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There's been a lot of interesting Apple-focused blogging news this week, much of which focuses on what might be happening soon -- like a final Mac OS X 10.5.6 update, a MacBook firmware update, and the unleashing of Snow Leopard in early 2009.
Still, there are three questions that speak to a broader world and are worth a closer look: Are low-cost apps cheapening the iPhone experience? Will iPhones really make it into Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)? And what happened to the missing iTunes movies?
Open Letter to Jobs
iPhone developer Craig Hockenberry kicked off controversy when he posted an open letter to Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs.
"As an iPhone developer who's been in the App Store since its launch, I'm starting to see a trend that concerns me: developers are lowering prices to the lowest possible level in order to get favorable placement in iTunes. This proliferation of 99 cent 'ringtone apps' is affecting our product development," Hockenberry wrote.
"We have a lot of great ideas for iPhone applications. Unfortunately, we're not working on the cooler (and more complex) ideas. Instead, we're working on 99 cent titles that have a limited lifespan and broad appeal. Market conditions make ringtone apps most appealing," he explained.
Of course, Hockenberry covers a lot more ground, but his basic premise is that the cost of developing really cool and complicated applications requires a lot of time and investment in development effort. Because there are so many cheap "crapware" apps clamoring for attention, the really good stuff gets lost in the store, which means it becomes much riskier to spend months creating a cool app that might become lost in the vast App Store. A cheap little one-hit wonder becomes the best risk, economically speaking.
So, is the iPhone world really saddled with too many dumb little iPhone apps? Will there never be any new, really awesome, killer iPhone wares?
There's no comment feature on Hockenberry's Furbo.org site, but that hasn't stopped other bloggers from adding to the discussion.
Cult of Mac blogger Lonnie Lazar reiterated Hockenberry's basic premise, then noted, "From the perspective of consumers ... simple and cheap seems just about right."
Hockenberry's assertions have seem both false and accurate at the same time. The App Store is littered with crappy little applications that seem to appeal to spoiled tweens with iPhones and iPod touches. Yet there also exist iPhone users willing to open their wallets for premium wares.
"I can see his point if he were developing a 'tap tap revenge' clone or something. But if a company were developing a truly innovative and necessary app, they could charge what they wanted. Users who truly need it would be intelligent enough to pay for it. There are quite a few niche apps that costs way over the standard $.99 app. I, for example, would gladly pay $30 to $50 for an app that truly syncs with the iPhone Notes app," commented Walt on the Cult of Mac post.
"I just recently bought OmniFocus for the iPhone. $19.99. Didn't hesitate one bit because the application does what I want and nothing else comes close," commented John, adding, "However I see humongous potential for $0.99 applications/games as well. If you want to sell something that EVERYBODY can use/play you stand to make a lot of money by making many sales 
. The $19.99 application just isn't going to appeal to everybody. $0.99 purchases can be a no brainer. $19.99 purchases have to be exactly what I want and I have to think about it."
What About the Marketing?
There's one big area that many nascent iPhone developers seem to be missing right now -- and it's an area that applies to most every product in most every industry: marketing .
"In general, I find that iPhone developers underestimate the value of marketing. They are relying too heavily on placement in the App Store as the way people find their product," Raven Zachary, founder of iPhoneDevCamp and a contributing analyst for The 451 Group, told MacNewsWorld.
"If you look at the desktop software industry, if you look at Mac, Windows and Linux developers, there are creative ways to be seen that drive users to download your software. That could be being more active in print, blogging outreach for reviews, some clever promotional gimmicks -- there are a whole set of opportunities for iPhone developers to market their iPhone applications outside of what Apple will do for them in the App Store," he added.
"The other point to remember," Zachary noted, "Is that even as price points move more toward the $.99 and $1.99 numbers, the overall market is growing. We are somewhere between 15 and 20 million devices that include the iPhone and iPod touch that are capable of downloading iPhone applications, and that number will be updated again at Apple's next earnings call in January."
Still, Zachary did concede that some of Hockenberry's points were valid, particularly that some companies are spending more time looking to find a "gimmicky hit" than thinking hard about excellent apps.
"But it's an open market, and markets adjust," Zachary added.
iPhones Coming to Wal-Mart
The on-again, off-again rumor that iPhones are coming to Wal-mart has had the blogosphere all wound up for weeks, partially over the idea that Apple might offer a cut-rate $99 4 GB iPhone for budget-minded Wal-Mart clientele. The latest news buries the 4 GB notion and revives the $199 going rate -- for Wal-Mart, too.
