App Store Success Reportedly Overwhelms Even Apple's Expectations

[kdarling]

Steve says it's not a phone, it's a computer even though he calls it "iPhone" and not "iComputer". Pretty funny. Good selling.

Jobs is a salesman, first and foremost. He says whatever it takes at that moment in time to sell a product.

In one of his first NY Times iPhone interviews in January 2007, he was quoted this way:

“I don’t want people to think of this as a computer,” he said. “I think of it as reinventing the phone.”

As for apps:

“We define everything that is on the phone,” he said. “You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.”

However, he left an opening, at least for software from Apple, Google and other providers:

“These are devices that need to work, and you can’t do that if you load any software on them,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment.”

 

[Nudist]

I think it shocked everyone, including rival phone manufacturers

The apps store IS very profitable for some developers but is it very profitable for Apple. Isn't the Apps Store to Apple what the shaver to razer blade? The Razer blade being the iphone/ipod touch

 

[remorley]

I'll say it's not a phone...

I agree with Steve that the iPhone is a computer and not a phone. My 3GS communicates much more reliably with Skype over Wi-fi as a computer than over AT&T's overloaded cell network as a phone wannabe.

I sometimes think Steve told his developers to design a really great internet appliance and a month before shipping he told them to make it a phone as well

 

[*LTD*]

I agree with Steve that the iPhone is a computer and not a phone. My 3GS communicates much more reliably with Skype over Wi-fi as a computer than over AT&T's overloaded cell network as a phone wannabe.

Except that it IS a phone with Rogers, Bell, Telus, for example. We don't really experience dropped calls. In fact, I've gotten nothing but superb service with Rogers.

 

[huntercr]

Anyway, I find this whole article extremely ironic. Steve Jobs fought against the App Store tooth and nail for a very long time. People were screaming for the ability to develop apps for iPhone and he tried to convince everyone that web apps would be sufficient for everyone's needs. The App Store almost didn't happen, on account of Jobs.

I often wonder if the plan was for Apple to create more of their own software using that $1B farm they bought on the east coast... Steve wanted everything to be cloud connected, etc. HTML5 would have/will allow alot of really rich content for iPhone, but I think when they got such amazing developer response they had to rethink things.

And lets not kid ourselves... it wasn't the existing Mac developers or Indie people that they listened to, it was Salesforce, EA, Sega, IBM etc. When you have the VP of Development of Salesforce calling up and saying "HOLY CRAP you absolutely MUST open up this API, this is the greatest thing ever"
you'll listen.

But JObs and Co do deserve credit for listening to what the customer (developer in this case ) truly wanted. They actually put together a great SDK in a very short amount of time, and have documented APIs that are really flexible. They don't open up everything, as we well know, but for a company who was scared to open up *any* of the APIs they really did a good job.

 

[redman042]

Those of you repeating Steve Jobs' anti-app quotes from '07 need to stop taking him so literally. 99% of what he says is "spin" aimed at serving Apple best at the moment. Behind the scenes, he has many grand plans. They may evolve, and he may change his mind from time to time, but his quotes should not at all be taken as gospel.

As for the App Store, it is my opinion that the apps are what make the iPhone so special today. So many Palm and Blackberry fans like to knock it as being "full of fart apps", and while it does have a lot of fluff, I have 10 pages of amazing useful and fun apps that prove that there's PLENTY of good stuff to be had in the app store.

I have apps that are so amazing, installing them has literally elevated the usefulness of the phone itself by a huge margin, to a degree that previously could only be achieved by buying a whole new phone. Dragon Dictation is the most recent example.

There may be very valid reasons why some choose a different smartphone, but in doing so, they are making a big sacrifice in 3rd party apps (if that's something they care about - admittedly not everyone does).

 

[DMann]

Except that it IS a phone with Rogers, Bell, Telus, for example. We don't really experience dropped calls. In fact, I've gotten nothing but superb service with Rogers.

I've had, and continue to have, extremely good service on AT&T.

No dropped calls for the past 6 months, a consistently strong and clear signal, and no echo or delay.

Visual Voicemail is extraordinarily useful, and a remarkable timesaver.

I rarely use my laptop on the road anymore, as there's no need - simultaneous data & voice make this possible.

 

[MorphingDragon]

I've had, and continue to have, extremely good service on AT&T.

No dropped calls for the past 6 months, a consistently strong and clear signal, and no echo or delay.

Visual Voicemail is extraordinarily useful, and a remarkable timesaver.

I rarely use my laptop on the road anymore, as there's no need - simultaneous data & voice make this possible.

The Ironic thing about GSM is there will always be a 20ms delay.

 

[DMann]

The Ironic thing about GSM is there will always be a 20ms delay.

This is outrageous, and unacceptable.

 

[flottenheimer]

What I don't get is why they don't make an app-store for regular Mac apps'n'games.TM

Enter the "Mac App Store" and Boom! Watch as OS X gets the attention from 3rd party developers it has long both craved and deserved.

 

[rhett7660]

What I don't get is why they don't make an app-store for regular Mac apps'n'games.TM

Enter the "Mac App Store" and Boom! Watch as OS X gets the attention from 3rd party developers it has long both craved and deserved.

This is something I would like to see. A one stop shop for apps for your Mac. That would be nice. But how many developers want to wait to have their app approved (that is if they have this)? When they can have it on their own site.

 

[dukebound85]

What I don't get is why they don't make an app-store for regular Mac apps'n'games.TM

Enter the "Mac App Store" and Boom! Watch as OS X gets the attention from 3rd party developers it has long both craved and deserved.

apple control over apps i can have on my computer? no thanks

 

[theheadguy]

apple control over apps i can have on my computer? no thanks

it's a matter of time.

 

[kdarling]

Those of you repeating Steve Jobs' anti-app quotes from '07 need to stop taking him so literally. 99% of what he says is "spin" aimed at serving Apple best at the moment.

Yep, that's exactly what we're pointing out: Jobs says whatever it takes at the moment to rev up his crowd, whether it's putting down Intel, or claiming "boy have we patented it", or calling web apps "sweet". He's really an excellent speaker and salesman.

There may be very valid reasons why some choose a different smartphone, but in doing so, they are making a big sacrifice in 3rd party apps (if that's something they care about - admittedly not everyone does).

Or they might choose a different smartphone because IT has the major or minor apps they want or need, without voiding their warranty.

For example, a lot of people appreciate having 3G Slingplayer and Skype apps available.