Apple’s Next Greedy Move: Exclusivity

This is so obvious, I’m surprised I didn’t think of it until today.

There is Steve Jobs, sitting with his iPad. He is pondering all the things that makes it special. He is very proud of his creation (as he should be, setting aside his 30% vig).

What he is most proud of is that he has created an experience.

Because that’s what all the iOS devices are at their core: experiences.

Apple Is Now Dead To Me

Apple’s new App Store rules affect Amazon’s Kindle

Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller confirmed that those rules apply not only to newspaper and magazine publishers, but also to content sellers like Amazon.com, which offers a Kindle app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

To meet Apple’s guidelines, Amazon must remove its “Shop in Kindle Store” link from its Kindle application.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

All today people on Twitter have been in denial that Apple’s 30% vig announcement applied to eBooks.

Well, there it is, confirmed by Apple itself.

Sony’s Reader app was rejected on this basis, Sony blew the whistle on what was coming, people disbelieved it, Apple announced its 30% vig today and people denied it would happen to eBooks.

When the hell do you wake up?

Apple has become the face-sucking vampire squid of media now!

I will not buy an iOS device. I am not Apple’s bitch and my device is not a colonial outpost of its manufacturer.

Thank you, Samsung, for providing an alternative to the iPod Touch.

Thank you, HP, for providing an alternative to the iPad.

Apple is dead to me.

Previously here:

iOS Developers: You’re Next In Apple’s Sights
Apple’s Content-Creator Recruiting Poster
What Apple Looks Like Today
Apple’s Greed Will Keep This Going
All Devices Should Access Everything. Period.
The Day Apple Became Nathan Myhrvold

Sample Picture Taken With New Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0!

Thank to Steve “Chippy” Paine — of UMPC Portal and Carrypad — who got this for me after my dignified request shameful begging.

I’m inserting it here at full resolution, so it will become ginormous — 2560 x 1920 — if it’s clicked on. This is the best way to see how good or bad the camera is.

As for me, this camera is Win and I want the 5.0 even more now!

Apple Officially Wants Its 30% Vig — Sometimes

UPDATED: See end.

Apple Launches Subscriptions on the App Store

“Our philosophy is simple — when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.”

And:

Publishers who use Apple’s subscription service in their app can also leverage other methods for acquiring digital subscribers outside of the app. For example, publishers can sell digital subscriptions on their web sites, or can choose to provide free access to existing subscribers. Since Apple is not involved in these transactions, there is no revenue sharing or exchange of customer information with Apple.

But:

Publishers must provide their own authentication process inside the app for subscribers that have signed up outside of the app.

I don’t know exactly what that sentence means. I await the opinions of people who are technically inclined to interpret that bit.

This is still not going to go down easily. I can’t see Amazon or anyone else dealing with eBooks agreeing to give up 30% like that. Magazines might agree to it, but that’s a gamble they’ve always taken with heavily-discounted print subscriptions. eBooks are on thinner margins.

The best I can say about this right now is that Apple is not preventing out-of-app sales by also requiring in-app sales.

More as this develops.

UPDATE: I missed this little sentence, which is a bombshell:

In addition, publishers may no longer provide links in their apps (to a web site, for example) which allow the customer to purchase content or subscriptions outside of the app.

So, after all, Apple is preventing out-of-app sales, when the app itself is used.

Now I wait to see how Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and others respond to this.

Previously here:

The Day Apple Became Nathan Myhrvold

First Photo: webOS App Catalog Magazine View

App Catalog running in "Magazine View" on the TouchPad (Mockup): #webos #mwc http://twitpic.com/403944

— Markus Leutwyler (@twtomcat) February 15, 2011

Cropped zoom-in. Original photo is here.

I like that HP is thinking about different ways an app catalog can be presented for maximum effect — and I hope it will have a damned good search engine too.