30% Apple

[Matthew Gillen]

On 02/17/2011 09:06 AM, Chris O'Connell wrote:
> This cost is simply going to be handed down to the consumer.
> 
> Unfortunately, Apple is a very greedy company.  They already have HUGE mark
> ups on all of their hardware.  Remember right before the IPAD was released
> one of the higher ups at Apple said "We are prepared to be nimble with our
> pricing if the IPAD doesn't sell."  Well, that right there should say
> something about the markup on the IPAD.  Their laptops are much the same
> (which is sad since I love the Macbook Pro line).
> 
> I personally think 30% is way to high.  Perhaps 10-15% would be more
> reasonable, but Apple is huge and most companies are probably just going to
> along with this.

Personally I love that they are charging 30%.  I dislike the
stranglehold they keep on their platform, so if they want to shoot
themselves in the foot, I'm all for it.

Apple isn't as big as Amazon, and I think there is going to be some
major pushback from the large content providers.  And as android becomes
a viable contender (doing to apple /exactly/ what microsoft did to apple
in the 80s), I think Apple is going to find their bargaining position
isn't as strong as it was even a year ago.

Yes, Apple is greedy.  But fortunately for us Amazon is greedy too.  So
is Google.  Companies can't stand third-parties getting a cut from their
core products.  Case in point: American Airlines has been de-listed from
Expedia because AA was looking at how Southwest sells all their tickets
themselves, and told Expedia that they didn't want to pay their
surcharge anymore.

So I say just sit back and enjoy the fireworks while these big guys duke
it out.  Will 'we the consumers' be worse off if you can no longer buy
stuff from  amazon on your Apple products?  Depends on your point of
view.  IMO, anything that makes proprietary platforms weaker is good for
consumers in the long run.  Do I think it will actually play out that
way?  Hard to say.   There is a delicate balance, since Amazon has it's
own walled garden it's trying to promote around it's proprietary-format
ebooks.  I hope they both lose, at least from the point of view of their
walled gardens succeeding in vendor-lock-in and open source lock-out...

Matt