4 ms·

What he didn't foresee then was the app store (it hadn't been invented yet). That is really what changed everything.

t1m 13y ago
Well, the iTunes store came online in 2003. Not much of a stretch to foresee a marketplace for apps much like the marketplace for music. Whether it would be successful or not is another thing.
- fvrghl 13y ago
  I disagree; apps were never a guarantee. Steve was adamant about not having 3rd party apps on the iPhone for a long time. However, with 20/20 hindsight it's easy to see.
  - guywithabike 13y ago
    Steve was also adamant about not doing a phone in the first place, not doing a tablet, etc. The point being that Steve always publicly denied wanting to do something that privately he was already investing significant resources in doing.
    - bluthru 13y ago
      From what I've read it's much simpler than that. Steve would argue passionately for both sides of an issue before reaching a conclusion.
  - megablast 13y ago
    Despite Steve, there was already apps on the iPhone 1.
- bduerst 13y ago
  If you had said "App" in 2007, nobody would have even known what you were talking about. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=apps%2C%20mobile%20apps&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=apps%2C%20mobile%20ap...
philfreo 13y ago
An an original iPhone user (before the App Store launched), I strongly disagree. The original iPhone was awesome on its own and changed my life more than having additional apps have. Having a large high quality responsive touch screen interface with excellent UI/UX of a real web browser, email, calendar, maps, etc. was a huge thing. I also strongly suspect that many app store apps could be replicated as web apps given no alternative, and that mobile web progress (both browsers and frameworks) would have also moved much faster and be in a significantly more mature state had not most of the focus shifted toward native apps.
- mercer 13y ago
  If Apple hadn't launched the app store, it's quite possible we'd not even miss it and happily discuss whether apple's iPhone (sans app store) is better or worse than the other now touch-based phones (also without an app store).
err4nt 13y ago
Linux had centralized package management for like a decade before the iPhone. The App Store was hardly novel, just gorgeous and very successful. But I still use apt-get daily…
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  You're comparing a command-line package manager for free software with a GUI/touchscreen store for paid software. They're only barely related.
- ksk 13y ago
  Thats nice, but apt-get is still brittle, breaks often and doesn't support a payment system.
fuzzywalrus 13y ago
Indeed, the iPhone damn impressive & shiny but a bit rough to justify. I remember thinking "If they'd just let people write apps for it, this thing could be absolutely amazing..." but even then, it it was apparent iPhone wasn't just a phone. When Apple announced the App Store, I dumped my Verizon contract shortly after and picked up an iPhone 3G. Often, I'd be willing to bet that the naysayers never used first hand an iPhone. I don't think I've ever been more awed by a single piece of technology. Not even my first laptop, a G3 500 MHz PowerBook in 1999 that had an AGP ATI Rage 128 Mobility, Firewire and a DVD Drive left me that blown away. Everything about the iPhone 3G was amazing, with most intuitive user interface for something so foreign. It immediately changed the way viewed information, my friends would joke "Ask the godpod!" It was one of those things that despite the absolutely absurd amount of press coverage and hype, was justified and even then it might have been short.
pjmlp 13y ago
There were already app stores for Symbian, J2ME, PocketPC and Psion devices. They just weren't as integrated as iTunes.

t1m 13y ago

Well, the iTunes store came online in 2003. Not much of a stretch to foresee a marketplace for apps much like the marketplace for music. Whether it would be successful or not is another thing.

fvrghl 13y ago
I disagree; apps were never a guarantee. Steve was adamant about not having 3rd party apps on the iPhone for a long time. However, with 20/20 hindsight it's easy to see.
- guywithabike 13y ago
  Steve was also adamant about not doing a phone in the first place, not doing a tablet, etc. The point being that Steve always publicly denied wanting to do something that privately he was already investing significant resources in doing.
  - bluthru 13y ago
    From what I've read it's much simpler than that. Steve would argue passionately for both sides of an issue before reaching a conclusion.
- megablast 13y ago
  Despite Steve, there was already apps on the iPhone 1.
bduerst 13y ago
If you had said "App" in 2007, nobody would have even known what you were talking about. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=apps%2C%20mobile%20apps&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=apps%2C%20mobile%20ap...

philfreo 13y ago

An an original iPhone user (before the App Store launched), I strongly disagree. The original iPhone was awesome on its own and changed my life more than having additional apps have. Having a large high quality responsive touch screen interface with excellent UI/UX of a real web browser, email, calendar, maps, etc. was a huge thing. I also strongly suspect that many app store apps could be replicated as web apps given no alternative, and that mobile web progress (both browsers and frameworks) would have also moved much faster and be in a significantly more mature state had not most of the focus shifted toward native apps.

mercer 13y ago
If Apple hadn't launched the app store, it's quite possible we'd not even miss it and happily discuss whether apple's iPhone (sans app store) is better or worse than the other now touch-based phones (also without an app store).

err4nt 13y ago

Linux had centralized package management for like a decade before the iPhone. The App Store was hardly novel, just gorgeous and very successful. But I still use apt-get daily…

PhasmaFelis 13y ago
You're comparing a command-line package manager for free software with a GUI/touchscreen store for paid software. They're only barely related.
ksk 13y ago
Thats nice, but apt-get is still brittle, breaks often and doesn't support a payment system.

fuzzywalrus 13y ago

Indeed, the iPhone damn impressive & shiny but a bit rough to justify. I remember thinking "If they'd just let people write apps for it, this thing could be absolutely amazing..." but even then, it it was apparent iPhone wasn't just a phone. When Apple announced the App Store, I dumped my Verizon contract shortly after and picked up an iPhone 3G. Often, I'd be willing to bet that the naysayers never used first hand an iPhone. I don't think I've ever been more awed by a single piece of technology. Not even my first laptop, a G3 500 MHz PowerBook in 1999 that had an AGP ATI Rage 128 Mobility, Firewire and a DVD Drive left me that blown away. Everything about the iPhone 3G was amazing, with most intuitive user interface for something so foreign. It immediately changed the way viewed information, my friends would joke "Ask the godpod!" It was one of those things that despite the absolutely absurd amount of press coverage and hype, was justified and even then it might have been short.

pjmlp 13y ago

There were already app stores for Symbian, J2ME, PocketPC and Psion devices. They just weren't as integrated as iTunes.