Two thought: 1) nothing is carved in stone; Apple can modify its approach at any time, if it's not working and 2_ Winer's a fairly smart guy, but has a bit of a chip on his shoulder with regards ro Apple, the company.
Like Apple did with the iPod and like it will continue to do for other "consumer electronics", Apple is creating an alternative path(controlled user experiences) because the other path (wide open platforms) hasn't work so well.
Why can't people (geeks) understand this and let those (mainstream consumers) who want to choose this path choose it, instead of demanding that every vendor choose the exact same path (of platforms that don't work-so-well-from-the-consumer's-perspective)?
Good article. I agree that Apple wants to cement the reputation of iPhone before allowing third party apps. As far as low-speed vs high speed networks, initally at least, its designed to run media synced thru iTunes as people as very familiar with already. It is not, as of yet, designed for realtime media streaming. The reasons? My guess is 1) too expensive for bandwidth (currently) and local playback = smooth playback. Once 3G is fully and realiable availabl, then Apple will go for live media.
Actually, I'll disagree.
Having third-party support for Macintosh hasn't really "hurt" it. By your logic, no-one should be able to write applications for Macintosh either. Of course, part of what makes Macintosh useful for more than cataloging photos is third-party software.
I'm an old-time Mac user and developer. Years ago, I was quite proud of the fact that my computer and operating system came from Apple, my IDE from Metrowerks, my resource editor from Mathemaesthetics, my word processor from Microsoft, my mail program and web browser from Netscape, my graphics program from from Adobe, etc. etc.
Hey, i'm still waiting on a spreadsheet application for iWork. Two years now since iWork was supposed to replace AppleWorks and I'm still waiting. But, in theory, Apple will hear my complaints about the iPhone and will rush to correct them, just like they've done with iWork. Yeah, right.
Third-party developers are more than willing to come forward and solve many of the software issues. Yet, Apple is deliberately keeping them out and spreading FUD about the reasons why. "Oh, what would happen if you installed this third-party application and suddenly your phone didn't work?!" Well, shouldn't Apple's operating system keep that from happening? Somehow, other operating systems manage to do this. "Ooh, those evil third-party developers will turn your phone into a spam machine!" Yeah, like they have for all the other phones.
Next, let's look at the "Widget" end. In watching the video, the first thing I noticed was that the widgets didn't look the same to me. The "Oh, you can run Mac OS X Widgets" isn't entirely accurate. At the very least, you'll need some redesign.
Again, third-parties will quickly fill holes in Apple's line-up. Heck, consider the obvious one: iChat. "Where's iChat?" everybody asks. Well, I'm sure Apple will get around to it eventually. But even then, I'll only get AIM & Jabber. What about all my friends on MSN or Yahoo? Open it up to third-parties and I'll have a chat client in three months. Or I can wait for Apple to eventually get around to it.
You say that Apple will discover what falls short in the consumer experience and fix it? Well, frankly, the lack of third-party support is what falls short! I'm not spending $600 on a phone and then wait around a couple of years until Apple finally decides to make it useful for me.
By the way, as an iPod example, how long did we wait for an FM Tuner? And where's the AM? Some people are calling for XM/Sirius. Y'know, if Apple opened up the iPod, we'd have all these things. Would they sell a ton and make Apple alot of money? Nope. That's why Apple doesn't do it. But, y'know, there are lots of companies who would love to make the little bit of money that Apple turns up it's nose at.
How do you implement a call manager (blacklist, contact list calls only etc.) or an ssh client as a webpage? If Stevie boy will think that you need it, you'll get otherwise not.
Jobs and Apple simply want to control the software market and grab more money, that's why this bullshiting about the "entire West Coast network going down" from a bug in a third party application. Only a retard eats the bullshit.
Great article, Carl. The only thing that bums me out about the iPhone is the fact that it will not be available until June. I had my Visa out during the keynote ready to buy it.
Pete and the last poster need to understand, Apple does not care about the "geek"user experience, they care about the user experience. Yes, there is a huge difference. 100 million iPods sold proves they know what the hell they are doing. If a few geeks are upset by this, too bad. How many times have we seen this phrase this week.. "If the iPhone doesn't , I won't buy it."? I call bull, they all will buy it, and be thankful to steve and apple for it. And they will buy the next version, and the next etc. into perpetuity. The iPhone blows every other phone out of the water. I want it!!! NOW!!
Thanks, Carl, for some great analysis on this.
I haven't read your other posts - stumbled across this from a Google alert on "iPhone development" which I've been watching. But it seems you're looking at this from a marketing/business perspective. Dave is coming at this from a user/developer perspective - and expecting him to do any less is like expecting a horse to be a zebra.
The cleanest argument I've seen from the tech perspective comes from http://radar.oreilly.com/
archive...stories_on.html
But I digress... Frame this same argument in the context of politics. In one case, one side is like the communist government assuring its people that they are happy and well cared for. The open side is more like a democracy. The voice of the people matters and feedback loops like you say Apple is using truly matter and are subject to refinement through competition. One binds your feet.
This is different from other devices because its instantly recognizable as a hit. I'd like to live in a world where marketing doesn't determine the outcome. Where my personal choices are good enough for me.
The greatest app for this phone, may yet to be conceived. If it's closed, who's left to dream it?
Also in closing widgets and web pages are probably unstoppable like you mention. The latest Apple Developer Connection Newsletter (I received 7 hours ago) lead with the Dashcode Beta availability. And, it just might be a splash of Steve Jobs social engineering piquing everyone's interest...
Commenting by HaloScan
