Steve Jobs on the App Store in 2008: 'We Didn't Expect It to Be This Big'

[jimac]

Things not said from the mausoleum of Steve Jobs:

"We had no idea when we launched the store, the 30% Apple cash grab from developers would be so fruitful... otherwise we would have made it 40!"

The developers are free to charge whatever they like for their apps. If they want to make more money then they can simply increase the price they charge for the app, by more than 30% if they wish. At some point, though, that will result in diminishing returns.

If the developer wants to deny Apple a piece of the pie, then they are free to go elsewhere. If they want to cut EVERYONE else from getting a percentage, then they are free to develop their own ecosystem -- design and manufacture their own smartphone along with its own operating system, continuously revising and improving both, 365 x 24 x 7. Of course then they will also have to make deals with carriers and resellers around the world, which might take a bit of their time. And then they would have to somehow get smartphone users to switch to and buy their new phones.

They might even have a few minutes left over each day to continue working on their apps!

 

[freezelighter]

He is a god.

 

[44267547]

The app store is a huge part of the services for Apple and how it’s expanded over the years. I think in terms if you look At Apples growth as a company with services, the App Store is a large contributor aside from Apple Pay, Apple Music, etc. Not also that, but it also has improved a lot in terms of the layout and ease-of-use.

 

[Brenster]

Is there any thread relating to Steve that doesn’t ultimately turn into Tim bashing?

In between the iMac, the iPhone, the iPad and lots of great hardware there was also MobileMe, iPod HiFi and other failures. Tim has continued the successful line, killed those that were fondly remembered but were a technological and sales dead end (classic iPod line), introduced the Watch (love mine) and kept the entire iOS line economically and technologically at the forefront. As innovative as the original Macintosh was, the PC and Microsoft ate their lunch. Despite the worldwide numbers, Google & their OEM have been kept from doing the same with the iPhone.

In Issacson’s biography of Steve, he cites Steve saying that he didn’t want Apple to be run after his departure on the basis of ‘What Would Steve Do?’ as he saw that particular line of thinking as one of the reasons companies go on to fail after their founders were replaced. The marketplace for Apple’s products in 2018 is not the same as that from 2008; personally I think Tim is going a pretty good job against determined competitors. The Googles etc of the past 5 years are not the inept Microsoft of 2003-2008.

 

[mceolsen]

MacRumors - using MS Paint to mockup the post photo...

 

[ChrisCW11]

Differentiated by software. If you mean less than as a differentiation, then he was correct.

Sure, apps on iOS are quality and usually problem free, but then I have rarely encountered an Android app does not have the same quality and is problem free these days either. So there is really nothing differentiating iPhone when it comes to mobile apps.

However I am finding iOS and Apple's own software to be degrading in quality with every release, at least it takes a LOT longer these days after a release for Apple's OS and software to reach he quality and "just works" status I used to appreciate from the Steve Job's era. I don't find today's iPhone's "software" to be better than and in a lot of cases, trails their competition, such as with Siri and a lot of small details like notifications, messaging, etc.

It is very hard for me to hold my iPad and claim that because of software it is better than my Android phone or Pixelbook, OR to consider that Apple has some how set the experience apart from other mobile devices I am using. If anything, the competition has caught up to Apple these days, but Apple is not building anything new in UI or UX that really sets their platform apart, other than a now usual flood of software release issues. I mean look at the most recent Mac Book Pro release being full of problems that are fixed with software? Obviously 2018 is not adhering to the focus on quality Tim Cook claimed Apple would after things like battery gate and iOS 11 issues.

iPhone raised the bar significantly a decade ago, but today Tim Cook's Apple has lowered the bar considerably on what is actually produced by Apple vs what their legacy perception suggests. Apple is still enjoying the warped reality field Steve Jobs generated so many years ago however a continuing trend of releasing new products full of obvious and tedious problems is going to burst that bubble soon enough.

 

[groovyd]

How is this guy still talking, he's been dead for years

 

[citysnaps]

Yes, I forgot those things.

I remember all the times Steve Jobs was trashed here. Just like Tim Cook is today.

 

[Frank Dalton]

In Issacson’s biography of Steve, he cites Steve saying that he didn’t want Apple to be run after his departure on the basis of ‘What Would Steve Do?’ as he saw that particular line of thinking as one of the reasons companies go on to fail after their founders were replaced. The marketplace for Apple’s products in 2018 is not the same as that from 2008; personally I think Tim is going a pretty good job against determined competitors. The Googles etc of the past 5 years are not the inept Microsoft of 2003-2008.

Certainly excellent points. But the problem is that "pretty good job" describes a highly capable steward, not a visionary. Will they stay on the right course without one? I think not, but obviously opinions will differ.

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi, I haven’t subscribed to the Wall Street, and I would really love to read it, is there anyway I can read it? Or listen to the audio?

https://www.facebook.com/flx/warn/?...2P1xL3JIzQqikCn08yQ4s5ElrZf_A8AcfKwEGScTRUyKB

Click this Facebook link, then click through to the article and you can read the whole thing.

