Tom Balev There is no doubt that the Mac AppStore is a great benefit for owners of Apple computers, but on the other hand, developers must carefully consider whether they will provide their application through the AppStore.
The main pitfall can be precisely the rights to use the application for various purposes. Apple has introduced an almost uniform system for all the applications it offers in its store.
…for us, ordinary consumers
In short, it can be said that every application you officially purchase can be used by you on all your computers and only for personal use. That is, if you own several Macs in your household that are also used by other family members and you buy, for example, the game Flight Control, you can install it on absolutely every one of them - even if there are 1000 of them. This is a fundamental difference for us, consumers, but also for developers , which can no longer put limits on your number of copies of their app.
…category “professional tools”
A different situation applies to applications that fall into the "professional" category. A great example is the photo management and editing application Aperture. The rule here is that the application can be installed on all your computers that you use, or on one computer that is used by several people. So here it should be taken rather from the point of view that you are buying an application only for yourself, or for several, with the understanding that it will be installed on only one Mac.
…business purposes and schools
If you want to use the application for business purposes, or if you are, for example, an educational institution and you are interested in the application, different conditions apply to you, for which you must contact Apple and they will issue you with modified conditions.
Copy protection
Another interesting thing is that the Mac AppStore does not contain any application control regarding copy protection. Of course, developers can add various controls to their applications – for example, it will require an Apple ID from you, then it will connect to Apple's servers and if it gets "OK" it will let you continue. Well, the AppStore itself doesn't offer anything either - it's up to the developers. There's also no Authorize/Deauthorize computer like we're used to from iTunes. No 5 PC limit. No limit on different types of devices.
So the whole system works more on trust. What's to stop a recording studio from buying GarageBand for $15 and installing it on all of their 30 computers? At least some control from the AppStore wouldn't hurt - after all, that's the reason why some companies, such as Microsoft, still use serial numbers for their products.
a Czech fan is thinking how he would install a paid application on at least 1000 Macs, instead of enjoying the fact that he has the application for half and that if he has two Macs at home, he only needs to pay once per household :-)
Regarding the question from the last paragraph... simply put... serial numbers and increased control would do Apple more harm than good. The software does not live him. Live it User Experience. In addition, Apple has taught users to buy thanks to the fact that it sets prices reasonably. When an application is really good and the price is not excessive, the user will appreciate it and pay. Yes, there will still be a certain percentage of theft, but this financial loss is much less important for Apple than the loss of the reputation of an ecosystem where the user is not punished for his honesty by annoying protection processes. Perhaps precisely because Apple took the risk, removed the protections and thus showed its users trust, in turn earned from them their loyalty and willingness to pay for applications.
Moluk: For God's sake, did you read the article? Does this really seem like a consideration to HOW to install applications on multiple computers? Besides, he is SLOVAK!!! :D That's parroting opinions again, what where who, hears it and writes it.... "If there's talk of wareza, I'll write something about scumbags stealing."
The author is just thinking that there is a certain "psychological protection" or trust here, but it can be very fragile. Just because Apple taught people to buy software doesn't mean it can't use some non-restrictive copy protection, right? I myself have quite a few warez apps/games on my Mac, but the launch of the Mac App Store motivated me to buy some. Nevertheless, there are still a few dear ones left unpurchased…. :)
As far as I know, the license information is stored in the _MASReceipt folder in each app, although it doesn't (yet) mean using the app on multiple computers at the same time, but I don't think anyone will give their AppleID to someone else to run the app after downloading it illegally copies to himself. Certainly better protection than serial numbers, which nowadays everyone can google... At least that's my opinion.
I was most amused by the example with a garage band and a recording studio ;-)) I know it's just an example, but I imagined how I should do the typesetting in iphot in a DTP studio, it would be similar ;-)
otherwise nicely summarized issue...