App Developer: Android Designed For Piracy 596
Following news this week of a game developer who turned the Android version of a game free because of piracy concerns, software developer Matt Gemmell has written a lengthy post explaining why he thinks Android apps are laboring under a broken business model. "People have to get paid. There has to be a revenue stream. You can’t reliably have that revenue stream if the platform itself and the damaged philosophy behind it actively sabotages commerce. If you want a platform to be commercially viable for third-party software developers, you have to lock it down. Just like in real life, closing the door and locking it helps make sure that your money remains yours. Bad behaviour has to be more difficult than good behaviour - and good behaviour means paying for your software." He also has some harsh arguments about some of the assumptions and philosophies underpinning the an industry built on an open platform. "Nerds like to say that people care about choice at that level. Nerds are wrong. Nerds care about choice, and nerds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think. Android is designed with far too much nerd philosophy, and open is gravy to those people because it’s synonymous with customization. ... Open is broken as a money-making platform model, unless you’re making the OS or the handsets. Most of us aren't doing that."
Why does Windows work then? (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows as a platform, at least until Vista/7/8, did nothing to enforce app piracy. That was left purely to the developer. App development was as open as could be - MS imposed no restrictions on distribution and left DRM and similar to the application developer.
Can the author of this editorial kindly explain why there are numerous profitable applications for Windows, during the XP era?
Offensive (Score:3, Insightful)
It is "nerds" who invented all the platforms this person is selling or not selling stuff on, and it is "nerds" who wrote the code he sells. The term "nerd" is offensive and derogatory. At this point, I don't even care what he is talking about because I'm so pissed about how he is saying is.
Lord Help Matt Gemmell (Score:3, Insightful)
What if someone finds a way, *GULP*, to root iOS devices like they do with those Android phones!?! They'll be able to install pirated iOS apps!
The entire market will crash, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... it'll be mass hysteria.
And then Matt can say he warned us all.
Sold! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Nerds like to say that people care about choice at that level. Nerds are wrong. Nerds care about choice, and nerds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think."
I think this guy just sold me my first Android phone. Also:
"If you want a platform to be commercially viable for third-party software developers, you have to lock it down."
Yeah, because no one ever could figure out a way to make money selling Windows software.
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:4, Insightful)
The moron (and you) is conflating open source and piracy... which is moronic.
The whole blog post is so.... morony.
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:2, Insightful)
He probably wants to eat food, yes. But there is no law guaranteeing that he can earn money for his food using a business model he just happened to dream up. Impossible to make money developing third-party software for Android? Well, maybe. But that only means one thing: Don't try. Just because music and movies seemed to do well for such a long time using a broken business model doesn't mean that everyone who has ideas is entitled to copy that broken model and get filthy stinking rich.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
And you suggest that it being a poor game is a good reason to pirate it?
I'm suggesting that there's a relative cause and effect to poor business decisions, this is more so true with software than physical goods. People are more likely to pirate something, especially if they feel they're getting reamed over, and reamed over hard. Especially by a developer who's out for an extra hard screw-over.
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:2, Insightful)
Then he can go get a fucking job. armchair game writing is like playing music at a local bar, you are a complete moron if you think you will make you living doing that.
anyone that writes an app and thinks the money will just come rolling in, then they are one of the stupidest people on the planet. ASSUME you will have 50% piracy, and pray it's not more than that. anyone that did any research at all into software publishing knows this.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
I see, I would probably buy another game instead but I guess that's just me.
I just paid for a $10 app. Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
You want people to pay for apps? Stop producing iCrap... or make your apps free, because that's about all they're worth.
Re:Why does Windows work then? (Score:5, Insightful)
Being successful on any platform is really hard. However there are plenty of companies that have made huge sums of money making Windows software despite rampant piracy.
Re:Why does Windows work then? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Open is broken as a money-making platform model" (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh Gosh, "Open" is broken as a money-making platform model!
This isn't an attack on Android, it's an attack on anything open-source, anything that gives the user the slightest bit of control or freedom. Yes, we are much better off in a completely locked down ecosystem where we can't even change the default browser, where you had best hope the owners of said ecosystem don't decide to compete with their own app that does a similar thing, or you'll get wiped off the one-and-only app store without a care or an explanation from them.
Yes, I'm blatantly talking about Apple here. However, I don't mean to sound like I'm ragging on iOS, or Apple in general, I'm merely pointing out that the opposite end of the spectrum has its own set of issues as well.