In fact, the best evidence so far comes via Bloomberg, which got at least five different Wal-mart employees at five different stores in California to confirm that yes, the iPhone is coming to Wal-mart, and employees are being trained to sell the iconic smartphone before the end of December.
Characteristically, Apple declined to comment, and despite store workers' comments to the media, Wal-Mart has remained officially mum.
Overall, the feelings from lovers of Apple's high-end devices was mixed -- some liked the idea that the iPhone would would continue to grow, while others were unhappy seeing their cool phone turn into tomorrow's commodity.
Commenting on the Gizmodo post on the subject, baltwade said it best: "I don't know ... something about Apple and Wal-Mart being paired together seems weird. I don't know why; they both want to make money and this is a good way to do it, but it kind of feels like getting a Rolex from a street vendor kind of thing."
Still, can a street vendor (in other words, retail powerhouse Wal-Mart) sell a gazillion iPhones?
"Walmart is a powerful national retailer. They sell quite a few cell phones, but I don't have numbers -- they focus on simpler consumer devices that are also less expensive," Jeff Kagan, a wireless and telecommunications industry analyst, told MacNewsWorld.
"With that said, Wal-Mart can [still] market the lower-end iPhone to customers. I think this could be successful for Wal-Mart with the segment they focus on," he added.
Hey, Who Took the Movies From My Shopping Cart?
There's a good chance plenty of readers have seen this phenomenon happen to them, but maybe not on the same scale as Macworld contributing writer Kirk McElhearn, who noticed that out of 15 movies he had bookmarked for later viewing iTunes, nine were suddenly no longer available for purchase. They seemed to have disappeared from the iTunes Store altogether.
And as Macworld.com reported, these were mainstream movies, too, like "Atonement," "Charlie Wilson's War," "Eastern Promises," and "Michael Clayton."
Commenter Jeff Mincey nails the consumer-oriented problem here. He noted, "It seems to me that if a product has a fixed (and known) shelf life, this should be published to inform the consumer. Whether for reason of licensing or anything else, it appears that Apple is playing musical chairs with its iTunes Store inventory, that doesn't exactly instill confidence in iTunes customers."
There were a few conspiracy theories floating around, but Cnet reporter Greg Sandoval came up with what may well be the real problem: Broadcast TV has purchased rights to certain "release windows" to Hollywood movies for rebroadcast on television. During this time period, the TV dudes control the rights to show the films, and they don't want those films readily available anywhere else. The growing phenomenon that is the Internet is a new competitive broadcaster.
Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) customers have also seen some of their streaming movie options disappear, Sandoval noted. He also reported, but didn't cite specifically, that both Netflix and Apple spokespersons confirmed that these network and cable TV broadcast rights were the reason the movies were pulled from the online stores.
Still, what gives? The TV executives aren't going to brick-and-mortar movie rental stores and yanking DVDs off the shelves, are they? From a consumer perspective, it's a frustrating situation.
"I don't understand their thinking. If Wallmart can sell a DVD for $10 that had to be pressed, packaged, shipped, stored, stocked and finally purchased. The same video should be available for $7 online with the studios getting the same amount of money. This assumes that purchasing a movie is the same regardless of if it is physical or digital. The same logic should hold true for Rentals," dpetrosky commented on the CNET post on the subject.
Do TV executives have it out for online rentals? Are they afraid that the Internet is the next distribution method, and that it'll destroy over-the-air or cable TV?
The entire issue likely has more to do with huge, complicated and extensive rights management contracts between the studios that hold the rights to the content and those who are buying various distribution rights over various distribution methods in various parts of the world, Mike McGuire, a vice president of media research for Gartner (NYSE: IT), told MacNewsWorld.
"A big chunk of these processes are manual -- they are trying to automate them, but the problem is the number of distribution opportunities has grown dramatically in the last couple of years," McGuire said.
"There are all these distribution windows they have to account for ... and these contracts are monumentally complex," he explained.
"My guess it's not so much somebody being nefarious as it is someone looking at a contract and going, 'Oh, shoot, we can't have this movie out online for this release window,'" he noted.
Of course, Apple might get the word with plenty of time to comply with big-money TV rights that have the power to supersede iTunes content. If that's the case, it would be nice if Apple had a way to notify its customers that items they were interested in might soon be unavailable ... so they can act now or go find themselves an old-school DVD.
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