"I am betting that the users of those phones downloaded some malicious Android app in order to avoid paying for a legitimate version and they got more than they bargained for."
Not using a vetted marketplace is a dangerous security gamble as the author claims the passwords were probably taken by a keylogger.
It's definitely in the same ballpark as average click through rate for my ads.
Maybe that's the magic number for free apps? For every 1000 people who try your free app... about 10 to 30 of them will convert to a "paid" user either by buying your IAP or clicking on your ads.
On great days I have seen up to 3% CTR... but usually it's lower than that.
Yesterday, 67% of IAP was for All Song Packs. 33% of IAP was for individual song packs.
Again, an imperfect stat, since 33% of my active users are still on an older version which does not include the option to buy All Song Packs.
My goal is to make it super compelling to buy the $3 All Song Packs. Maybe one day, I'll have 10 song packs, and still keep the All Song Packs at $3.
Since I am not a big company, I don't need to charge my users up the wazoo. I mean, some games have "virtual coin packs" that you can buy for $99.99!!! I feel that is unethical, since you are basically cheating the end user. Some little kids will buy the $100 coin pack, and their parents will yell at them. From a user's point of view, every time I see that, I think WTF....
As an indie developer... I don't need to make enough revenue to sustain a 30 person company and please my investors. Let's say (eventually) I sell 500,000 "All Song Packs" at $3. That comes out to about 500000 x 3 x 0.7 = approx. $1 million, after Apple's commission. After I pay my taxes, I'll be able to buy a modest house in the Bay Area. So my goals are definitely not beyond reach. And that realization is what allows me to wake up every morning and fire up Xcode. :-)
NZ is being oppressed by the US? Like the whole pirate revolution fantasy, there is no basis in reality. IP is not going away anytime soon, at least in free countries. The pirate party would have to be, at least in the US, one of the two major parties and even then it would be difficult. Either people can choose how to license their work or there are no licenses. I don't see a middle ground.
Of course it is. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it isn't the latest attempt to bludgeon other countries in toeing the USA's (i.e. the MAFIAA's) line in IP?
> Like the whole pirate revolution fantasy, there is no basis in reality.
There are currently Pirates elected in 7 countries, which is good going for a movement that's only been in existance for 6 years. Other politicians, for example in the EU, are already modifying their policies to take account of the Pirates' popularity, which they wouldn't be doing if it was just a "fantasy".
> IP is not going away anytime soon, at least in free countries.
IP in its present form is clearly going away. Consider shows like Game of Thrones which more people downloaded than legally watched. While IP law will change slower than IP reality (because law is a trailing indicator), it too is likely to change as Pirates win power in Europe.
> The pirate party would have to be, at least in the US, one of the two major parties and even then it would be difficult.
The Pirate Party wouldn't have to win in the US at all. If it gains power in Europe, it'll have the clout of the world's largest economy behind it, and the USA will no longer be able to impose its IP laws on the rest of the world.
Nor will the USA be able to prevent unauthorised copying via websites in other countries, unless it disconnects its internet from the rest of the world's, which isn't practical.
> Either people can choose how to license their work or there are no licenses.
Once a work is published, it will increasingly be out of the control of the creator. Savvy creators, such as Amanda Palmer or Cory Doctorow, already realise that and have adapted to the new reality. Those who refuse to adapt will go excinct.
The exception to this is works that are programs, which will be able to use DRM systems running on the internet, such as Valve's Steam.
Other savvy people realize that the way things are going, making any kind of living at creating information goods is going to be increasingly difficult, so they go do other things. In some cases, that's no great loss, in other cases, we are the poorer for it in terms of never getting to see what they may have created.
> Other savvy people realize that the way things are going, making any kind of living at creating information goods is going to be increasingly difficult, so they go do other things.
That's true. When goods are both non-rivalrous and non-excludable, they tend to be underproduced in a market economy. One solution would be for the state to produce such goods (e.g. in the UK, the BBC). Another possible solution would be my proposal for a broadband tax -- http://cabalamat.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/a-broadband-tax-fo...
> See: "that which is not seen"
On the subject of things not seen, how much innovation has the current IP regime destroyed? I can think of several websites that ought to exist, but which don't, due to copyright law.
I meant a sympathetic view towards dingleberry was partly due to a dislike of America( government, corporations, certain people) and not because they think he is a swell chap.
