Apple Computer introduced today a new professional photo product called Aperture. Priced at $499, its $100 less than Photoshop CS2. The price point is facinating, both of Aperture and of Photoshop. And Im certain that, while most reviews will certainly indicate that Aperture doesn’t have the feature set of Photoshop, it will certainly make full use of the graphics toolbox underlying the MacOS X operating system. (more…)
In an efford to increase revenue by tapping every dollar earned off of the iPod eco-system, Apple is increasing pressure on ipod peripheral makers to pay up their 10% in the Made for iPod program, according to a report on News.com. Apparently to gain access to critical information regarding a new port, you have to pay to play. Apple is not without precident in doing this. Microsoft, for example, intends on tapping peripheral makers for a percentage for the xBox 360.
Greg Costikyan’s two part Death to the Game Industry: Long Live Games provides an interesting look at the shrinkwrapped game business, and how much more awful it is than the state of application software distribution in North America. Application and game distribution is a rickety thing, full of faults. Greg points most of the serious ones, but regretably the only solution he offers is wishing for a better world in which the creator is exalted. (more…)
eWeek’s Channel Insider takes a look at the state of Mac value-added resellers. This rehashed a lot of the anxiety and “Tell on Apple” gripes that Apple Specialists have had for the last several years. But the emphasis on services, especially for PCs is interesting for software vendors.
I get mixed signals from my channel contacts when it comes to margins on Macs: a very wide variance between what’s been told to me by a big boy reseller vs what the small time Apple Specialists get. Across the board though, they say that customers can take a retail quote from a retailer and have it matched by the Apple Store. There’s no real option for competing on price. Channel Insider’s article also reiterates that Mac only shops have to depend on services to survive (some small timers would say this is based on the tiny margins they get on a CPU).
So what’s the story on software? I think you’ll find almost all the little stores buy from the same distributor, and there’s little there for variation on pricing (this same distributor serves the Apple Store as well). There’s no mistaking the service angle. Resellers I know have said Apple’s been telling them to do that for years. It is a smart way to add value. But with software, Ive never see a reseller carry the same or more titles as an Apple Store or CompUSA for that matter, even though carrying differentiating software titles could be another way that differentiates them from the Apple Store. In other words, don’t take Mac VARs hunger as a signal they will buy your software product — even though they should. They seem content, for the most part, to sell whatever is on the shared distribution menu.
AutoDesk is acquiring Alias Rearch. AutoDesk acquiring Alias is to 3D what Adobe acquiring Macromedia is for 2D graphics and design. The combination of bloodbath and consolidation continues. (more…)
I just read Michael Panda’s rant article How Apple iTunes 5.0 Almost Ruined My Life and can totally relate where he is coming from, having put in six years in Japan myself. This seems like a classic business infrastructure vs technology problem that is at the heart of issues surrounding international distribution. At the heart of this is that good development can solve problems but they cannot resolve territorial issues. (more…)
Cnet’s article Apple offers Mac Mini ‘grab bag’ reports on an otherwise unreported speed bump on the Mac Mini. This looks like a duck and cover on Apple’s part, since the Mac Mini just saw an announced revision with the addition of the previously optional Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support in the high end model. (more…)