Mac App Store Launches Tomorrow. Will It Change The Software Industry?

Tomorrow the Mac App Store opens to the public.  It’s going to be an exciting day for everyone – developers, consumers, and Apple.  Mac developers will be able to cash in on the whole App Store scene, while of course, Apple keeps their 30% cut.  Consumers will likely have some great software deals available to them with introductory pricing and all.  It will take a while for the dust to settle from the initial launch before we can really tell what the Mac App Store really means in terms of distribution and also pricing models with regard to the future of software.

The overall idea of a centralized app store certainly has it’s benefits and perks, especially for the company that controls it.  Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t some challenges or problems that it may face as well.  Additionally, I’m almost positive that the 30% cut that Apple takes from developers is less than what it costs companies such as Adobe and Microsoft to get their software on disks and then have it shipped around the world.  Which brings up the question, does the app store model work better than what we have now?

Now with the move towards cloud-based applications and even operating systems one could make that argument.  Will we see a move towards solid-state media (e.g. flash drives) being used as operating system reinstall devices instead of CD/DVD’s.  Will all (or most) software be available via an app store – where we can re-download it and not have to worry about product keys, etc?  It could very well be.

I can tell you for certain that these days, I rarely use my optical drive on my Mac Pro and of course my MacBook Air doesn’t even have one.  I’ve managed.  Everything is available on the web now.  Internet speeds are fast enough where we can download gigabytes of information within a relatively short amount of time.  An app store seems like a logical progression.

We even previously wrote our own proposed Windows App Store.  I’m all for a Windows app store because as you remember, I’m all for killing the Windows Installer too.  We need more 1-click things.  Click and it installs.  Click and it updates.  Click and it launches.  You get where I’m going here.  Additionally, a centralized store will help prevent malware and other rouge applications from taking over computers.  Granted, it won’t eliminate the problem, but I think it would definitely help.

Nonetheless, the Mac App Store opens tomorrow at 12PM EST.  Are you excited?