 

[haruhiko]

Steve didn't allow native apps on the iPhone until Scott Forstall etc. pushed so strongly and finally convinced him. Even after launch of the App Store he had no idea why it was so successful. Yet everyone continues to remember him as a visionary. Tim kept Apple's business and grew it year by year. Now your iPhone's CPU is as powerful as a MacBook Pro. Apps can do things that the first few iPhones would never dream of. Tim may not be as passionate as Jobs and may not have the salesman skills Jobs had, but I won't write him off as a 'bean counter and nothing else'.

It's good to learn from great people like Steve but let's not rewrite history.

 

[flimpy]

with all the "miss you" comments I can't read this thread without tears

 

[ignatius345]

I'm curious. What apps would be able to be on HomePod? I guess Amazon Music and Google Music but I'm not sure what else.

Just to spit out some ideas:

- Duolingo or some other language learning app.
- Translation apps in general -- can you imagine how cool it would be to have that in a business with bilingual needs?
- A vocal training app for singers to stay on key.
- Tuning app for your guitar/other instrument.
- Karaoke (maybe it syncs up with your iOS device and you see the lyrics on the screen)
- A text-adventure style app, but just audio so you can play it while you're doing the dishes or whatever.
- An app that lets you send voice message snippets to your friends?
- A hearing test app of some sort, even just for fun.

This is just me spitballing off the top of my head for like 1 minute. The machine has very high quality mics and speakers and plenty of processing power, so I'm sure if they released an SDK, developers would come up with even cooler, more useful stuff than I was able to think of -- which is kind of the point of having an ecosystem.

 

[MacBH928]

'We Didn't Expect It to Be This Big'- Well, of course he didn't. When the iPhone came out it was supposed to replace a...well...cell phone. It was a Nokia competitor. No one imagined the cellphone will turn into a "smartphone" that you can manage your whole life and even your house fixtures within it. Now I believe it is doing VR. They probably thought the iPhone will replace the Nokia/BlackBerry just like iPod replaced the walkman...but that is it.

btw, this just shows how outdated iOS is. It was made for one thing, now it is used for something else completely.

hat was one he got wrong. But he could tell when he got something wrong, and was able to turn the ship around onto a new course.

Well... he is not really wrong. I forgot the name, but I heard this new technology is coming where writing apps in HTML5 will be the norm and it is actually faster and better than native apps. He just predicted too far into the future I guess.

 

[George Dawes]

cook is an interim ceo at best

there to impress the shareholders and keep things cooking ( no pun intended ) until somebody worthy comes to claim the throne

'sounds like Thor's hammer'..

i think we all know who i mean......

 

[Brenster]

Certainly excellent points. But the problem is that "pretty good job" describes a highly capable steward, not a visionary. Will they stay on the right course without one? I think not, but obviously opinions will differ.

You’re quite right in that Tim is a ‘pretty good steward’, even an excellent one. The cr3tive side is spread between the rest of the team. The guy who patterned himself most closely after Steve temperament and style wise was Scott Forstall, who marked his cards by refusing to publicly apologies for the Apple Maps debarcle on launch. For all of his faults, Steve was capable of apologising to customers, offering a mea culpa and making good. MobileMe, iPhone 4 antenagate & free cases/bands ultimately converted negative press for Apple into greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Is Tim the guy for Apple 10 years hence? Maybe, maybe not. Is there an heir apparent? Not sure. Does the mac have a long term future, given the deprication of engineering effort relative to iOS etc? Who knows.

iOS does have a rosy future, having built from the rough and ready iOS 7 to something that has effectively replaced my MBP with the iPad Pro. Whatever lessons there were to learn from the Macintosh throwing away its early lead and conceding the vast majority of the market to Windows PCs, Apple and Tim Cook have learned them. If iOS has a smaller market share than its main competitor, Tim & Apple have made sure that that share is the most profitable one, being the premium consumer platform and the effective only tablet OS/device for business.

Time will ultimately tell. Apple does have a ‘department’/‘university’ dedicated to understand why companies have historically failed. The idea is not to simply imitate what other successful companies have done, but to understand/recognise the causes of failure and to thus avoid them. Given recent developments, I expect Apple, Amazon & probably Google to still be standing after FB, Samsung, MS and others have potentially gone the way of IBM, HP etc.

 

[BigDO]

The best CEO Apple ever had and will have. Unlike a certain bean counter, you can really hear the passion when he talks.

Yes. The passion and vision are dripping from every word when you listen to Steve Jobs.

When Tim Cook speaks, it's obvious that he's regurgitating a polished, PC spinmastered script, full of virtue signalling and lean on substance.

 

[Tech198]

Yes, I forgot those things.

lol

 

[mijail]

Remember the "I Am Rich" app, which did nothing but was priced at $999.99? Good times.

