This week on the Roundtable: the App Store revolution. Something funny has happened to software. While the model we all grew up with for the distribution of software was mostly to buy it through retail channels or other resellers, or maybe direct from manufacturers, another model emerged and has proven successful by Apple: the App Store. In this model, there is one and only one outlet for software, and it’s run by the people who make the hardware. And, critically, you can’t get a product into the store unless the hardware maker approves it.
The app store concept is spreading to other mobile platforms and may become a part of general-purpose computing and game platforms as well. It’s changing how software is made, sold, distributed, and priced. To discuss these and related topics: Sebastian Rupley, editor in chief of the GigaOm network, which publishes, among other things, a great tech analysis site. Via remote from our New York office, CNET Senior Writer Maggie Reardon, who covers mobile and Web-based businesses.