It'd be nice as a free download.

But Apple do sell a number of things they also give away for "free." All the iLife software for instance comes pre-installed and on the OS installation disks of (pretty much) every Mac sold.

QuickTime Pro used to cost $30 and it had a lot less value than XCode, especially when compared to what was already included with the OS.

From an accounting perspective, you do have to have income as a goal to be able to book expenses against a project. But I'm sure there are plenty of ways to work that situation.

Anyone who says Apple is the epitome of consistency is very much out to lunch. They're like an enigma machine. You can see what comes out, but you don't know what went in, nor why.