3G

It’s the App Store, Stupid

Saturday, July 12th, 2008
by lepton

Sure, the new iPhone is great, but it’s not new hardware that is the most significant thing that happened this week. It’s the App Store. The App Store is the key to this whole project, and I’ll tell you why.

This new phone has pretty much completed the hardware side of things. We have global positioning, 3G connections, and a non-recessed headphone jack. Sure, there will be hardware improvements down the line, like a higher resulution camera and so forth. But all the physical pieces are there.

There are still many things missing from the iPhone. Where is video recording, voice dialing, instant messaging? The thing is, the things that are missing are all software things now. And that is no problem.

Apple has a very solid mechanism for automatically updating the phone software, far better and easier than any other phone. People don’t have to go to a dealer to update the basic operating system, an update just pops right up when you plug it in at night to charge it. This means everyone will actually GET the updates when they are available. So if Apple adds instant messaging to the operating system, you’ll get it.

What if Apple doesn’t add instant messaging or those other things? It’s the App Store to the rescue.

The App Store icon has popped up on every iPhone, you can browse through hundreds of applications already. Just a touch and a touch, and you now have that AIM instant messaging application on your phone, in seconds, and for free!

The App store is going to fill the gaps in the iPhone system, and it will have just about everything imaginable. Soon there will be thousands, then tens of thousands of applications available. On day one of the store, there were already tens of thousands of developers applying to put applications in the store. We are going to see everything in there, good stuff and bad, free and expensive, clever and dumb. Pick, choose, and put whatever you like on your phone.

An entire industry will spring up based on iPhone applications, similarly to how an industry for physical accessories sprung up for iPods and phones. It si going to be big.

Apple seemed to take forever to bring out a development system, and another forever to let in most of the developers who applied. But when they deliver, they deliver!

The iPhone Software Development Kit (”SDK”) is amazing. It is a full-size, full-blown development system for software writers. It is as extensive and robust as the development system used to make full-sized Mac software. In fact, it actually IS the same development system, they simply added the ability to develop for a new platform, Cocoa Touch devices, of which there are two, the iPhone and the iPod Touch - so far.

The development system isn’t even in the same league as systems for most other phones. Symbian, no, Android, to early to tell. The Touch SDK is so good, we are going to see many desktop-class applications available.

It’s so good, it seems obvious - the system is destined for more than just a little pocket device.

When the Apple Tablet comes, and it will, it is not going to be a scaled down Mac laptop - it will be a scaled up iPhone. Mark those words. I’m thinking… January.

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