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A comment on Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store?.

Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by access_denied on Saturday May 23, 2009 @10:14AM (#623451)
The appstore makes sense for Apple, because...

- quality control for end-users. Like when Nintendo started with the NES.

- cutting the middle-man out of app marketing - good for third-party developers.

Microsoft does not care for neither party. Microsofts strategy with DOS/Windows was always about tight-knit contracts with OEMs.

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Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by briansmith on Saturday May 23, 2009 @11:20AM (#623505)
How is Apple cutting the middle-man out? They are the middle-man!

And, Apple's strategy is also about a tight-knit contract with an OEM--itself. That's about as tightly-knit as it gets.

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Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by fauigerzigerk on Saturday May 23, 2009 @11:10AM (#623497)
Apple hasn't cut out the middle-man so much as replacing him by ... Apple itself. They have become the super middle-man, not just for marketing but for distribution and conflict resolution and what have you.
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Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by gtufano on Saturday May 23, 2009 @11:34AM (#623519)
You are somewhat right, but there are two faces in Apple being the super middle-man: 1) the good fact that it is "fair". The underdogs leave to them the same amount of money of the big brasses (30%). Any application starts the same, and you don't need special marketing effort to start up. At least, not the same effort you should have to start from scratch. You can use your time to have a better application, not to market it better. And I REALLY like this one. 2) the fact that they have the "last word" on what goes into the AppStore definitely stinks. No need to add to this. I can understand how this happens, but it stinks.

The fact is that me (and many thousand other) still prefer the reason (1) to the reason (2) and this is the success of AppStore.

Returning to "why Microsoft don't have it": because they don't need the indie developer and they will not upset the bigger brands to help a new market develops. The competitor of Apple in the mobile space are trying to start their store (Nokia, RIM)... if Apple can start the AppStore for OS X (and it have the same success, things I don't know if possible), we will, probably, see the Microsoft Store for Windows... otherwise I don't think so...

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Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by trezor on Saturday May 23, 2009 @02:05PM (#623664)
1) the good fact that it is "fair".

I guess this is why Google maps got a "go" despite using undocumented APIs the regular developers of the AppStore are not allowed to use?

It's not a as level playing field as you think.

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Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by philwelch on Saturday May 23, 2009 @04:03PM (#623772)
Google Maps are included with the iPhone, they're not a third party app. I'm sure if you could convince Apple to bundle your app with every iPhone you would get to use undocumented API's, too.
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Re:Ask YC: why doesn't Microsoft have a Windows App Store? by ahoyhere on Saturday May 23, 2009 @04:44PM (#623809)
You left off the most important thing... the App Store is on the phone. The App Store is practically hardware. It is the one way in / one way out on a closed device that you take with you everywhere.
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