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Let's rewind 15 years ago when everyone was jumping and praising mobile Eco-systems. Did no one ever see this happening or were most too gullible with Facebook

Let's rewind 15 years ago when everyone was jumping and praising mobile Eco-systems. Did no one ever see this happening or were most too gullible with Facebook hugs and pokes

wongarsu 4mo ago
My recollection of HN 15 years ago includes a lot of annoyance with apps that could have been a website and how these walled gardens harm our freedom
- doublerabbit 4mo ago
  Got my date wrong. What about twenty years ago?
  - applfanboysbgon 4mo ago
    In 2006, before Android, the iPhone, or app store existed? Were you even alive 20 years ago?
    - dredmorbius 4mo ago
      Keep in mind that the 1st-gen iPhone only supported a small set of built-in apps. Third-party apps didn't appear until 2008. <https://www.macstories.net/stories/10-years-of-app-store-a-timeline-of-changes/ https://www.macstories.net/stories/10-years-of-app-store-a-t...> HN discussion at the time: - Apple iPhone SDK Event: iFund - $100 Million for iPhone Devs <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130686 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130686> And some early skepticism: "iPhone SDK And Restrictions: Some Of The Details Aren’t Great" (7 Mar 2008) <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=131171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=131171> Mostly concerns limitations on the API and what capabilities are exposed. And for those who care to do more digging, a couple of searches bounded on 5 Mar 2008 -- 6 Mar 2012, the first 4 years of the App store: "iphone sdk": <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1204675200&page=0&prefix=false&query=iphone%20sdk&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&...> "iphone apps": <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1204675200&page=0&prefix=true&query=iphone%20apps&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&...> "iOS apps": <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1204675200&page=0&prefix=true&query=ios%20apps&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&...> A very cursory eyeball of those shows some interest, but nothing overwhelmingly panglossian or critical. But I've not looked in depth.
    - doublerabbit 4mo ago
      Yes, I am 37. What about you? I was hosting an IRCd on my 33.2k modem at night using Hybrid-IRCd before that ratbox. I recall XFree86 before Xorg and running Linux on my 486dx running kernel 2.x https://distrowatch.com/table-mobile.php?distribution=icepack https://distrowatch.com/table-mobile.php?distribution=icepac... My first mobile phone was a Siemens m35i, eventually followed by a Sony Ericsson k500. Where the Nokia 3310 phone couls receive animated icons via SMS messages that displayed on the background as well as looking at ascii smut via WAP at the age of 15. So yes, what do you take me for? A disappointed cynical 37 year old who's watched the world burn in to a walled garden of hell that folk enjoy licking the grey walls of. I do recall the rainbow fences where one could happily jump over if you got bored. Where anxiety wasn't a thing and folk were in touch with nature.
      - frollogaston 4mo ago
        Every semi-smart phone I used before the iPhone existed either had no app ecosystem, or it had a super walled-off one that nobody complained about because it was probably unused. Which is kinda where I'm at with cars. Idk what this stuff about VW supporting a mobile OS means, cause my car can't really talk to any phone unless you count Bluetooth audio.
applfanboysbgon 4mo ago
> everyone was jumping and praising mobile Eco-systems. Literally who?
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- mystraline 4mo ago
  The app-devs were salivating on striking it rich on a garbage app. The rest of us groan when we hear "DOWNLOAD OUR APP" or grocery stores that want you to install their spyware coupon app. These days, nost apps are just data exflitrators, spyware portals, and surveillance pricing initiatives, wrapped up with a "FREE THINGY" wrapping.
  - mrhottakes 4mo ago
    > These days, nost apps are just data exflitrators, spyware portals, and surveillance pricing initiatives, wrapped up with a "FREE THINGY" wrapping. This describes almost every "tech" product
- code_duck 4mo ago
  There were a lot of companies who thought an app was preferable to a mobile website (which is still true today). For example, around 2010-11 I was working on Etsy API stuff at the time but had no interest in making a mobile app for anything, and saw a few developers and apps acquihired by Etsy.