Now, now. What do you mean "did nothing"? It did what it did. And the price is fine if someone is wanting to pay it. Anything else is just moralizing around and being a socialist SJW. The economic activity in itself and the indirect gains of a lot of people in the way from-nothingness-to-app is justification enough to consider the very existence of such an app an improvement for Society at large.

/s

 

[FelixDerKater]

Anyone who used the useless web apps on the 2G knew a proper app distribution would be infinitely more useful and popular.

 

[developer13245]

Best part regarding App pricing: "Our opinions are no better than yours because this is so new."

Yet despite this realization, they failed to implement paid upgrades in the app store.

And in 2014 Apple forced developers to give away 5 copies for the price of 1 via Family Share - this totally broke the revenue model for mobile software: Charging a lowish price for each copy because higher volumes on mobile would make up the difference - Gone.

They didn't expect it to be big, but now they've killed it by these arrogant policies.
[doublepost=1532671221][/doublepost]

Remember the "I Am Rich" app, which did nothing but was priced at $999.99? Good times.

Now, now. What do you mean "did nothing"? It did what it did. And the price is fine if someone is wanting to pay it. Anything else is just moralizing around and being a socialist SJW. The economic activity in itself and the indirect gains of a lot of people in the way from-nothingness-to-app is justification enough to consider the very existence of such an app an improvement for Society at large.

/s

It was so good, Apple removed it from the store, then did their own "knock off" for marketing purposes:

 

[DeepIn2U]

The best CEO Apple ever had and will have. Unlike a certain bean counter, you can really hear the passion when he talks.

Except only when it comes to LGBTQ Community topics.

PS: Sorry I actually don't mean this as a stab to Cook or anyone in the LGBTQ community. I'm literally just stating you can hear the fluctuations in Cook's voice and see tears form in his eyes regarding such equality topics - yet specifically for the community in which he's ... particular fond of? Example Apple Special Event 2017 right after the mass shooting in a club in Miami he felt compelled to speak out against and have a moment of silence prior to an Apple presentation.

Unfortunately I don't see him doing the same for anyone else that is wrongfully and blatantly killed in the USA. I just feel that maybe individuals cannot be spoken for ... too much time and events, vs collectively speaking about several murders at once.

Cook is a good person to the core! In restrospect any Apple fan cannot state the same about Jobs as a person/character amongst anyone. Jobs HAD to be callous at times for him and Apple to achieve greatness.

What I should post is ... we need to STOP taking sides (that are not needed), pick our battles, more eloquently fill these forums with better commentary and less focus on 'comparing' people (no matter whom they are) because it's unfair to those people and to our/yours/mine/their spirit of being a person. Comparison of people (is a difference of opinion) which usually leads to debate, which on these forums almost ALWAYS boils up and become a heated, angry, and volatile bashing. Who needs that?

Jobs was a visionary.
The excitement for Apple and their products remains! Probably always will!

Cook has the best crew to create the best products, shopping experience(s), best customer service and warranty in ANY business, and finally he realizes that focusing on PEOPLE is key in this age! Because at the END of the day e'ry day ... the people you work with, play with, confide in, needed to accomplish things, etc etc etc ... is done by PEOPLE.

SO ... let US be THE best PERSONS we can be.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Best part regarding App pricing: "Our opinions are no better than yours because this is so new."

Yet despite this realization, they failed to implement paid upgrades in the app store.

And in 2014 Apple forced developers to give away 5 copies for the price of 1 via Family Share - this totally broke the revenue model for mobile software: Charging a lowish price for each copy because higher volumes on mobile would make up the difference - Gone.

They didn't expect it to be big, but now they've killed it by these arrogant policies.
[doublepost=1532671221][/doublepost]

Pricing model on other platforms prior to iOS 2008 or iPhone announcement had a per download/per pay model for software each time they downloaded paid software (regardless if they purchased it before). Usually, some vendors/developers had allowances for 1-3 re-downloads, even if you upgraded your phone or not. So from an initial standpoint you got paid pretty much for every download even from the same person; mostly. The problems faced prior to 2007 was:

limited amount of users globally,
usually 1 device per household: smartphones ONLY; hardly any tablets like what we know of today,
user recommendations where limited to a forum which heavily were viewed by evangelists or hard core platform fans (Symbian-Freak -or- AllAboutSymbina for Nokia S60 fans, some UIQ entries; Esato - SonyEricsson/Ericsson fans; etc)
huge pirating of developer software ... the largest of any platform: Nokia S60 + NGage games! This pretty much KILLED mobile gaming on smartphones from 2002-2007/8 to a crawl ... only J2ME/CLDC games for feature phones thrived until iOS/Android.

yeah I've been around that long. trust me developers back then did not nearly make as much money for 1 app as they do today. key example (yet of course this service never existed in S60 days) Tweetbot creator. This guy traded up his BMW M3 for a Honda 2000 just because he wanted to! Both paid for by his hard work on the app and some savvy app modelling. Hint: He created tweetbot versions for every major few iOS platform upgrades. This may work for you too, but what do I know about developing software to be honest. I'm just a software user, not a developer, yet.