Okay Geek Farm
3 ways the Mac App Store could change retail software forever
Brandon Davenport
When the iPhone App store was introduced, people were overwhelmed by the point and tap ease of installing applications. People who had never “installed a program” were beginning to grasp the concept of adding neat functionality to their device. If you fast forward 9 billion app downloads later, Apple launches the Mac App store and people once again are left up in arms, but this is just the beginning — this is how the Mac App store will change retail software forever…
No more physical software in Apple stores
Apple says — “When you purchase a Mac at an Apple Retail store an employee will help you setup your e-mail accounts, walk you through the Mac App Store, setup an iTunes account for you, and show you the basic pointers of owning a Mac. Some stores will even have dedicated Mac setup stations.” [via MacRumors]
Eliminating physical software in retail stores would be difficult, as most folks don’t understand the concept of software without the disk — the tangible medium to transfer it to your computer. It’s a great idea though because Apple would no longer have to pay for shipping, boxes, storage space or waste — and profit margins would burst — it’s the perfect storm for a new era of selling software.
No more OS’s on a disk
Think about it. Initially when you buy a Mac, the 4GB operating system is pre-installed and ready to rock. Updates come and go, but when the latest OS is released, we have to drag our lazy butts to the store for a disk containing the same 4GB OS with a couple hundred megabytes of updates. Seems sort of pointless…
What if OS X Lion could just be a big update, available for $19 bones in the App store? No disks needed, no trips to the store — all that would be needed is a 20 minute wait. It seems novel, but being able to buy it once, and install it on all your other machines (like all apps in the Mac App store) would be awesome — and that disk that comes with your Mac could just be a USB key.
Every update in one place
It’s just lovely to have all your App’s updates all in one place, but what about other stuff… like iTunes? GarageBand? iLife? I think it would be crazy for Apple to not allow every single piece of software in your Mac to use the App store to show updates. It would be great to see a list of everything I need to update instead of random pop-ups pausing my videos and getting in the way.
It’s more than another App Store
Apple knows the physical software market is beyond dead, it’s harmful to companies. Spending tons of money shipping, printing and packaging software that could be sent over the internet for pennies. Prices for software will go down, and companies will still make more money — it seems insane not to take a chance.
Companies have tried this before, many times, but none of them have gotten it just right. With the thundering success of App stores on mobile devices, Apple feels like it’s ready to push the desktop software market forward, and the Mac App store is the only way they can, and even if it fails to replace the physical software goods in retail stores, it will hopefully carve a path for curiosity to follow.
