The App in Apple


Remember iPod and iTunes and what it did to the music industry?

Well, say hello to iPhone and the App Store. Fancy a bit of mobile?

Despite the queues in front of their stores, the big news from Apple this week is not the launch of the iPhone 3G. It is the launch of the iPhone App Store which lets people install 3rd party applications as easily as using iTunes.

The reason why the App Store is truly a iPhone's killer app is the way it helps people buy. They've made it simple. They've made it intuitive. And most importantly, they're making the App Store an integral part of owning their product. Once again, Apple is doing more than selling products ... They're creating platforms, influencing behaviours and attacking entire categories.


So let's see ... A product with an exceptional form factor paired with an innovative sales and distribution platform. If this all reminds you of the iPod and iTunes, it should.

There is one big difference, however, and that's the addition of the developers community. As part of the iPhone 3G's launch, there are more than 500 native applications available at the App Store, and over 125 of them are free. (Source: Apple press release) Since the launch this week, the developer community is flooding the place.

The competition may argue that open platforms, such as Google Android and the soon-to-be-open-source Symbian platform are fundamentally better positioned to create and distribute mobile applications, but I'm not so sure. Is this the case where a closed system wins by providing a better user experience?


More reading here ...

iPhone Application Overview And Demo Videos
TechCrunch

Review: iPhone 3G
Engadget

Visual preview of top 10 free iPhone applications
Apple Insider

The iTunes App Store from a developer’s point of view
This Much I Know

Apple App Store (official site, includes demos)
Apple.com