Android does have a piracy problem, but it stems mostly from a single tickbox that allows you to install apps that don't come from Google, the same tickbox that lets you install alternative app stores that don't necessarily have the same limitations or guidelines as the Play Store. If you take away that tickbox, I'm not sure the ecosystem will benefit more than it will be hampered.
Plenty of developers seem to be raking in the money on Android, they just use a different approach than they do on iOS. Instead of "Pay up front and be done with it", it's more "Get it free and supplement with in-app purchases" or "ad supported". Angry birds did the latter, Dead trigger (the one the "Piracy" reference was made about earlier this week) did the former. Their app is getting a lot of press, I will be interested to see just how well they do now.
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:2, Insightful)
"ASSUME you will have 50% piracy" ...unless you write for iOS, then you don't have to make that assumption.
Thanks for proving his point.
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:4, Insightful)
However, just like with any other career, you don't get to decide the exact terms of the switch on your own.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
I see, I would probably buy another game instead but I guess that's just me.
I'd agree, and so would I. Then again, I'd also expect a developer to be up front and honest with me to. Rather than trying to throw a hissy fit in front of the world, then trying to blame piracy. I remember we've seen this monster with a variety of topics before too. In most cases, piracy isn't the monster under the bed, eating children. Now if he'd given the game away free, then sold the things in game. No one would have made a stink over it. Plenty of people make money off their games like that.
Heck, plenty of MMO's do that.
Yup. (Score:4, Insightful)
Amazingly, the people who can use an Android phone won't pay for an app like that. No shit Sherlock. I mean, Whodathunkit? Non-idiots won't buy garbage.
When I imagine the developer who wrote this app, I think of the girl in the Vonage commercial:"Puppy!" :facepalm:
For him to be successful requires a large number of idiots; apparently, the Android crowd won't be that, and he's miffed.
The people "Pirating it" probably wanted to show their friends how stupid i(whatever) users are.
Before the "pirates" go back to playing Counterstrike...
I judge coworkers on ability by what apps they have on their phone; it makes it a lot easier. :) (My phone makes calls. Only. Yeah, you can still get those.)
Or maybe (Score:5, Insightful)
Unoriginal thinking (Score:5, Insightful)
In addition to a lot of the arguments being made here against Mr. Gemmell's rationale, he's not even thinking creatively about the alternative ways a revenue stream could be generated. Case in point: I just played a Flash game yesterday that shows a video ad while loading. The ad unlocked additional features of the game for that playthrough.
But Mr. Gemmell doesn't consider developing new, innovative possibilities like this. He just wants the cash, and will happily use the "locking down" of other peoples' machines on a widespread basis to achieve this. Where's the "locking down" of the property rights that are supposed to come with buying something, like an Android? If it's my device, why wouldn't I have root? It would be apropos if Mr. Gemmell made enough money to buy a car, only to have it stolen within the first couple of weeks.
Mr. Gemmell makes it sound only right for companies and developers to "protect" their [currently-only-imagined] profits, but it comes at the expense of the property rights of the users. So he argues for further inroads on users' access to their own machines, while attempting to make it seem natural, fair and just.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
Or more to the point. Piracy is a lot more apparent to a software developer that can't sell anything.
Re:Why does Windows work then? (Score:5, Insightful)
First of all, I don't think selling games for Windows is all that profitable, at least when it comes to single player / offline games (which is the bulk of the Android games). Piracy is huge, that's why the whole industry shifted towards consoles and online during the last decade or so. I'm sure there are some AAA games generating money, but it's pretty much a "the winner takes it all" situation. I'd be glad to be pointed to evidence stating the opposite, but I'm under the impression it's just a handful of publishers who are getting rich and the rest of the industry isn't getting a lot out of selling PC games.
But more significant I think is the fact that Windows is basically a monopoly and for most users synonymous with the PC. People don't think about using Windows, they aren't choosing it consciously, which means the demographic of who is using Windows is pretty much "everyone". So despite the insane amounts of piracy on the Windows platform, that demographic still includes a lot of folks who don't know how to pirate a game or don't mind paying for a game and aren't all that interested in piracy, because everybody uses Windows.
