This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2006 at 16:06 and is filed under Analysis & Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Three years ago today, Apple starting shipping iLife, a collection of all the iApps (excluding iTunes) that where once offered for free. Added to the mix was GarageBand which was all new to the iApps list (and didn’t have an i in front of it.) With some stunning new features in iDVD and iPhoto, many where pressed not to upgrade to the new $49 suite from Apple.
I remember that MacWorld and while GarageBand impressed me, I had no use for it. But I did want the new swag in the rest of the suite as I thought is was pretty, well, sweet. But the feeling on the Moscone floor was one of distaste. ‘Why should we have to pay for what was once free?’ came the moans of many. To me, I felt for what was in the box, $49 wasn’t a bad deal for the upgrades that came. Further, if you bought a new snazzy Mac, it came with it anyway.
But did some of the moaners have a point? Maybe. Truth is, though, iLife has done well in sales since that fateful day in 2003. BUT, now that it’s $79, nearly twice the cost. How will it do now? Is iWeb enough of a draw to sustain the higher cost or will Apple be forced to make a lower-cost version without iWeb? Me? I won’t buy it for that price because it is too much now and I have no use for iWeb as a developer myself. Even if I did “need” it, it would probably only be for light use and I still couldn’t justify the cost.
So, will Apple still be able to get more money out of its faithful or will the new higher pricing become a burden to the iSales? iThink you will see a slump after an initial burst from the pre-sales. I wouldn’t be surprised to see iWeb break-out next year at MacWorld and put into Apple’s office suite instead. What do you think?
