Why Steve Jobs hates the iPhone App Store

Although the title is a bit provocative, the article is right. Apple, Google, etc do see the tectonic shift happening in application development, and more importantly, usage. People spend more and more of their time interacting with applications that do not entirely reside on their device. More often than not, none of the application resides on the device. The challenge will be developing frameworks to cope with the myriad of form factors and input methods.

All I have to say is that if Apple really feels this way, then put up or shut up; if they feel the browser is where it's at then freaking he'll just implement already! They just had one of their milestone moments with the release of 3.0 — so why not wow the world with your amazing new browser tech? Google will get gears for mobile perfected soon, and Apple needs to be right there competing, or Android will simply keep moving further ahead.

My .02 cents (written on my iPhone)

Bring on the Android invasion!

Really, you sound a lot like the anti-iPod pundits of the early days: Apple's iPod was overpriced and would soon be undercut by cheaper MP3 players that were cheaper, had greater capacity, FM tuners and all kinds of features that the iPod did not (and would never) have. Substitute “iPhone” for “iPod” and “Android” for “Rio” (or whatever player was going to eat the iPod's lunch).

Eventually, the iPod beat (crushed, actually) competitors based on price, as Apple smartly rode a sharp design down the economy-of-scale curve, yet kept introducing cool new things at the top of the line. We see that now, as the iPhone has gone from $500 to $200, with the previous generation dropping to $100 new.

And they're still way ahead. In big ways and in many small ways. (Have you seen the Take Back The Beep campaign and how it turns out Apple's ahead of the curve on this, too?)

I know that I do not get cellphone reception most of my business day, so I won't be depending on network-dependent apps any time soon. And of course, these apps — if they actually live off-phone — will tend to be lowest-common-denominator-ugly, as they always have been.

Not to mention that Safari/Webkit's already ahead of the curve in terms of web animation, etc, if that does turn out to be a factor. Apple is learning lessons in the “Cloud computing” realm, and Android is all about development on the phone, not on the network/web.

Don't confuse me for an anti-Apple chap. I'm a big fan. I think they'll always bit a bit-player though — but that's always been their strategy. It'll be that way unless we start seeing $49 iPhone Nanos hitting the market (which would be brilliant)

AT&T sells a refurbished iPhone for $49.

Sorry, I should have been specific — I meant $49 only. Simply $49. No contracts, no commitments, simply $49 from your local Walgreens.

Chris Messina sounds like a forgotten poet: “..the stale metaphor of applications…” or “…a world of ad-hoc connected identity agents living and feeding on a mesh of interwoven open data.” Google isn't going to rank him highly for his keywords.

On the other hand, the iPhone is a bit-player, although owners will never admit it. Its market penetration is a drop in an ocean of increasingly complex mobile computing devices . (Aha! I can insert lots of adjectives like Messina; Nirvana is around the corner.)

I agree there's more “..whix-bang…” to the thing. The iPhone awakened a curiously lackadaisical mobile industry that measured its success on “buckets of minutes” and a mobile Web offering the local weather and sports scores.

As LG, Samsung, Palm and, yes, Nokia finally get off their behinds and advance the state of mobile computing, the iPhone glitz will fade into oblivion. What Steve Jobs should worry over is the future of Apple's laptops. There's no reason why a netbook tethered to a more basic handset might be the next craze.

I like your idea about a netbook with a mobile connection as the next craze!

I agree, bring on the Android for sure.. I think that before worrying
about web apps they need to start worrying about opening up thier
attitude and platform a bit. Android's major strength is not just it's
multitasking, etc over the iPhone, but the fact that a dev can write
for it without worrying about the crapshoot that is the App Store (as
the recent Google Voice fiasco demonstrates). Android has more
options for devices, a more open environment, and if the gathering
steam continues, almost as much industry support. Really, Apple is
left with a much prettier UI, and a world class marketing department.

Don't get me wrong, I love what my iPhone can do, but I'm getting more
and more interested in Android as certain gaps are filled — if Apple
doesn't step up the innovation, I'll be on an Android handset this
time next year, I can almost guarantee.

—
Sent from my mobile.

I agree, bring on the Android for sure.. I think that before worrying
about web apps they need to start worrying about opening up thier
attitude and platform a bit. Android's major strength is not just it's
multitasking, etc over the iPhone, but the fact that a dev can write
for it without worrying about the crapshoot that is the App Store (as
the recent Google Voice fiasco demonstrates). Android has more
options for devices, a more open environment, and if the gathering
steam continues, almost as much industry support. Really, Apple is
left with a much prettier UI, and a world class marketing department.

Don't get me wrong, I love what my iPhone can do, but I'm getting more
and more interested in Android as certain gaps are filled — if Apple
doesn't step up the innovation, I'll be on an Android handset this
time next year, I can almost guarantee.

—
Sent from my mobile.