Android on the other hand is in a whole other market. There isn't a clear monopolist when it comes to handhelds, there are all sorts of platforms competing for a piece of the mobile pie. Android appeals mainly to two huge groups of people: 1) the tech savvy folks who like an open platform, but also know how to pirate software and to 2) people who are looking for a bargain. The result of this situation is that the number of Android users who are actually willing to pay for their applications is very, very low.
In my view, this is why it is *a lot* harder for Android to be a profitable ecosystem for developers than it ever was for Windows.
Re:Piracy... RIIIGHT. (Score:5, Insightful)
The thing that cheeses me off about the entire post is his dismissive about "nerds" as if they are the cause of all his "piracy" ills. First and foremost, market share IS a good indicator of what people want, and Android has that market share. Sure not any single phone manufacturer has Apple beat, but the PLATFORM of Android is eating iOS's lunch, relatively speaking, and continues to do so, in spite of the recent updates to the Apple handset line. I'm not knocking iOS as a platform... if people like it, people like it. But it seems to me that if this blogger was paying attention, he'd realize that people don't WANT a locked down DRM infested, closed and obnoxious to the paying customer platform. THAT is why they pick Android over iOS.
I'm sorry, but this guy's got a boner for iOS and thinks he can't do anything until Android is as locked down and "secure" as his preferred platform. That's not just delusional, but like we nerds say "WE don't CARE what you think."
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:4, Insightful)
The mobile game world is an ocean of shit. Games are either crippled (sorry, "freemium") or just bad shovelware, and finding one that's neither is a futile exercise. When it comes to games my phone is basically a NES/SNES/GBA emulator now.
Re:Law of Large Numbers... and... (Score:4, Insightful)
The publisher themselves often included the security that the O/S did not - things like serial numbers, key generation, and call-home authentication.
I have not been using windows from a while, but I remember there used to be quite a while of keygens (key generator, for those who are born in the 2000's) and cracks (copy protection work-arounds for those born in the 2010's) for every successful windows software (and most crappy ones too). And they were, and still are, making many.
The reason is they are useful high-quality professional software, and in a professional environment you're ok to pay fat cash for good stuff. The problem with Android apps is that they pretend to stuff up a quickly hacked piece of crap, an put commercial in it and also want you to pay for it. This does not work. It would not work in iOS too, but you know, 30% of world population are idiots.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
> Piracy is a lot more apparent to a software developer that can't sell anything.
Exactly. People with a product people want find ways to extract money from the transaction and laugh all the way to the bank. Losers whine about the unfairness of life.
Sorry, people made heaps of money selling games on the PC and piracy was and is rampant. Every pirated copy is NOT a lost sale. Every pirated copy isn't even a total loss if worked right.
Option one is a world of locked platforms with no piracy. It comes in two flavors, a Hell on Earth police state to enforce it or a land of skittles shitting unicorns that deosn't exist. Option two is what we have now and pretty much always have had, where piracy exists and is a problem but not an insurmountable one. Hollywierd is awash in cash despite the easy duplication of their wares. Multibillion dollar software houses were built on platforms where half or more of the players were running bootleg copies.
Re:Lock Down (Score:4, Insightful)
Really? I'm finding it hard to believe.
Yeah, right.
Then logically Autodesk, Dassault systems, etc. should all be out of business. Oh wait...
No, you have to cover your own ass. You don't go around demanding that I become your prisoner for your profit's sake.
Indeed, people will do many things when given no choice. But your profits are not justification for taking capability and freedom to do as I wish out of my hands.
Re:The jerk probably wants to eat and raise a fami (Score:5, Insightful)
What a jerk. He probably wants to eat food, buy a house, see a doctor, and raise a family. :-) Open source sharing is great with programmers, but with the rest of the world it's a one-way street.
The TFA is not arguing against open source, he's arguing against open platforms. He seems to have a problem with the fact that Android, for example, lets people sideload apps from outside the app store, which to him means that they can rip an app from one phone and install it on another without paying him.
In other words, he is basically complaining that Android gives users enough freedom that they can use it to engage in piracy. And advocates for iOS and other platforms which constrain all users on the grounds that they cannot possibly be allowed to do anything that might be used to undermine the ability of app developers (and the associated Apple cut) to make profit.
So, yes, he is a jerk. He thinks that his right to make money following a particular business model overrides my right to own a device where I retain full control. I sincerely wish him to go out of business.
