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Apple In-Store Software Burning
jarrettwold2002 writes "This seems to have escaped notice, however it's fairly significant. Apple has partnered up with CompUSA to offer in store electronic software distribution. According to the site it takes about four minutes from purchase to burn. It's bundled inside a dvd case, with color packaging."
... we can get on with the discussion. I missed the first article, so I get to comment on this one, and my comment is this:
:)
Potentially a great way for small-time developers to get their software to the masses. It reduces or even totally eliminates the need for a publisher. There are no upfront costs, you just pay a portion of your sale to Apple / CompUSA.
Daddy like.
"Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
-Marilyn Manson
What!
How will this replace the Copy-from-store-machine-to-ipod distribution model that Apple already has in place!
No, they just want distribution which is hard enough to get. At least with CompUSA it's *possible* to get Mac software. Try doing that at Best Buy or Circuit City and they just look at you funny. Anything that they carry that's useful to you is strictly an accident (ie they stock a Windows software title and the mac version comes in the same box).
With this particular method, you end up with a lot of titles available in very little square footage (ie low cost of distribution) and if they require you to swipe a credit card before they burn the title (which would be a smart move) you quite possibly would be out of there *faster* than if you just yanked a box off the shelf and waited in line.
The posts in this thread are a bit off. This isn't an Apple venture, nor is it
a Compusa venture. Software-to-go is an independent company that has
struck a deal to put these kiosks in Compusa stores. They've brought Apple
in on it to help get more products available in the system. We're going to use
them, it's actually very nice (Software-to-go sent me a sample).
Depending on the size of the store, the plan is to have a couple kiosks in
the PC section and one in the Mac section of each Compusa. The customer
browses the kiosk, picks a product they would like to purchase and out pops
a receipt. When they go to the checkout and pay for the item, one of several
output stations cuts a CD, prints it with graphics and also prints out a cover
insert and an internal insert. The attendee assembles the pieces into a
standard DVD-type package and gives it to the customer. That's supposed
to take less than 5 minutes. If demand is high enough, they will install more
cutting stations in the store. The developer delivers a CD image to Software-
to-go and they turn it into a disk image in their format.
The system handles Win, Mac, and Linux software, there's really no dependance
on platform. I can't disclose pricing because of NDA but you can contact softwaretogo.com
to get details. They seem very nice and quite competent. It's a well thought
out system and it's got a good chance of doing well. It's a great way of
getting a boxed version of software from small developers into the hands
of Compusa customers, which in the past has been all but impossible unless
you belong to the publisher oligarchy.
And forget about downloading music products via this system. It's not what
they are concentrating on right now. Maybe if this takes off, we'll see it in
the future. Again, this project has little to to with Apple specifically.