[mikesaraf]

It seems odd to me, for years developers have been one of the few groups of people that could publish something and not have to pay the "gatekeepers" and actually have a shot at success. Finally after years of having to deal with the publishing, music and movie cartels; writers, bands and indie movie producers can reach the world without having permission to do so. However somehow we (software devs) have gotten into a position where we are beholden to 3 companies (Apple, Google & Microsoft) if we want widespread access to a mainstream audience. For that privilege we have to pay 30% for these companies to host a few megabytes of program files and they tell us that its breaking even. For 99 cent apps I can believe that, but I write applications for small businesses and those apps are worth way more than 99 cents. There is a big difference in 30% of 99$ vs 99 cents.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that its going to have the following effects (some good, some bad): 1. Software prices are going to go up for any app that is more serious than a fart app. 2. Web apps are going to become more mainstream for small businesses. Which means... 3. SaaS is going to become more mainstream, because I don't want to run a web service and not get a monthly payment for it.

Apple has done a number of good things for consumers in this industry, too bad they felt they had to screw developers over in the process.