Why I Bought Coda 2 Directly From Panic.com

With advance hype rivaling Diablo III’s, Panic has released the second version of their web development tool, Coda. It’s now on sale, as of this morning, for $49 — a 50% savings that’s good only through tomorrow. If you’re going to buy it, now’s the time.

As with several other Mac software vendors, Panic offers Coda 2 both through their own site and through the Mac App Store (MAS). It’s the same price to you either way (by Apple edict), but only 70% of the revenue to Panic if you go MAS. The MAS version, however, has one feature that the Panic download doesn’t: iCloud sync, which Apple opens only to MAS applications.

So, which version should you get? I chose the Panic.com version, forgoing the MAS and the iCloud feature. Why? I could blather on about how I wanted to give more revenue to the publisher, but it really doesn’t matter to me. Apple isn’t gouging people by skimming 30% — it may or may not be the perfect percentage, but it’s at least reasonable for fronting the servers, bandwidth, payment collection, etc. It’s a fair enough business arrangement. Many app developers apparently appreciate this arrangement, as the MAS is filling up with more and more tools. Developers can focus on building the tools they want to build, and don’t have to worry about download sites or credit cards or making sure they’re getting paid. They also increase their chances of potential buyers finding their software.

No, what it boils down to is that I don’t want Apple to assume control of Mac software distribution. The recent flap about no hotkey apps in the MAS underscores that Apple’s vision may not align with my own, and I don’t want their vision imposed on my computing choices. I already chafe, at least a little, at the iPhone walled garden, and don’t want the Mac environment to creep its way there until all the applications I can run must stem from the MAS.

Do I completely eschew the MAS? No — I’ve bought several MAS apps, and will continue to do so. It’s a great place to find apps. Its payment system is easy (perhaps too easy, as my credit card statements show). Centralized updates are nice (although Bodega, Homebrew, and Sparkle work well). The MAS indeed adds value to the Mac software world. Let’s work together, though, to ensure it remains only a piece of that world, and that we maintain choice for where we get our software — and what software we can run.