Remember micropayments? They were supposed to revolutionize online purchasing but never caught on. They’re back. Step One from Apple’s App Store, circa 2008. From Brian Caulfield in Forbes:
Apple has put the ability to charge small amounts of money at the center of its system for distributing iPhone applications, linking its App Store to the billing system in its iTunes digital media store. The result: Developers can charge as little as 99 cents for an application without the need to invest in a serious billing infrastructure.
That revolutionized how a mobile phone could handle transactions. Step Two is in application transactions, circa 2009:
This month’s release of Apple’s iPhone OS (2009) will take that idea further, allowing developers to charge for small slices of digital content, such as city maps for navigation applications, virtual weapons for online games and extra content for digital publishers. Suddenly, a lot of people whose content and services had been commoditized by the Web have a shot at getting back in business.
How long before Apple allows Mac software developers the same capability in the same online store?