I’m going to steal a bit from Raging Thunderbolt’s probably abandoned blog (Ed.: You’re one to talk. Before today, your last post was from over a year ago.) where she or he places two statements together to contrast each other. And I’ll steal a topic which was done on the website last year. Unlike her or him, I will probably F it up. Both statements appeared on Daring Fireball (the longtime obsession of these pages).
Marco Arment [on the release of various Microsoft apps for free on mobile devices]:
It seems that Microsoft is finally accepting the reality of Office’s market position on smartphones and tablets. To some degree, Office needs to compete with the free Google Docs and iWork, but for many customers, it’s also competing with the idea of simply not using office apps (or using them far less often).
John Gruber [on reaction to a developer’s release of an expansion pack for $2]:
Two fucking dollars. I’m going to the App Store to leave a 5-star review; such a beautiful and original work of art, and the App Store rating is being trashed by cheapskate morons.
The thing here is it hasn’t been a new complaint that the Apple App Store has not really fostered a healthy marketplace where developers can make the money needed to invest in applications more substantial that social media front-ends or simple fad-games. There’s folks who feel this has managed to stunt the iPad’s ascent as the PC replacement it was so destined to be. So, doesn’t it seem weird to celebrate as the natural order of things for one company to be pulled toward free by consumers, while lambasting consumers for pulling another app for free?
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