Re:Offensive (Score:5, Insightful)
I've read what the man has to say, and it really is as offensive as the summary makes it to be. He basically says that walled garden is a good thing because it prevents users from pirating apps, which is good for (his) business. He doesn't care that users are limited in many other legal activities as a side effect - he actually acknowledges it, but then immediately dismisses it as "something only nerds care about". In short, he really is that much of an asshole.
Re:"Open is broken as a money-making platform mode (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not even an attack on open source, it's an attack on all open platforms - a far broader definition. For example, Windows is an open platform (since it permits you to run any app that you want on it, and otherwise gives you full control over the machine). So is OS X. You don't have to be a FLOSS fan to get irked at this guy.
Re:Why does Windows work then? (Score:4, Insightful)
Can you name a few? Honest question. Bonus if you can name companies who aren't moving to the web and/or in decline.
Translation:
Can you search Google for me? Honest question. Bonus if you can name companies who are stagnant and failed to improve their products.
As for names: http://www.softwaretop100.org/global-software-top-100-edition-2011 [softwaretop100.org]. I assume you're smart enough to know which of these develop succesful Windows software (hint; the vast majority).
"Moving to the web" is not so much a move away from traditional platforms as it is extending business onto a quickly growing and prospering platform. Software companies that don't atleast experiment with the web as a software platform are planning to fail.
Re:Why does Windows work then? (Score:4, Insightful)
I seriously doubt it, too, but not because of piracy. Android is an OS for limited-function devices. Thus, most apps are also limited in their functionality. Unfortunately, low-end apps are a dime a dozen. You can't really manage high margins if any random developer can make a knock-off in a few months, undercut you by 50%, and kill your sales faster than you can say, "Oops, I guess I overpriced my product". So unless your app is just freaking brilliant, you pretty much have to hope for high volume, which is a lot harder to achieve.
Re:Yup. (Score:5, Insightful)
I judge coworkers on ability by what apps they have on their phone; it makes it a lot easier. :) (My phone makes calls. Only. Yeah, you can still get those.)
You sound like a condescending twat and I'm glad I don't work with you.
Re:Yup. (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't forget "Area man constantly telling people he doesn't have a Facebook profile".
Boo Frickin Hoo! (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't want to earn a real living, I like it on this gravy train where I just look at the last popular game and pump out a barely different clone that gets marketed and makes me and my cheap-arse Indian software developers a living.
WAAAAA!!!! It's all Android's fault, if they had made a locked down phone in the first place that made sure these idiots kept spending money on my worthless me-too games I could be living the good life.
Unless Google fix this problem where people are getting lots of stuff for free I won't be able to make a fat living, and if I can't make a living, NOBODY can make a living, and even though Google are selling these phones like hotcakes and the users are getting what they want - trust me, it'll all dry up!
NOBODY WILL GET PAID!
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:2, Insightful)
Narrowsighted. That guy doesn't see the big picture, has the same view of the world as the rest of the industry, "we make some shit, you buy it. Period." They have a business model that fails, and blame everyone but themselves.
Other than self advertisement (which would cause many people here to pirate his app instead of buying), I really don't see what he'll accomplish.
Well, he's an idiot for posting on the internet. A few years from now, he'll need to switch tracks, and things like these will pop up after a single search.
I have a smartphone, Samsung Wave, a gift, not my choice, has a lot of free apps available, but the only one I have installed is a free sudoku game. That's it. Yup, expensive phone, knows a lot of shit, but I use it only as a phone. Go figure.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
I would suggest that the fact that it's so much more risky to steal physical goods has a lot more to do with it than any reamings people get, or fear they will get.
When people get reamed by some physical product (hehe), they don't go steal the next version of that horrible product. They don't go out and steal a similar product made by a competitor. They either take it back, or just make a pfffft sound and go buy something else, especially if that something costs a dollar. If you are lured into buying a shitty cup of coffee by one of those cardboard foldouts with a picture of coffee and a hot chick on it, do you vow to steal all coffee forever to retaliate against the purveyors of shitty coffee tricking people out of their hard earned Sackies?
Of course not. Why? Because you know you are much more likely to get caught and punished.
Even if you end up buying several cups of shitty coffee from multiple vendors, each time tricked by subliminal advertising, you are STILL only out several bucks. At that point most people come to realize that a one dollar cup of coffee tends to suck, and maybe look into buying bubble gum or something with that dollar instead.
