Adobe DPS Product Catalogs and Apple

Question

I wanted to get some feedback from other DPS users and possibly Adobe. We have a large customer that has asked us to convert their national product catalog into a DPS version. We have integrated audio, video, 360 degree product views and other exciting interactive features. In addition next to many of the items we have plans to add a button that takes the user to the website for more information and ultimately click through to buy the products.
Adobe in much of their marketing materials and case studies mention the DPS platform as being perfect for product catalogs. Beyond the spec work we have done for this client if authorized to move forward does anyone know if Apple would reject a product catalog. There are some DPS catalogs in the Apple store but I have heard different opinions as to whether this would be allowed. Again any insight by Adobe or other users would be appreciated.

Answer 1

@eastcomms
The customers wouldn't require their own Adobe IDs.  They would just need the username and password associated with the acrobat.com account.  Anyway, Adobe got rid of the system whereby you could invite only those acrobat.com members that you wished to view your folio via the Content Viewer when they login using their own IDs.
But yeah, all the analytics or whatever wouldn't be available so you'd be out of luck there at least.  Still....
Here's the harsh reality:
There is no way that Apple is going to let you publish a catalog app.  It's never going to happen, and there's no use in even trying.  They've allowed very few of these kinds of 'promotional apps', and have taken many of them down that had been previously allowed.  In addition, Adobe has thus far shown that the marketing/brochure/catalog world isn't something they care about.  They've opted out of any sort of sideloading option that would allow your client to distribute folios via their own server, and the Enterprise package is so ridiculously priced that all but the most massive companies can't afford it.  $5000 a month?  Pfft.
Adobe continues to look upon DPS soley as a platform delivery system for magazines, and that's fantastically short-sighted.  If I were heading up the DPS team over there, the very first thing I'd do is open the entire platform up to corporations and business who wish to publish in-house and client facing materials.  My God, the money to be made with REASONABLY priced Enterprise packages is astounding.  I kid you not, I just had 2 meetings today where teams are absolutely loving the DPS platform, but cannot even remotely justify the enormous per month fee associated with the Enterprise package.  Adobe forgets that it's individual departments, not the corporation as a whole, that need to foot the bill.  Unless you're Conde Nast, I suppose.  But for the rest of us who aren't in the publishing industry...
The absolute best thing you could do for your client is direct them to someone who can make a custom app; one that can be distributed from their servers via a web-based registration and download system.  If they've got the chops they can even build-in a tracking system.  It's going to be far cheaper and way more flexible at this point when compared to Enterprise DPS.  Take a cut off the top as a referral fee if need be.