This action is going to diminish the value of the
platform, and start driving people like me over to Android, where we're pretty
certain we'll find a more friendly home.

Oh well - I've loved my iPad for the last year like no other purchase - I've
bought a little over $1500 worth of content (TV Shows, Apps, Books) according
to my iTunes Bill, and, I expect I'll be able to read and download books with
my existing Kindle App for the forseeable future - but, I'm guessing new
versions of the iPad will have an IOS that is incompatible with the existing
Kindle App in some way, and I'll eventually have to migrate off platform.

Here's hoping Apple comes to their senses and manages to walk this idiotic
decision back.

------
tzs
Here's how Amazon, Sony, B&N, etc., can get around this.

1\. They need to get together and agree on a common eBook/DRM format. (I'm
assuming the copyright owners of most books won't let them drop DRM).

2\. They need to publish the specs so that third parties can implement this,
and they need to make sure third parties can license the DRM.

3\. Amazon, B&N, etc., then pull their apps from the Apple App Store.

4\. People who want to read eBooks from Amazon, B&N, etc., use a third party
reading app.

The maker of the third party reading app does not sell content, so does not
run afoul of Apple's new rules.

Note the nice side effect that this would have. We'd start to get a
competitive market for eBook reader software, as with Amazon, B&N, etc., using
a common format and DRM scheme, readers would no longer be tied to one
provider.

------
ROFISH
What about incumbent subscription services? For example, Hulu requires you to
be paying $8/mo to view their shows on an iPhone or iPad. Since a subscription
is required, MUST they be required to Apple's subscription service, or can
they just not do anything until you sign up elsewhere?

------
YooLi
"That link [Shop in Kindle Store Link], which opens the iOS browser and
displays Amazon's Web-based e-bookstore, is currently the easiest way for
Kindle app users to purchase new books."

Does anyone know or ever heard any metrics about what percentage of users use
that link to purchase content? On a regular Kindle (the reader, not the app),
even though I have the 3G Kindle, I never shop from it, choosing to use a
desktop browser instead (easier, prettier, etc). Do users of the Kindle app do
the same, i.e. just shop on their laptops and use the Kindle app to only read
the books?

~~~
jon_hendry
I've occasionally bought books via my Kindle device. More often I buy using my
computer's web browser and have the book delivered to the kindle.

------
ezy
I have to say that this article is horribly unclear.

It says that if you link to selling digital add-ons outside of the app, you
have to sell them in the app. Then it goes on to say that one could "side-
step" the requirement by not having a "buy" link at all in the app, but still
selling the add-ons elsewhere. Fair enough... But _then_ it says Apple still
requires you to have a buy link in the app if you sell any add-
ons/subscriptions externally whether the app has a link to them or not.

So, which is it?

------
trotsky
US Department of Justice: Tying and Bundling Involving Intellectual Property

[http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/hearings/ip/chapter_5.htm#...](http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/hearings/ip/chapter_5.htm#iii)

------
tallanvor
This behavior is a great example of why I'm unlikely to ever buy another Apple
device.

On the bright side, once my Nano dies, I'll finally be able to drop iTunes for
good!

------
barista
Their greed is a good thing for the AAPL stockholders though :)

~~~
mrcharles
Until their greed chases potential app developers away from the platform and
in to the waiting hands of competing devices.

~~~
barista
ain't gonna happen. AAPL is the biggest and best platform out there when it
comes to mobile devices. I don't see anything wrong in they trying to make
money out of it.

