Notes
Selling Mac Apps
Hey you guys, can I ask you a question? I promise, this isn’t a bit.
Is it just me, or is it really hard to sell Mac apps? It seems as though, in order to really do a proper job selling Macintosh software, you have to set up your own online store, and then you have to write the code in your app and server-side to deal with licenses and serial numbers and stuff. After that, you (optionally) write code to prevent your application from being pirated. Once you’ve done all of that, then you can work on your software, the thing you’re actually selling.
That’s the process that thousands of Mac developers have to go through. Think about how much we’re collectively re-inventing the wheel here — thousands of people are solving the same problem over and over, yet each is starting from scratch to do the whole thing themselves. It’s as if every architect felt the need to design an entry-exit device vis-à-vis a house and/or home, and each one of them took the time to invent the door. Y’know who’s kinda got this shit down pat by now? The door people. Why do software developers keep doing this to themselves? How is this not a colossal waste of time?
These guys, they’ve already figured out.
If I had to pick the single biggest thing that Apple has done with the iPhone, one of my frontrunners would have to be that they’ve made the process of writing, selling and distributing software super-easy. As an iOS developer, you don’t have to worry about implementing your own secure credit card payment system or anti-piracy measures to stop people stealing your app. That stuff’s all taken care of by Apple, giving you more time to work on that insanely great app.
Maybe there’s an opportunity for something like that in the Mac space — a product that, out-of-the-box, gives developers some space in an online store and a framework that lets them quickly and easily implement the licensing and serial number logic with just a couple of delegate methods. Think Sparkle meets Shopify.
I think this could be a thing. Do you?
