“Further emphasizing the Mac App Store as the preferred place to get new software for Mac OS X, Apple on Wednesday discontinued a slew of boxed software products,” Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.
“Virtually all of Apple’s retail software was declared “end of life” on Wednesday in a notification sent to resellers,” Marsal reports. “Products that will no longer be available in a boxed form include ‘iWork ’09, Aperture 3, iLife ’11, Apple Remote Desktop, and various Jam Packs for GarageBand.”
Marsal reports, “Earlier this year, it was revealed that the launch of the Mac App Store had hastened Apple’s plans to cease the sale of boxed software in the company’s retail stores. It was said that boxed software takes up a large amount of shelf space in the company’s retail stores, and software is less profitable than devices like the iPhone or iPad.”
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Marsal reports, “Apple also moved this year to drastically reduce the number of games made available at its stores, whittling the number down from 32 to 8. Customers are instead advised that they can download titles for Mac OS X from the Mac App Store.”
The full article, with the complete list of applications declared “end of life” by Apple, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
Before end of year we will see announcements of others now removing boxed titles and offering online downloads..
Apple leads… others follow
Of course this sticks the finger up at any Apple resellers who can now no longer sell a copy of iWork with a new Mac they sell, instead they will give the sale directly to the Apple Store.
Greedy and thoughtless….
If your business is to sell something that someone else makes, that’s always a risk you take. I believe many people refer to that as “capitalism”. If the resellers aren’t really helping you make more money than you could by yourself, what purpose are they serving?
Exactly.
There are also major environmental benefits.
Doubtful, according to ‘environmental’ standards, because now you’re using fossil fuel to power server computers and your own while you download, not to mention every piece of gear that needs power in the chain between.
But then again, environmentalism is a pseudo-science bent on maintaining doom and gloom scenarios to scare up grant money, so there’s absolutely no need for any concern, other than the brainwashing that got you to this conclusion.
Get real, heathen …. Get real the world is evolving, change or get left behind …. Now the retailer has more room to sell stuff people actually buy and have to take with ……
heathen, did you loose any money with BlockBuster ???
Of course it would be easy to have an account for resellers and issue a number for software purchase. Then the reseller get a cut, no stock to maintain, and all that copied software for sale ends.
It can actually help resellers and other small companies to compete with larger companies. Apple still can get a cut.
Also helps that you don’t have to manage the inventory at the apple stores. Or make the packaging or what have you. And you know what? It’s better for the customer. Apple really does believe in doing right by the customer.
The retail stores will sell iTunes gift cars in lieu of the actual product and make money off of that.
This isn’t Apple’s problem, this is a technology solution that no one, including Apple resellers, can avoid.
Anyone selling digital wares or something that can be converted to digital ware–software, books, music, movies, games, etc.–better have a new business plan ready to go or they will wind up like Borders and Blockbuster.
But why should they?! Apple’s made it dead-easy to download that software.. in that case, the retailer is NOT providing a service at all! The retailer should be paying YOU to come down to the store, buy this thing, carry it back, install it, etc.
Way to cut down on software piracy! Darn it . . . .
It didn’t really…
Apple still hasn’t patched the way apps off the app store get pirated.
Just search around..
Not advocating it… Just saying that it still happens.
if anything its even easier now… someone downloads the app.. and now they have the file they can simply put online for all to use. No need to copy it from a disc… they basically eliminated 1 step in piracy
Not quite. Your downloaded application is tied to your Apple Store account. That file shouldn’t work on anyone else’s Mac.
The process FTB Registered User is referring to is just complicated enough that most people simply won’t bother. However, those who knew how to access torrents, get cracks, keygens and such, will likely quickly figure this one out as well.
Still, it will likely significantly reduce the numbers of casual pirates, those that borrow a friend’s CDs (complete with serial numbers) to install their copy MS Office, or OmniGraffle, or Toast.
Given the option between obtaining an app on a developer’s site versus the app store I’ll go with the dev site every time.
App Store has been painfully slow approving updated apps. And this is progress?????
If Microsofty did this there would be nothing to put in their stores. I guess they will continue selling boxes of air with a little plastic disk in them. I like their strategy. I like it a lot.
They’d have to fill it with stacks of mice, keyboards and xbox360 hardware.
Lol
It’s a laudable move by Apple !
It eases clutter and environmental friendly …
This is great news for both the company and the consumer. It makes software instantly available to the consumer, saves the consumer money on the purchase as well as saves them a drive to the nearest Apple store and eliminates all those DVD’s cluttering the house. Also Apple has the advantage of keeping what they charge lower.
As a consequence, I believe iWeb and iDVD (part of the iLife ’11 package) are effectively cancelled. You can buy iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand separately on the Mac App Store. However, iWeb and iDVD have never been available on the Mac App Store (and I don’t see them now).
Apple hath discerned that no one uses DVD’s anymore, thus they hath decreed that the disk is dead… therefore no more iDVD.
Now if I can just get those luddite clients (that pay my salary)… and even dumber friends and relatives… to stop asking for DVD’s, we can all fall within the will of the all knowing Apple.
I hope I won’t be forced to download the next upgrade of Logic Pro when it comes out…
You should just hope there is a next version Logic Pro.
It might wind up being “My Logic Playtime Friend Recorder”.
i don’t mind the push to downloadable software, but it makes purchasing software on my work computer much more difficult as they don’t have a good mechanism in place for businesses to order the app store software.
iMovie was stripped down so people would buy the more expensive Final Cut Express. IDVD had Roxio’s popular and more stable DVD creator suite as a 79 dollar competitor that crashed less. But since DVD’s are dead (Netflix would love to do more streaming) I don’t see Apple promoting DVD’s despite the known issues of bandwidth. All I can see by the events unfolding over the past decade is Apple is making some huge changes in technology. If any company out there that can handle it, that’s Apple, killer of the floppy.