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Apple to charge for iPad OS upgrades after one freebie

kheldour

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Apple to Charge for iPad OS Upgrades After One Freebie

according to "wired.com" Apple will charge for OS updates after OS 4.0

iPad owners will receive one major OS upgrade for free, but subsequent OS upgrades will cost a fee, according to documentation posted by Apple.

Apple on Monday began seeding the Golden Master version of its iPhone OS 3.2 software development kit to developers, which will be the version of the OS that ships on the iPad, according to MacRumors’ Arnold Kim. Apple also posted the iPad licensing agreement to its server. A clause in the agreement reveals that iPad customers will get a free download of the major OS following the one that shipped with the product, and after that, subsequent major OS upgrades will come at a cost:

Apple will provide you any iPad OS software updates that it may release from time to time, up to and including the next major iPad OS software release following the version of iPad OS software that originally shipped from Apple on your iPad, for free. For example, if your iPad originally shipped with iPad 3.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPad OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPad 4.x software release. Such updates and releases may not necessarily include all of the new software features that Apple releases for newer iPad models.

That implies that for first-generation iPad customers, iPhone OS 4.0 will be a free download, but versions that follow — 5.0, 6.0 and so on, will cost a fee.

The iPad’s upgrade policy would fall in the middle of the upgrade policies for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. iPod Touch owners had to pay a $10 fee when they upgraded to iPhone OS 2.0 and iPhone OS 3.0. iPhone customers, however, receive OS upgrades for free. Apple has cited legal accounting requirements when explaining the reasoning behind the iPod Touch’s policy.

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brhon

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The major upgrade will be the one coming this fall. Besides that I am not opposed to paying 10.00 for a software upgrade. It is not much different than upgrading to Snow leopard for 29.00. With the cool new stuff in the fall upgrade I would have gladly paid for that one too.
 

Bremen

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I also have no problem paying a reasonable fee for major upgrades. Heck, i'd pay $10 for 4.0.....

This assuming all maintenance upgrades remain free. I have no problem paying for things I want and use.
 

Ghuda

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I am fine with the upgrade fee so long as the improvements are commensurate with the amount.
 

gentlefury

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Personally I'm really surprised the first update is free. I had to pay for the first major update for my iPod Touch.
 

Isaac Newton

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I am not opposed to dropping $10 for further upgrades beyond OS 4.0

We are iPad owners...that ten bucks represents a couple less apps a month and I'm covered. To think free upgrades were part or should be part of the deal seems a bit polyana.

Even software upgrades for desktops incur fees at some point.

The iPad is a sexy beast! Beauty has never in this life been cheap.
 

gentlefury

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I am not opposed to dropping $10 for further upgrades beyond OS 4.0

We are iPad owners...that ten bucks represents a couple less apps a month and I'm covered. To think free upgrades were part or should be part of the deal seems a bit polyana.

Even software upgrades for desktops incur fees at some point.

The iPad is a sexy beast! Beauty has never in this life been cheap.

I spend $20 a week on apps....for a new OS...come on thats nothing.
 

mossman

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I'm okay with paying a nominal fee for OS upgrades as long as it keeps my device relevant. What I really don't want is to pay a larger amount for a device that in two years will be worthless because my old device can't run the latest OS, and thus no one will make or maintain apps anymore. I expect my device to become a little more antiquated year after year as the latest models comes out -- I have no problem with that. But I want to be able to use this device five years from now. My biggest fear with this purchase is that in less than five years its functionality will be severely crippled. Time will tell. If this is treated more like a computer, I should be fine. If this is treated more like a phone, I'm in trouble.
 

Bremen

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I'm okay with paying a nominal fee for OS upgrades as long as it keeps my device relevant. What I really don't want is to pay a larger amount for a device that in two years will be worthless because my old device can't run the latest OS, and thus no one will make or maintain apps anymore. I expect my device to become a little more antiquated year after year as the latest models comes out -- I have no problem with that. But I want to be able to use this device five years from now. My biggest fear with this purchase is that in less than five years its functionality will be severely crippled. Time will tell. If this is treated more like a computer, I should be fine. If this is treated more like a phone, I'm in trouble.

You raise a good question. I wager 2 to 3 years and this first gen ipad will be fine.... but 5 years, i doubt it. This is really a time of transition in the computing world. Most aren't aware of it, but the "traditional" box computer is fading, and new technologies (like the iPad) are the next wave. Your iPad will of course still work 5 years from now, but I doubt you will be able to run the latest OS and applications on it. They are going to improve the device, and the hardware and software of today will be improved. At some point it will be counter-productive to keep adapting everything to work on a legacy device.....

All the above of course is just my opinion.... I have been wrong before :)
 

Seadog

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If there is anyone who thinks that a $10 upgrade fee is a bad thing, compare that with how much a battery replacement will cost when you get to needing OS 5.0. We are talking disposable technology. It comes with a price. And nothing is new under the sun. A hundred and fifty years ago, disposable technology was a horse. You buy one, take care of it, spend money on accessories, and then it runs out of juice and you have to get a new model.
 
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kheldour

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You raise a good question. I wager 2 to 3 years and this first gen ipad will be fine.... but 5 years, i doubt it. This is really a time of transition in the computing world. Most aren't aware of it, but the "traditional" box computer is fading, and new technologies (like the iPad) are the next wave. Your iPad will of course still work 5 years from now, but I doubt you will be able to run the latest OS and applications on it. They are going to improve the device, and the hardware and software of today will be improved. At some point it will be counter-productive to keep adapting everything to work on a legacy device.....

@ Bremen
you are absolutely right !

@all
as a mac user (with interruptions) since 1998 I know, that most of the 3-5 year old macs can use the latest MacOS and typically run faster, than on the old OS. I have friends, who have 3 year old iMacs (the 1st white intel model) and still can run the most recent games at a decent frame rate. Don't even think of trying with a three year old PC without upgrading at least the graphics.....

And Apple typically publishes a major OS upgrade every 12-18 months, which costs around $50-$150. Microsoft does that too and their charges are at least $100 and they have many, many versions, where the complete OS costs you more than $250.......with a much more disposable hardware.

Apple's iPad is a mobile computer and one of the next generation. I don't get the point, why people complain, that they are expecting a new version of the iPad OS next year and this would be too costly.

Come on folks, nobody complains about the always and even faster changing mobile phone generations.....and in comparison, what these devices can do, they are even more expensive.

Yes, at the minute the iPad is an expensive gadget for us early adopters. But it will be commodity within the next 12 months. The iPad is just the beginning and other iPad devices will follow.

If you want to be part of that early adopter phase, then there is always an uplift on the price tag. The iPad is cool and it will change the world of our computer life and the way how we look at and use computers. And because we want to be part of that first experience, we all are willing to spend these extra dollars.

So - to cut the story short - stop moaning about upgrade fees of $10. Because YOU WILL BUY the next generation of the iPad in the minute Apple announces it - and this will be definitely for more than $10.......

:cool:
 
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