I have not seen this here on Mobileread as yet and can't find it in a search so if this is NOT new to you all, I apologize. But I think it is pretty important and it was the front page article over on
www.joyofipad.com this morning.
It is hard to believe that Apple could be doing something that would result in the loss of the Kindle and the Nook apps and probably almost every other non-Apple ereader -- but according to Newsweek (
at this link) it seems more than just possible. Right now the rule for developers is that if a user buys something while IN an app, Apple gets 30%. Amazon and B&N and other places have gotten around this by invisibly transferring out of the app itself into a browser when you buy ebooks. No more. Apple now says that developers who make ebook readers with a store attached must make it possible to buy from within the app as well as from outside the app. (Keep in mind this means no "invisible" transfers outside the app without an alternative method). So far the only CEO commenting is Dennis Moren who makes the iFlow Reader app. "I've wasted a year of work," he says, claiming Apple's rule would make him actually lose more than a dollar on every book he sold and, "I'm so angry I can hardly see straight."
Apple may get away with small developers simply not being able to see straight and walking away. Does anyone here think that Jeff Bezos at Amazon or the seven trillion lawyers at Barnes and Noble will simply shrug their shoulders and walk away from a multi-kajillion dollar ebook market? If Apple is stupid and greedy enough (no other wordage seems possible or more objective) to continue this policy successfully we predict that the iPad as an eReader will be dead. On the other hand it also seems to us that if they are actually stupid enough to take this to court they may well find that their 30% take on ALL in-app purchases is struck down under various Fair Trade laws resulting in the loss of many, many millions in sales to Apple far beyond ebooks. If ever there was a lose-lose situation for Apple if they continue in a policy -- this is such a situation.