David Barnard on app store economics:
Ultimately, the users become the product, not the app. Selling users to advertisers and pushing in-app upgrades/consumables is a completely different game than carefully crafting apps to maximize user value/entertainment. It’d be a shame if the mobile software industry devolved into some horrific hybrid of Zynga and Facebook.
This is more and more the case with mobile apps, and with freemium services more generally. I’d love to pay to use Instagram, I’d be much happier doing that than seeing branded ads shoved in my face.
It’s surprising just how much ads detract from an otherwise well designed product. To make matters worse, the app you’ve grown to love can completely change the rules on you, after you’ve paid to use it! I’ve said it before, the freemium model is fundamentally flawed.
Via Daring Fireball
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