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Isn't this, rich web apps, what Steve Jobs originally said should happen when asked why an SDK/third party native apps weren't going to be made available?

by tewks 18y ago

jodrellblank 18y ago
I'd say Google have come up with 'a really sweet solution' here.
hlidotbe 18y ago
That's what I thought too. When he annouced that everybody was up in arms and now, mobile development is the way to go. I find that a bit ironic.
TetOn 18y ago
Also interesting to note that this sort of rich web app is the way Palm Pre development is (supposedly) going to work...
feverishaaron 18y ago
The author seems to have a very poor understanding of the iPhone ecosystem. That, or he is trying to draw in more readers with a sneaky headline. I think Google is being smart here. Many of the "apps" on the app store would be better served as web services anyways.
boredguy8 18y ago
The irony struck me as well. Jobs didn't want to do native apps for many of the reasons we've already seen (management complains, quality control issues). He wanted web apps. People moaned. Then a web app is called 'sidestepping' the app store?! I think the iPhone does need an app store, at the end of the day, but this headline was just to rich.
allenbrunson 18y ago
steve jobs never said that web apps were a replacement for real third-party apps. in 2007 he said that web apps are what we've got now, and then he failed to comment at all on any upcoming sdk, because apple never talks about unreleased products.
- jacobolus 18y ago
  Yes he did. He said: > “Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.” And the rest of the press release said: > “Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, [...]” > “Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers. The modern web standards also provide secure data access and transactions, like those used with Amazon.com or online banking.”
  - allenbrunson 18y ago
    nowhere in there does it say that there will never be a native-app sdk. you are putting words in his mouth.
    - mlinsey 18y ago
      Nice jujitsu there. You previously wrote "steve jobs never said that web apps were a replacement for real third-party apps." jacobolus pointed out several places where Jobs unambiguously drew comparisons between web apps and native apps. Now it's "nowhere in there does it say that there will never be a native-app sdk." You're right in that Jobs clearly was not ruling out native apps. But his comments pretty clearly imply that web apps on iPhone make native apps unnecessary.
      - allenbrunson 18y ago
        jobs was selling what he had available at the moment, which only makes sense. yes, a lot of people were disappointed that he didn't announce a true sdk at the time, but i'm pretty sure it was because it wasn't anywhere near ready yet. jobs didn't hint around that true sdk-style apps were coming, because apple never talks about unreleased products, unless absolutely forced to. the introduction of the iphone itself was one of only a very few times where this happened. if apple hadn't preannounced the iphone, the story would have gotten out anyway, due to fcc filings. the oft-repeated refrain that "jobs said web apps were good enough" is mean-spirited and wrong. i suppose it's so often repeated because people felt he was being deceitful or patronizing at wwdc 2007, when web apps were introduced. that's one way to interpret it. i choose a different one: apple is secretive. you can claim it's not the best tactic, but it's what apple does. i for one thing the positives of that policy outweigh the negatives.

Isn't this, rich web apps, what Steve Jobs originally said should happen when asked why an SDK/third party native apps weren't going to be made available?

by tewks 18y ago

Isn't this, rich web apps, what Steve Jobs originally said should happen when asked why an SDK/third party native apps weren't going to be made available?

jodrellblank 18y ago

I'd say Google have come up with 'a really sweet solution' here.

hlidotbe 18y ago

That's what I thought too. When he annouced that everybody was up in arms and now, mobile development is the way to go. I find that a bit ironic.

TetOn 18y ago

Also interesting to note that this sort of rich web app is the way Palm Pre development is (supposedly) going to work...

feverishaaron 18y ago

The author seems to have a very poor understanding of the iPhone ecosystem. That, or he is trying to draw in more readers with a sneaky headline. I think Google is being smart here. Many of the "apps" on the app store would be better served as web services anyways.

boredguy8 18y ago

The irony struck me as well. Jobs didn't want to do native apps for many of the reasons we've already seen (management complains, quality control issues). He wanted web apps. People moaned. Then a web app is called 'sidestepping' the app store?! I think the iPhone does need an app store, at the end of the day, but this headline was just to rich.

allenbrunson 18y ago

steve jobs never said that web apps were a replacement for real third-party apps. in 2007 he said that web apps are what we've got now, and then he failed to comment at all on any upcoming sdk, because apple never talks about unreleased products.

jacobolus 18y ago
Yes he did. He said: > “Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.” And the rest of the press release said: > “Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, [...]” > “Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers. The modern web standards also provide secure data access and transactions, like those used with Amazon.com or online banking.”
- allenbrunson 18y ago
  nowhere in there does it say that there will never be a native-app sdk. you are putting words in his mouth.
  - mlinsey 18y ago
    Nice jujitsu there. You previously wrote "steve jobs never said that web apps were a replacement for real third-party apps." jacobolus pointed out several places where Jobs unambiguously drew comparisons between web apps and native apps. Now it's "nowhere in there does it say that there will never be a native-app sdk." You're right in that Jobs clearly was not ruling out native apps. But his comments pretty clearly imply that web apps on iPhone make native apps unnecessary.
    - allenbrunson 18y ago
      jobs was selling what he had available at the moment, which only makes sense. yes, a lot of people were disappointed that he didn't announce a true sdk at the time, but i'm pretty sure it was because it wasn't anywhere near ready yet. jobs didn't hint around that true sdk-style apps were coming, because apple never talks about unreleased products, unless absolutely forced to. the introduction of the iphone itself was one of only a very few times where this happened. if apple hadn't preannounced the iphone, the story would have gotten out anyway, due to fcc filings. the oft-repeated refrain that "jobs said web apps were good enough" is mean-spirited and wrong. i suppose it's so often repeated because people felt he was being deceitful or patronizing at wwdc 2007, when web apps were introduced. that's one way to interpret it. i choose a different one: apple is secretive. you can claim it's not the best tactic, but it's what apple does. i for one thing the positives of that policy outweigh the negatives.