Posted 11/25/08 at 03:30:24 PM by David Murphy

Does open-source software do more to hurt the industry or help?  You might guess the latter: we certainly did.  But as it turns out, open-source software can actually be the bane of smaller software developers.  After all, what does one do when one's primary meal-ticket gets taken over by the open-source community?  For most developers, that's a lights-out proposition.  But is this a reflection of where software development is expected to head in the future?  Will it be a free for all?

We explore the changing face of software development after the jump!

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Software, future, closed source, cost, open-souce, software development, opinon

Posted 08/07/08 at 09:27:03 AM by Chris Moody

In the world of PCs we have it pretty good. Hardware is pretty inexpensive for the performance across the board. It’s well developed and pretty amazing that you can take a conglomeration of parts drop Windows or Linux in it and have the thing work (usually). Overall this makes PCs cheap enough for the masses. Mac’s on the other hand tend to average almost double the cost of the PC average, according to a story by DailyTech:

“Macs have gone from an average price of $1,432 and $1,574, for desktops and laptops respectively in June '06 to $1,543 and $1,515 respectively in June '08.  While much lower to start, PCs are now even lower in average sale price. The average PC notebook went from $877 to $700,”

I would have thought that the recent change in Mac using Intel hardware would have enabled them to lower their prices, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It has always been comparing Apples to, well, PCs to compare the platforms. Apple controls its production from end to end. Microsoft’s approach is more of a middle of the road approach with its Windows Certified Logo program, and Linux of course goes for the gusto with a completely open approach. Each has it’s advantages and draw backs. What we are seeing now is the result of openness and demand. If Apple wants to catch up it means opening up and letting builders use their OS X on their systems. I can just imagine how that will affect their vaunted stability, even though OS X is Linux at heart with Mac clothing. It will level the playing field and Macs might actually capture a larger market share while reducing their prices.

What do you think? Will we see Apple open it’s OS to system builders?

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windows, apple, linux, Mac, price, cost

Posted 07/17/08 at 02:44:32 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Research firm iSuppli has released its official iPhone 3G production cost estimate. According to its estimates, a sum of $174.33 is spent on manufacturing an iPhone 3G unit. There is a huge possibility that some of you might have stumbled upon a similar story during the iPhone-imbued month of June.

Actually iSuppli had just roughly interpolated the iPhone’s production cost back then, whereas this happens to be its official estimate. The research firm revealed that iPhone 3G’s production cost is a substantial $52 less than the 8GB version of its 2G predecessor. iSuppli construes the huge decline in production costs to be part of Apple’s strategy of making iPhone globally acceptable.

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apple, phone, cheap, price, iphone 3g, issupli, estimate, cost