海角大神

The free Amazon Instant Video iPad app launched Wednesday, meaning Apple customers with Amazon Prime accounts 鈥� and non-members 鈥� now have access to the more than 120,000 videos Amazon鈥檚 service boasts.

Sound too good to be true? It may be. IPad users who actually want to purchase a movie or TV show from the Instant Video app can鈥檛 use the app itself to make transactions. Instead, payments have to be made through a Web browser on a laptop, desktop computer, or the iPad's own Safari browser 鈥� an extra step that Apple has indirectly pushed upon Amazon.

Because Apple rakes in 30 percent of every in-app purchase, Amazon apparently opted for the extra step to avoid lost revenue. MacWorld notes that this makes 鈥渢he movie-buying process somewhat less seamless than using the iPad鈥檚 native iTunes store,鈥� and adds that the app doesn鈥檛 explicitly say how you can obtain an Amazon Prime membership despite numerous "visual hints.鈥�

This isn鈥檛 the first time an iPad Amazon app has been without in-app links. When first released, the Kindle app allowed customers to make purchases with a single tap, but Apple鈥檚 revision of its app content guidelines in June 2011 forced Amazon to remove the options.

鈥淎pps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content,鈥� the guidelines say.

Still, despite any inconveniences, Apple鈥檚 30 percent 鈥渃ommission,鈥� as some pundits have deemed the 30 percent rule, has some positive ramifications for iPad enthusiasts. Because Apple gets so much money from apps with purchasing links, the company can keep the iPad price constant and relatively low.

Some commentators, such as John Gruber of the Daring Fireball tech blog, think Apple鈥檚 70/30 business model is indicative of the company鈥檚 competitive nature.

鈥淎pple doesn鈥檛 give a damn about companies with business models that can鈥檛 afford a 70/30 split,鈥� Gruber wrote. 鈥淎pple鈥檚 running a competitive business; competition is cold and hard. And who exactly can鈥檛 afford a 70/30 split? Middlemen. It鈥檚 not that Apple is opposed to middlemen 鈥� it鈥檚 that Apple wants to be the middleman. It鈥檚 difficult to expect them to be sympathetic to the plights of other middlemen.鈥�

For Amazon, suffering a 70/30 split isn鈥檛 an option. Time will tell if the Instant Video service will suffer as a result.

For more on how technology intersects daily life, follow us on聽Twitter @venturenaut.