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The why is that there was a huge solution/market gap. Finding software for Palm and Windows phones was often a trek through random forums and websites to downl

The why is that there was a huge solution/market gap. Finding software for Palm and Windows phones was often a trek through random forums and websites to download garbage that didn't work. There needed to be a central registry before smartphones would be adopted by the average person, and the registry needed some quality assurance so that the average person would have a good experience. Tucows wasn't going to cut it, and the only open model that worked at the time was linux distro package repositories, which would need a dozen features tacked on before it was usable, and only added packages glacially (that QA problem again.) Smartphones wouldn't be a thing without centralized app stores, but I'm also in favor of allowing users to add third-party app stores, in the belief that 99% of people won't do it, and the 1% would understand the security risks.

nitrogen 6y ago
the only open model that worked at the time was linux distro package repositories And also at the time, the company (Lindows/Linspire) that created an app store based on that foundation caught hell for doing so (my first job out of high school was doing QA on that app store). So even if it was necessary to have app stores for consumers it wasn't an easy transition to make.
- posguy 6y ago
  The Linspire app store was great, it made Linux easier than Windows for my family back in the mid-2000s. The experience on modern app stores still feels clunky comparatively.
AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> There needed to be a central registry before smartphones would be adopted by the average person This is revisionist. The iPod/iPhone originally didn't even have third party apps and it caught on anyway. Even now, 90% of the value of a smart phone is having a web browser in your pocket and most "apps" could have just as easily been web pages. I think the only apps on my phone that can actually justify being apps instead of web pages are Signal (so it can store my conversations on my phone and not a third party service) and Firefox (because it's a web browser). Meanwhile the iOS app store won't allow Signal to be my SMS app and requires Firefox to use Apple's browser engine, so the utility it provides is strictly negative. I could have been just as happy to get Firefox from firefox.com and Signal from signal.org. I still don't understand why Facebook is an app. Facebook is a web page. (I mean I do understand, it's because the app can hoover up more of your personal information, but why should I want that?)
- ta17711771 6y ago
  > 90% of the value of a smart phone is having a web browser in your pocket and most "apps" could have just as easily been web pages. They will be very soon. PWA is spreading like wildfire. Now we just need to teach people to use secure browsers. (Not just ones people think are private.)
  - cutemonster 6y ago
    > PWA is spreading like wildfire. Do you mean on Android? I've read they're a bit crippled on iOS
    - ta17711771 6y ago
      They're a bit crippled on both main platforms, but quite a bit less all the time. and the more average consumer learns about them, the less the friction will be of Menu->Add to homescreen (if you missed the prompt/dismissed it without reading).
- elsonrodriguez 6y ago
  There was a big gap in parity between a web page and a native app in those days(the gap is still large today, but companies have a vested interest in keeping their software on their servers so you can subscribe forever...). Apple caught a lot of crap for not launching with a way to run native applications, and their web toolkit was a joke. The functional web browser was the main killer app, but the additional functionality of native applications is a non trivial part of the modern smartphone's success.
swiley 6y ago
I can pretty easily find very good software for my palm pilot to do almost everything I want (besides things it’s just not capable of like real-time video) and if there’s something I can’t find it’s very easy for normal people to develop for. There’s even an on device C compiler someone wrote although personally I don’t like the included editor. Contrast the iPhone where the only real things apps get you are push notifications and there’s nothing you can do even if you’re a decent programmer because you’re totally locked out. Plus nowadays we have github so there’s no need to “hunt” for software.
- elsonrodriguez 6y ago
  My mother is normal, she isn't going to write any program, let alone in C. She isn't going to Github to download Whatsapp either. IT folks are extremely tech savvy and do not count as normal when it comes to the market as a whole.

nitrogen 6y ago

the only open model that worked at the time was linux distro package repositories And also at the time, the company (Lindows/Linspire) that created an app store based on that foundation caught hell for doing so (my first job out of high school was doing QA on that app store). So even if it was necessary to have app stores for consumers it wasn't an easy transition to make.

posguy 6y ago
The Linspire app store was great, it made Linux easier than Windows for my family back in the mid-2000s. The experience on modern app stores still feels clunky comparatively.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago

> There needed to be a central registry before smartphones would be adopted by the average person This is revisionist. The iPod/iPhone originally didn't even have third party apps and it caught on anyway. Even now, 90% of the value of a smart phone is having a web browser in your pocket and most "apps" could have just as easily been web pages. I think the only apps on my phone that can actually justify being apps instead of web pages are Signal (so it can store my conversations on my phone and not a third party service) and Firefox (because it's a web browser). Meanwhile the iOS app store won't allow Signal to be my SMS app and requires Firefox to use Apple's browser engine, so the utility it provides is strictly negative. I could have been just as happy to get Firefox from firefox.com and Signal from signal.org. I still don't understand why Facebook is an app. Facebook is a web page. (I mean I do understand, it's because the app can hoover up more of your personal information, but why should I want that?)

ta17711771 6y ago
> 90% of the value of a smart phone is having a web browser in your pocket and most "apps" could have just as easily been web pages. They will be very soon. PWA is spreading like wildfire. Now we just need to teach people to use secure browsers. (Not just ones people think are private.)
- cutemonster 6y ago
  > PWA is spreading like wildfire. Do you mean on Android? I've read they're a bit crippled on iOS
  - ta17711771 6y ago
    They're a bit crippled on both main platforms, but quite a bit less all the time. and the more average consumer learns about them, the less the friction will be of Menu->Add to homescreen (if you missed the prompt/dismissed it without reading).
elsonrodriguez 6y ago
There was a big gap in parity between a web page and a native app in those days(the gap is still large today, but companies have a vested interest in keeping their software on their servers so you can subscribe forever...). Apple caught a lot of crap for not launching with a way to run native applications, and their web toolkit was a joke. The functional web browser was the main killer app, but the additional functionality of native applications is a non trivial part of the modern smartphone's success.

swiley 6y ago

I can pretty easily find very good software for my palm pilot to do almost everything I want (besides things it’s just not capable of like real-time video) and if there’s something I can’t find it’s very easy for normal people to develop for. There’s even an on device C compiler someone wrote although personally I don’t like the included editor. Contrast the iPhone where the only real things apps get you are push notifications and there’s nothing you can do even if you’re a decent programmer because you’re totally locked out. Plus nowadays we have github so there’s no need to “hunt” for software.

elsonrodriguez 6y ago
My mother is normal, she isn't going to write any program, let alone in C. She isn't going to Github to download Whatsapp either. IT folks are extremely tech savvy and do not count as normal when it comes to the market as a whole.