[wp-hackers] iPhone Content Winner

[Doug Stewart]

On Nov 15, 2007 9:20 AM, Sam Bauers <sam at wopr.com.au> wrote:
>
> On 15/11/2007, at 11:19 PM, Doug Stewart wrote:
>
> > I must admit, there's a great deal to having an OPEN SDK right now,
> > with known license and usage restrictions
>
> Shame there aren't any phones to actually run the code that's
> developed...
>

Proof'll be in the pudding next year, I suppose.  HTC looks like
they've got some gnarly ideas already.

> Apple has a large install base of 1.4 million+ and don't forget that
> iPhones have teh sexy. Seriously, I don't think good SDKs sell
> handsets. I do understand your grievances about Apple, but they have a
> good brand, tight UI and great industrial design, I think that's all
> they need in this space.
>

Good SDKs don't sell handsets, true, but it's ironic: Apple's good
phone may end up selling a Good SDK.  Prior to the iPhone, most
Americans h-a-t-e-d HATED their phones, and with good cause.  They're
crippled, they're annoying, they're non-intuitive, and they're
expensive.  "Decent" mobile OSes barely existed. Then along came the
iPhone and people realized that they not only could avoid hating their
phones, they could even love them.

However, as the jailbreak/anti-jailbreak dance has shown, one of the
biggest things that (tech-savvy) users have taken away from the iPhone
is just how much potential there is in the space.  Developers'
frustrations with the WWDC "Safari IS our SDK" crap (I was in the room
and heard the snorts of derision when Jobs tried that one on for size)
are evident.  They're looking for a great platform to peddle their
wares _in a fashion of largely their own choosing_.  It's at this last
point that I predict Apple's February solution will likely fall down.

Or, I could be gob-smackingly shortsighted and we might end up with a
new Mobile Delicious Generation, rendered smoke, neon glows and all.

> But to bring this back to a kind of WordPress oriented discussion. I
> wouldn't spend any time on a WPhone style Android application until
> there is a market for them beyond a few developers inside of Google. I
> don't think this is a no-brainer direction for developers like the
> iPhone was.
>

True.  Apple does simple well.  Google does spartan well.  It remains
to be seen which ends up being more attractive to more people.  I
still think Google may come out the better for not being shackled hand
and foot to the corpse that is at&(ptui!)t.



-- 
-Doug

http://literalbarrage.org/blog/