Out of all the people I know that like movies, there's only one that will take a chance with the theatre.  Most people will wait for it to hit Netflix.

I don't know about you but when I buy a concert ticket, I know exactly what I'm getting.  Them Crooked Vultures are in town?  You bet your ass I'll be first in line because I know what I'm getting.

Never said anyone needed coffee, only that it serves an obvious perpose.  And again, people know what they're getting from their coffee.

Some endless runner made by BlueBalls69 that wants to sell itself to me as a impluse buy?  Nope, not interested.  Can't be trusted.

A smartphone is necessary for me to do my job, so it is. 

Eh, an iPhone and its price tag aren't. You can get a comparable smartphone at half the price. And realistically, there are only a few of us who need a smartphone to work. But the point is taken.

Fair enough. At the very least, mobile is toxic to triple AAA development. People suggesting that its gonna take over the industry have no idea what they are talking about, cause while their is money in mobile, these companies will downsize tremendously and it sure as hell won't resurge. I.e death knell of gaming.

Well kiss my grits...

lol, we live in a capitalist society. We are brought up with trying to get the best deal, pay as little as possible to get the most. It is companies like them who taught us this so really, they should be frustrated over themselves as well for being part of the people who taught these values.

Having a iPhone is not a necessity nor any smart phone... I would say having a cell is a necessity and a great thing to have in an emergency but you can get that with a cheap flip phone.

Now now.. AAA was doing a fine job imploding on itself before the rise of mobile.. What mobile did do is taking away all the profitable B and shovelware games ( like movie games) from consoles.. 

Encouraging developers to go higher end doesn't seem like a healthy decision . If there is a perceived problem at 4-5 dollars wouldn't it still be there at a higher dollar value? Sounds like Apple really needs to work on the underlying cause of why users think games aren't worth anything on their platform.

More walls in the walled garden could actually be helpful towards creating a space in which users feel comfortable that they wont get some crappy IAP filled low quality time waster. Taking the time to make sure audiences can see such apps is true as well.

Many mobile users are kids and early teens unless using their parents Credit Card can't afford anything other than free. That may be a pretty big part of the perception issue as well.

You're giving Apple a little too much credit. What Apple did is give developers a devkit, a marketplace, and the freedom to price things as they will. With no pricing expectations and an explosion of supply, that freedom to set price drove prices to near zero. Developers set those prices, and consumers paid them, not Apple.

That being said, if Apple was really agitated by software prices, they wouldn't frequently feature freemium apps as an Editor's Choice. And they wouldn't have started giving away their own apps, which were performing quite well at $5 and $10, further devaluing software in the minds of consumers.

The good news is that the death of premium games in mobile has always been a myth. Veteran strategy developer Slitherine just launched their 7th game on iPad priced at $10 or more, and some games earn far more money if they switch to premium pricing than they make as freemium apps:

http://toucharcade.com/2014/07/25/big-action-mega-fight-succeeding-as-paid-game/

The reality is that both business models are viable, and each is suited to different games and different customers.