Lab+2

What do you think about the Mac App store? What do you think it means for the future of apps? (Think of what it did for ios)

Although I think having an App Store for Mac computers is a good idea, I feel that the restrictions placed on the apps to be allowed onto the App Store are too constricting and not necessarily a step forward. Firstly, one of the benefits to consumers from having an App Store, is that they have a quick and easy place to find whatever app they are looking for without having to search the web for it. Also, since the App Store makes it easier and cheaper for developers to sell their product, they can sell their apps for cheaper prices than if they had to find an alternative location to sell from. Another benefit of the Mac App store is that you don't have to give your financial information out to multiple places online for different applications, you only have to give your financial application to one place.

One of the problems about the Mac App Store is that you can not submit your app to it if there is a similar existing app. This is to avoid developers from copying each other and splitting their market share. I feel this is a bad idea because someone might have a better idea for an app than the apps that currently exist, but because of this rule, they can't put it on the App Store. Also, developers can't sell apps involving chat or music because Apple wants to keep a monopoly on those types of apps with ichat and itunes. I disapprove of this because developers may be able to create apps that take chatting and music management to a whole new level, but Apple's greed is holding back the progress of such applications. For example: what if Microsoft makes Windows Media Player the only music player allowed on Windows computers and you couldn't use Realplayer, MediaMonkey, or Winamp? It's hard to imagine that happening, but that is exactly what Apple is doing with their App Store. There are some other limitations on the App Store (such as no violence and no complexity in apps) that i feel are also limiting developer's creativity.