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Will ipad owners have to pay for OS 4.0 firmware update?
- Thread starter cyberheater
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This is a surprise to me. I never knew people paid for firmware upgrades. I mean, even with Leopard they give you new features all the time through updates, the iphone does it. I think the only time I've ever paid for a software update is when I bought Snow Leopard.
How much are people thinking? Ballpark.
How much are people thinking? Ballpark.
Apple gave some BS excuse as to why it charges Touch owners for updates. There is no law that says they HAVE to charge. They do it to make money. Nothing wrong with that, but the reasoning they've given is laughable. At least iPad will get one free update. Hopefully they don't charge too much for future updates.
This has been debated ad nauseam.
Just read the Ars article, http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/03/ipad-eula-doesnt-mandate-paid-os-upgrades.ars.
It pretty much spells everything out. The short is answer is no, but Apple is reserving the right to charge for future software updates beyond 4.x if it decides to even offer them. Also, future updates beyond 4.x may contain additional features that will only work on newer iPad hardware.
You would think, but no. According to Gruber, the iPad software development team was kept in secret away from the iPhone OS 4.0 team. Presumedly, they will work together and keep iPhone/iPad OS in sync once 4.2 ships.
Just read the Ars article, http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/03/ipad-eula-doesnt-mandate-paid-os-upgrades.ars.
It pretty much spells everything out. The short is answer is no, but Apple is reserving the right to charge for future software updates beyond 4.x if it decides to even offer them. Also, future updates beyond 4.x may contain additional features that will only work on newer iPad hardware.
You would think, but no. According to Gruber, the iPad software development team was kept in secret away from the iPhone OS 4.0 team. Presumedly, they will work together and keep iPhone/iPad OS in sync once 4.2 ships.
Actually, Apple states that it is related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which Apple claims that it "prohibits Apple from giving away an unadvertised new feature of an already sold product without enduring some onerous accounting measures."
This first surfaced related to the Core 2 Duo Mac owners who wanted to unlock the 802.11n capabilities already in the chipset of the computer.
"Because of the Act, the company believes that if it sells a product, then later adds a feature to that product, it can be held liable for improper accounting if it recognizes revenue from the product at the time of sale, given that it hasn’t finished delivering the product at that point," he wrote.
Your Xbox doesn't update free of charge, almost every Xbox owner subscribes to Xbox Live and they make lots of other money from DLC and such.
All of the game consoles out there have ways of making money without charging the customer for it, you just don't realize it.
And this isn't something majorly new for Apple either, Snow Leopard was a fairly big upgrade that introduced new features and they charged for that. Apple only charges for updates on iPod Touches(and now iPads) that introduce some new feature, never just for bug fixes.
Security issues are one issue, features are another. Feature upgrades should not be free. If, in six months a new hardware feature is added to a device, are you expecting a new item at your door for no cost?
All feature upgrades should be paid across the board, os x, iPhone, windows, even that pos ps3.
You left out PS3, which provides free updates. Including bug and new feature releases. You also left out games that provide free updates.
Apple makes money without charging the customer for it either. Percentage of app sales through app store, cost to join developer program, etc..
Other then linux I've never heard of the next version of a computer OS Windows or Mac being free so I don't that part is not limited to Apple. The difference in those cases are I could buy 10.6 or Windows 7 and never put another dime in MS or Apples pocket. With iPad, iPhone, PS3, Xbox, etc.. every bit of content you put up there the manufacturer is still seeing money.
"Just about" doesn't mean every. For example, I don't pay for Live, and I get free updates. Besides, Apple gets money from the App Store, just like console makers get money from their respective stores. Also, the PS3, PSP, and Wii also get free updates.
People need to realize that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a scapegoat, and that Apple just wants money for what it creates. I'll happily pay for firmware updates, but I wish they'd be up front about it.
This might just be one of the worst statements I've read all week.
My MacBook and iPod Touch, and iTunes get free upgrades and bug fixes just like PS3, XBox, PSP, Windows OS. Albeit less frequent than some of the devices, which is a good thing, just means there are less bugs to fix in the first place.
My PC's Windows get upgrades almost in weekly basis, they're mostly security fixes. My PS3's free firmware upgrades are mostly trying to address issues to some new games that keep crashing on the system, few month ago PS3 even had a major server down issue that result most of the players can not play their games on PS3 until Sony update the previous update. (PS3 is still awesome though)
So is the new iPhone OS4 an bug fixing update or packed with major features? Maybe the Problem is the name, they should call the new OS4 something different like "iPhone Lion", so people will know that it's a new OS like from Windows Vista to Windows 7.
My PC's Windows get upgrades almost in weekly basis, they're mostly security fixes. My PS3's free firmware upgrades are mostly trying to address issues to some new games that keep crashing on the system, few month ago PS3 even had a major server down issue that result most of the players can not play their games on PS3 until Sony update the previous update. (PS3 is still awesome though)
So is the new iPhone OS4 an bug fixing update or packed with major features? Maybe the Problem is the name, they should call the new OS4 something different like "iPhone Lion", so people will know that it's a new OS like from Windows Vista to Windows 7.
Since when did the iPod Touch get free upgrades?
And the OS 4.0 is a major update bringing in many MANY new features to the iPhone OS. Multi-Tasking and Folders are probably the most notable.
Definitely won't have to pay for 4.0 in most of Europe because by the time the damn iPad will be available, 4.o will have already been released and will be on it