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The control that Apple has over the iPhone and the application distribution channel does contribute greatly to the iPhone's success. It makes the platform easil
by CrLf 17y ago
The control that Apple has over the iPhone and the application distribution channel does contribute greatly to the iPhone's success. It makes the platform easily accessible to people who aren't inclined to search the internet for apps and are, in fact, afraid of doing it for all the malware experiences they have on their PCs. They know the App Store has everything, and that they can reasonably expect that the apps won't harm their device.
But, the iPhone is still just a phone. Most people don't hit the walls of the room Apple has them locked in. Heck, most people don't even do much with their iPhones... They rarely browse the web or use it to do serious email (one line replies in a pinch are not "serious email") because they find the screen too small and the experience too cumbersome when compared to a real computer. They install some apps, but never really use them besides the first few minutes, unless they're games, which also says much about the typical iPhone user: phone calls and games.
The people that complain about lack of openness are the exception.
Now, the iPad is not an iPhone. Nobody will buy it to make phone calls, although they will certainly play games in it. The iPad is more of a computer, and more people will hit the walls of Apple's control. _This_ is what's going to define the iPad's success.
It is a beautiful device, but if the average Joe expects it to behave more like a standard computer than an iPhone, and if Apple doesn't make it more open, it may very well end up a failure.
I like the iPhone, and if I weren't the kind of person that lives fine with just a basic phone, I would prefer one over the alternatives (android et al) even though it is much less open. On the other hand, I won't buy an iPad despite how beautiful it is because it is too expensive for something that's not a real computer.
- pvg 17y agoThe control that Apple has over the iPhone and the application distribution channel does contribute greatly to the iPhone's success. Does it really? The iPhone was hugely successful well before there was an App Store.
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoYeah, you couldn't install any applications on the device, which is the ultimate control. You can easily argue that the device is much more open now that developers are able to create the 150,000 apps that have been downloaded more than 3 billion times.
- pvg 17y agoYou still can't install any application on the device. You could easily argue a lot of things but what on earth are you talking about, as far as the initial success of the iPhone is concerned?
- tree_of_item 17y agoYou're confusing the use of the word "any" here. In the previous post, it was used to mean that there were _no_ applications available for the iPhone. You're using it here to mean "you can't install arbitrary applications" which is something different. As far as the initial success of the iPhone is concerned, the device gaining traction without "any" applications (in the first sense) is largely important when speaking of the necessity of the App Store.
- CrLf 17y agoHugely successful depends on where you look. Bu anyway, it doesn't really matter to the discussion, unless you are agreeing with me when I say that to most people the iPhone is just a better phone. Which is what the iPad is not.
- glhaynes 17y agoIt is a beautiful device, but if the average Joe expects it to behave more like a standard computer than an iPhone, and if Apple doesn't make it more open, it may very well end up a failure. Exactly what's appealing to the average Joe about the iPad IS that it acts more like an iPhone than a standard computer.
- stanleydrew 17y agoI'm not sure we know that's true yet.
- jsz0 17y agoI voted your comment up but I could not disagree more with your assessment of how people are using their iPhones. We know from real data that the iPhone dominates mobile web usage. We know people are downloading and buying a ton of apps -- it's really unthinkable to believe they don't use any of them more than a couple times. If so they wouldn't keep buying/downloading them.