Let's rewind 15 years ago when everyone was jumping and praising mobile Eco-systems. Did no one ever see this happening or were most too gullible with Facebook hugs and pokes

wongarsu 4mo ago

My recollection of HN 15 years ago includes a lot of annoyance with apps that could have been a website and how these walled gardens harm our freedom

doublerabbit 4mo ago
Got my date wrong. What about twenty years ago?
- applfanboysbgon 4mo ago
  In 2006, before Android, the iPhone, or app store existed? Were you even alive 20 years ago?
  - dredmorbius 4mo ago
    Keep in mind that the 1st-gen iPhone only supported a small set of built-in apps. Third-party apps didn't appear until 2008. <https://www.macstories.net/stories/10-years-of-app-store-a-timeline-of-changes/ https://www.macstories.net/stories/10-years-of-app-store-a-t...> HN discussion at the time: - Apple iPhone SDK Event: iFund - $100 Million for iPhone Devs <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130686 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=130686> And some early skepticism: "iPhone SDK And Restrictions: Some Of The Details Aren’t Great" (7 Mar 2008) <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=131171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=131171> Mostly concerns limitations on the API and what capabilities are exposed. And for those who care to do more digging, a couple of searches bounded on 5 Mar 2008 -- 6 Mar 2012, the first 4 years of the App store: "iphone sdk": <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1204675200&page=0&prefix=false&query=iphone%20sdk&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&...> "iphone apps": <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1204675200&page=0&prefix=true&query=iphone%20apps&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&...> "iOS apps": <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1204675200&page=0&prefix=true&query=ios%20apps&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1331078400&dateRange=custom&...> A very cursory eyeball of those shows some interest, but nothing overwhelmingly panglossian or critical. But I've not looked in depth.
  - doublerabbit 4mo ago
    Yes, I am 37. What about you? I was hosting an IRCd on my 33.2k modem at night using Hybrid-IRCd before that ratbox. I recall XFree86 before Xorg and running Linux on my 486dx running kernel 2.x https://distrowatch.com/table-mobile.php?distribution=icepack https://distrowatch.com/table-mobile.php?distribution=icepac... My first mobile phone was a Siemens m35i, eventually followed by a Sony Ericsson k500. Where the Nokia 3310 phone couls receive animated icons via SMS messages that displayed on the background as well as looking at ascii smut via WAP at the age of 15. So yes, what do you take me for? A disappointed cynical 37 year old who's watched the world burn in to a walled garden of hell that folk enjoy licking the grey walls of. I do recall the rainbow fences where one could happily jump over if you got bored. Where anxiety wasn't a thing and folk were in touch with nature.
    - frollogaston 4mo ago
      Every semi-smart phone I used before the iPhone existed either had no app ecosystem, or it had a super walled-off one that nobody complained about because it was probably unused. Which is kinda where I'm at with cars. Idk what this stuff about VW supporting a mobile OS means, cause my car can't really talk to any phone unless you count Bluetooth audio.

applfanboysbgon 4mo ago

> everyone was jumping and praising mobile Eco-systems. Literally who?

deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
mystraline 4mo ago
The app-devs were salivating on striking it rich on a garbage app. The rest of us groan when we hear "DOWNLOAD OUR APP" or grocery stores that want you to install their spyware coupon app. These days, nost apps are just data exflitrators, spyware portals, and surveillance pricing initiatives, wrapped up with a "FREE THINGY" wrapping.
- mrhottakes 4mo ago
  > These days, nost apps are just data exflitrators, spyware portals, and surveillance pricing initiatives, wrapped up with a "FREE THINGY" wrapping. This describes almost every "tech" product
code_duck 4mo ago
There were a lot of companies who thought an app was preferable to a mobile website (which is still true today). For example, around 2010-11 I was working on Etsy API stuff at the time but had no interest in making a mobile app for anything, and saw a few developers and apps acquihired by Etsy.