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Amazon says 'no MAS' with Mac Download Store

by Megan Lavey-Heaton May 26th 2011 at 2:40PM

In the next effort to go toe-to-toe with Apple, Amazon took a swing at the Mac App Store and launched the Mac Download Store today. While its offerings aren't as robust as the Mac App Store, Amazon scored some big points by offering Mac software for download that Apple doesn't have -- namely Microsoft Office, QuickBooks and Roxio's Toast.

In a battle that has thus far involved Amazon launching a cloud music service first and pending court discussions over the question of what exactly is an "app store," Amazon is doing its best to wrestle a piece of the Mac-user pie for itself.

The Amazon downloads require OS X 10.5 and higher. Purchases can be downloaded an unlimited number of times and are stored in Amazon's Games and Software library.

[Via The Loop]



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In the next effort to go toe-to-toe with Apple, Amazon took a swing at the Mac App Store and launched the Mac Download Store today....
 

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Strongy

They're limiting it to U.S Customers only so its useless to a lot of people.

May 27 2011 at 7:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Strongy's comment
Womba

That's a pity! Apple charges us Aussies A$1.19 for a US$.99 invoice. At the present exchange rate (1.06) they are getting around US$1.26.

I've been happily paying Apple their 'higher' prices for over 25 years, but paying 26% extra for exactly the same product others supply is a bug. Most other online sellers can apply a reasonable exchange rate instantly.

For the reported 70c. they pay software sellers that's something like an 80% increase, surely they have room in there to give us a fair deal.

Womba

May 29 2011 at 4:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
FreeRange

Any company that offers their software for Mac as a download through Amazon but not Apple is just being an idiot, or in the case of MSFT, anti-comptetive and / or vindictive. As a Mac user, I will only buy through the Mac App Store so that I have a single source for upgrades, multiple downloads for all my computers, etc. Why doesn't Amazon just try to create their own innovations? Oh, that's right, US companies for the most part have forgotten how to innovate and instead are following the Chinese model of just duplicate.

May 27 2011 at 3:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to FreeRange's comment
conordog

LOL! you stick to your apple only store becasuse yeah competition is pointless and useless.

May 30 2011 at 12:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Steve

Wow, TUAW is deleting critical comments now?

That's sad.

May 26 2011 at 8:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
junkie

Well this is a handy way to get MSOffice if you have a Macbook Air...

May 26 2011 at 4:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jawcl

What happened to my tip? :(

May 26 2011 at 4:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mbotta

how is this bad for apple?

May 26 2011 at 3:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff

How is this a "swing" at Apple, when the software only runs on Mac computers made exclusively by Apple?

May 26 2011 at 3:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jeff's comment
rogerruthberg

Fair question, Jeff, and I think the answer lies in the article: this is not a swing at Apple, it's a swing at the Mac App Store. Amazon doesn't care who makes the computers, they just want to move product, in this case software. If they can seduce an uninformed consumer to not distinguish between the "Mac App Store" and the "Mac Download Store", it's a win for amazon.

And to answer Jeff's question of "how is this bad for Apple?" while I'm at it: if the software is purchased from the "Mac Download Store", Apple Inc. doesn't get a 30% cut.

May 26 2011 at 4:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ethan

This might be a silly question, but can they use the word "Mac" in the name?

May 26 2011 at 3:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cjsparno

While this is being spun as a jab at Apple, I still remember the days when Guy Kawasaki was begging people to make and sell Mac software - I can't view this as anything but a positive for Apple and Mac users in general. Imagine if they and others announced they were dropping the sale of Macs and Mac-compatible software. That would be a negative news story for Mac fans and Apple.

May 26 2011 at 3:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tuaw

That's no more competition for the Mac App Store than the Weinermobile is competition for a race car.

I'd give it more credence if the 'Download Store' did things such as:
1) handling upgrades for all software purchased there,
2) maintained a consistent and reasonable licensing model across all purchases,
3) eliminated the need to track product keys, activation codes, etc, and
4) handled software installation seamlessly and consistently for all purchases.

This is just the same old downloadable software from Amazon with a new name.

May 26 2011 at 3:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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