Monday, July 25, 2011
Today's iPad Kindle App Update Removes Kindle Store Button
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Apple Talk" @ 11:01 AM
I was updating the apps on my iPad today - which is a daily occurrence that I wish Apple would streamline or automate somehow - and I noticed that the new Kindle app, released today, removes the Kindle Store button. This change has been brewing for a while now because Apple wants 30% of everything sold via any app. Taking 30% for selling an app itself is a good deal compared to the 50% cut most mobile developers we used to forking over in previous years. But when it comes to content where there are multiple parties involved and everyone wants a piece, 30% is untenable.
You have companies like Rhapsody and Amazon who are resellers of the content someone else creates - so they're the middle men - and Apple put a gun to their head and said "Give us 30% or get out". Amazon did the only thing that makes sense: they made the Kindle app a read-only tool, not a purchasing tool. Anyone using an iPad, myself included, will now have a degraded experience because I'll have to grab my Kindle 3 or Android phone in order to quickly purchase a book. The alternative is to buy the book via Safari on the iPad, and while it's not exactly difficult, it's certainly a lot less slower than buying from an app that allows for one-tap purchase of books.
What's your take on Apple's demand to have a 30% cut on every piece of content sold via an iOS app?