A lot of us will steal in safer circumstances, though. Every coffee service with a donation box that I have ever encountered is chronically underfunded. I know many people that shoplifted as kids, and have vivid memories of edging out the record store with an LP pressed against my belly, while my buddies distracted the clerk. I did it until I got caught.... which was something I had assigned a very remote probability to up until then.
We pirate digital goods because we're pretty sure can get away with it. We can hide our nefarious doings with our constitutionally protected privacy. We goad powerful corporations into undermining our privacy to protect their interests, and it's a lot of time, money, and effort to fend them off. If they are successful, the penalty will have been much worse that a shoplifting bust, all so we can have dollar apps for free.
Re:Offensive (Score:3, Insightful)
Non technical people don't care about rooting, dual core, flash, "freedom",
It always amuse me seeing how much iPod killers or iPad killers have been announced in the years and the ground for that was that those products where more open, you could root ,
We are *not* the general public and while we love those things or are sometimes obsessed by the inner workings, most normal users don't care about those things.
I'm not 100% following everything what he said in that article, but the "nerd" argument really does make sense a lot.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:4, Insightful)
We pirate digital goods because we're pretty sure can get away with it.
There's also a pretty high convenience factor. I have an old friend from college who used to pirate mp3s. Once Amazon started making available mp3s of nearly every album, he started buying them. It was easier to do that than to find them on various file-sharing networks, especially considering the fake files that are out there, slow uploaders, etc.
Same kind of thing with movies and TV shows, only this time with iTunes. One click and he has the media. No mussing with torrents, no gnutella, no corrupted rar files, and no going to the store.
This doesn't mean that the piracy was okay. However, piracy is a fact of life. Some content makers have figured this out and adapted, and they're probably doing better than they would have had they failed to adapt. Right versus pragmatic [marco.org] is a pretty good explanation of it.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:3, Insightful)
There is no "sense of entitlement", just 30 years of computing history to contradict idiots like you. You don't have to abuse the end user to have a gaming platform that allows developers to make money.
Linux as an example of "where this is going"? Linux was never a well marketed gaming platform. Yet it is gaining ground lately. It's doing so because the actual numbers contradict your nonsense.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:5, Insightful)
People will pirate pretty much anything, as long as there are people who are willing to crack and people who are willing to download. There's nothing you can do about it.
The scale of piracy, however, is highly dependent on the quality of the pirated version compared to the original. As long as you do everything you can to make your paying customers happy, there's no reason to worry. Business models based on DRM, DLC, etc. that do nothing except annoy your players, will see a higher piracy rate simply because you made the pirated version that much more better than what you sell.
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:3, Insightful)
"You don't have to abuse the end user to have a gaming platform that allows developers to make money."
Is asking the user to actually pay for their software abusive? And there is a large number of people who do live their lives with a sense of entitlement. People who want free games, free applications, free OS, free music, and free movies.
Re:Yup. (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't forget "Area man constantly telling people he doesn't have a Facebook profile".
Recently, it's more like "Area mom constantly explaining why she still uses Facebook"
Re:Yup. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:4, Insightful)
Is asking the user to actually pay for their software abusive?
If that software is GPL code you stole from the author, then YES!
If alternative free software is readily available and you're blocking it in an attempt to shovel your crap-ware, then YES!
And yes, I'm a programmer and I live with a strong sense of entitlement when it comes to controlling what software I put on my systems. I'm entitled to be EXTREMELY selective about any bit-stream I might decide to run, especially those that cost me cold hard cash.
People who want..., free OS, ...
You're kidding me right? Tons of really talented people have spent large portions of their life creating software that they'd merely love for me to be able to freely use and I'm in entitlement mode if I want to honor their work by using it as originally intended?
Re:Wait a sec... (Score:3, Insightful)
"You don't have to abuse the end user to have a gaming platform that allows developers to make money." Is asking the user to actually pay for their software abusive? And there is a large number of people who do live their lives with a sense of entitlement. People who want free games, free applications, free OS, free music, and free movies.
If they're not paying then the software is not priced correctly. Most people would pay for software if they consider it worth the money. The real underlying problem is that the software developers / music labels / movie studios believe their product to be worth more than people are willing to pay, and many also believe that suing the public and imposing draconian restrictions on what they are allowed to do with their hardware will somehow make everyone see the error of their ways and start paying them what they want. They are mistaken, although I doubt they will realise before its too late.