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I hold the view that Apple also had no clue what they were doing, recall that the initial phone had no support for 3rd party applications instead the browser wa

I hold the view that Apple also had no clue what they were doing, recall that the initial phone had no support for 3rd party applications instead the browser was supposed to take over. In my mind the emphasis on a terminal style model of computation (in 2007 web-apps were server side), is inline with the same mode of thinking as at RIM. Half the story of iPhone is the advantages of opening up your platform to developers. The other being the lines I saw outside of the AT&T/Cingular store which I can never explain.

joshuak 13y ago
You say that like having an OS level dev kit was never part of the plan. So your position is they whipped together a dev kit in 8 months on the shocking revelation that programmers would want to develop on the device itself? No, what they did was prioritize their resources and release something that was good enough, and build on it. Release and iterate. They knew the first most important thing to get right was the web browsing experience which included a javascript engine. That is a user level experience that will sell more phones. They decided the Devs could wait, oh and what do you know the devs can still program the phone via the web interface so why not play that feature up -- 2 for 1 by focusing on the browser. "A phone, an iPod, and a revolutionary new internet communicator." It as so important to the product it was in the lead. People had phones and ipods before, they had never had a fully functional mobile web browser.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  Steve Jobs was clearly opposed to Native Apps appearing on the iPhone. He did not want the device to be destabilized by external developers, so he directed them to write web apps. Every commentator I've ever listened to (Siracusa, Gruber, Arment) all back this up, and comment on it being on of Apple/Jobs major lack of foresight - that the App Store would turn out to be such a big deal. Much of Apple's success occurred despite themselves - iTunes on Windows, App Store are just two of them. I don't think having an OS level dev kit was ever part of the plan - I don't think there's any evidence out there to suggest that it was.
  - jjoonathan 13y ago
    When Steve Jobs announced that the devkit would be JS only, he was booed on stage. This was WWDC, the self-selected apple fans were hyped (a real internet browser on a phone!), the reality distortion field was in full effect, and when he made the "JS is the API" announcement the room went silent, save for a few brave souls more actively voicing their displeasure. It might not have been part of the plan before the iphone was launched, but it certainly became part of the plan on day 0.
- frozenport 13y ago
  Large companies have an internal dev kit for almost everything, i'm sure there are a few companies with wacky internal Java to Python compilers. They probably used to kit to make the native apps. In this mode of thinking taking 8 months to deploy this to developers is not unreasonable, if not prudent.
bsg75 13y ago
> I hold the view that Apple also had no clue what they were doing But Apple altered their path and made something that customers wanted. RIM stayed their course for too long, until they made what not enough users wanted, then tried to mimic everyone else (Apple, Samsung, et al).
- slantyyz 13y ago
  > But Apple altered their path and made something that customers wanted. My feeling was that they knew the path they were going to take but weren't ready and chose to control the conversation with misleading statements.
  - lttlrck 13y ago
    Yes, that sounds likely. Apple is a master at feature strategy.
    - slantyyz 13y ago
      I think they like to dismiss features they don't currently have (but are usually working on) because it gives them the opportunity to bash their competitors. They also know how bad the memories are of the mainstream tech journalists -- which means they rarely get called out on making sneaky statements like the ones in this article: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/steve-jobs/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/steve-jobs/
aboodman 13y ago
"in 2007 web-apps were server side" !? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail#April_Fools.27_jokes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail#April_Fools.27_jokes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_maps#2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_maps#2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddpost http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddpost
- frozenport 13y ago
  Ah, yes, anyways, I was thinking of the massive increase in javascript.

joshuak 13y ago

You say that like having an OS level dev kit was never part of the plan. So your position is they whipped together a dev kit in 8 months on the shocking revelation that programmers would want to develop on the device itself? No, what they did was prioritize their resources and release something that was good enough, and build on it. Release and iterate. They knew the first most important thing to get right was the web browsing experience which included a javascript engine. That is a user level experience that will sell more phones. They decided the Devs could wait, oh and what do you know the devs can still program the phone via the web interface so why not play that feature up -- 2 for 1 by focusing on the browser. "A phone, an iPod, and a revolutionary new internet communicator." It as so important to the product it was in the lead. People had phones and ipods before, they had never had a fully functional mobile web browser.

ghshephard 13y ago
Steve Jobs was clearly opposed to Native Apps appearing on the iPhone. He did not want the device to be destabilized by external developers, so he directed them to write web apps. Every commentator I've ever listened to (Siracusa, Gruber, Arment) all back this up, and comment on it being on of Apple/Jobs major lack of foresight - that the App Store would turn out to be such a big deal. Much of Apple's success occurred despite themselves - iTunes on Windows, App Store are just two of them. I don't think having an OS level dev kit was ever part of the plan - I don't think there's any evidence out there to suggest that it was.
- jjoonathan 13y ago
  When Steve Jobs announced that the devkit would be JS only, he was booed on stage. This was WWDC, the self-selected apple fans were hyped (a real internet browser on a phone!), the reality distortion field was in full effect, and when he made the "JS is the API" announcement the room went silent, save for a few brave souls more actively voicing their displeasure. It might not have been part of the plan before the iphone was launched, but it certainly became part of the plan on day 0.
frozenport 13y ago
Large companies have an internal dev kit for almost everything, i'm sure there are a few companies with wacky internal Java to Python compilers. They probably used to kit to make the native apps. In this mode of thinking taking 8 months to deploy this to developers is not unreasonable, if not prudent.

bsg75 13y ago

> I hold the view that Apple also had no clue what they were doing But Apple altered their path and made something that customers wanted. RIM stayed their course for too long, until they made what not enough users wanted, then tried to mimic everyone else (Apple, Samsung, et al).

slantyyz 13y ago
> But Apple altered their path and made something that customers wanted. My feeling was that they knew the path they were going to take but weren't ready and chose to control the conversation with misleading statements.
- lttlrck 13y ago
  Yes, that sounds likely. Apple is a master at feature strategy.
  - slantyyz 13y ago
    I think they like to dismiss features they don't currently have (but are usually working on) because it gives them the opportunity to bash their competitors. They also know how bad the memories are of the mainstream tech journalists -- which means they rarely get called out on making sneaky statements like the ones in this article: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/steve-jobs/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/steve-jobs/

aboodman 13y ago

"in 2007 web-apps were server side" !? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail#April_Fools.27_jokes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail#April_Fools.27_jokes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_maps#2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_maps#2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddpost http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddpost

frozenport 13y ago
Ah, yes, anyways, I was thinking of the massive increase in javascript.