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woohoo... competition is fierce.... loving it.

Feb 16, 09 - 02:48 pm Comment from: Demon

We'll need to see if they are a competitive match to the iTunes App Store or just a website want to be. My Guess is they'll be like Amazon's Music MP3 offering. A wake website with no real advanced functionality.

"It’s Mobile-Me-Too World Congress week in Barcelona..."

There, fixed that.

Feb 16, 09 - 02:51 pm Comment from: Olmecmystic

Eric B. & Rakim said it best back in the day: "Follow the leader."

Peace.
Olmecmystic

Feb 16, 09 - 02:53 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

I'm interested in seeing how successful each one is, with the new apps that will be available for the stores. I am mostly looking forward to the Android Market place, and Blackberry App centre.

Feb 16, 09 - 03:04 pm Comment from: Ottawa Mark

When you think about it, the idea of having a central area for users to buy/download apps for a mobile device should hardly be considered revolutionary.

The fact that Apple beat them all to the punch with not only the concept but with a very pleasurable ecosystem speaks volumes about the complete lack of imagination and cohesion of Apple's competitors. My guess is that RIM has the best chance of succeeding, at least in the enterprise apps arena.

I can't wait for a similar model to come to Macs. It'll be the most pleasurable computing experience on the planet. That's the one last major hurdle for Macs... the simplicity of searching out and installing software. The current do-it-yourself model is holding the platform back. The App Store has proved that. Let's have a point-n-click model with auto-installation, encrypting, removal, all with a simple interface.

Feb 16, 09 - 03:21 pm Comment from: MrScrith

The big problem all of these will face is the number of possable platforms out there, each one needs their own tweaks in order to run properly, how will they identify that in the store? will app submitters need to identify specificly what phones their app will work on?

A big part of what makes the Apple iTunes App Store so great is that with 3 devices (iPhone 1st gen, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch) they can write 99% of the apps the same way and it works on all devices.

Feb 16, 09 - 03:29 pm Comment from: KingMel

Perhaps this will push Apple to continue improving the App Store and their processes for managing it and approving candidate software titles. The App Store can and should evolve and improve, just as other Apple products and services have done over time.

Apple, unlike these people, 'skates to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.'

Feb 16, 09 - 03:31 pm Comment from: Ottawa Mark

@ Mr. Scrith,

Not sure about "99%"...quite a few apps require things like a phone or a camera or cellular data or GPS. To say nothing of anything requiring microphone input, which requires purchase of a headset for the Touch (would Shazam even work through the headset mike? I doubt it).

That said, there is a lot more simplicity in figuring out what apps work on what unit compared to the hodge-podge that you describe with the other manufacturers...since the CPU and the OS between the Touch and the iPhone models are virtually identical, you don't get the headaches you normally would.

Feb 16, 09 - 03:49 pm Comment from: Spark

Well, now that they've been shown successful the model by Apple, you can't blame the others for trying to duplicate it. Lack of top-down control of the system may make it difficult to achieve the same level user experience found on the App Store. The iPhone is currently the best pocket device I've ever owned, for its breadth of capability. But there is room for improvement. If some other company can bring a product and environment that is even better, they will get my business.

Feb 16, 09 - 03:53 pm Comment from: Brau

Sooo ... I wonder how many apps they have between 'em? BlackBerry has about 400, so maybe 500 or so? Oooh, what palpable excitement.

I agree with coolfactor above. I want an apps store for the mac. Not a mandatory one - lots of people need flexibility with their computers - but for the rest of us a simple interface where we know we are getting the real product ( not a trojan ) and ideally with a built-in security profile that guarantees at the o.s. level that the program can only do what it says on the tin.

@Spark

You are clearly right, although it grinds my gears when all these other yahoos mock Apple when Apple releases something new, watch it become successful, and then climb all over each other trying to reverse-engineer the product in question. 'Yes, folks, the (insert Apple product name here) killer has arrived!'

All of these App-Also-Rans will be competing with each other, not with Apple, racing each other to the bottom with razor thin margins, bundle-price plans, awkward points purchase systems, cheating their app developers, and a web presence clouded by pop-up Viagra ads (pun!) .

These others will, by comparison, only further illustrate how elegant and far ahead Apple is and always will be.

Competition is good!

As always - the misinformed say "competition is good" while i say
"there never is REAL competition". What form of competition does half-ass app stores provide? People want competition to spur innovation, I understand that, but there is hardly ever anyone besides Apple innovating, so the "competition is good" statement PROVES to be a false statement. If you have a doctorate, and meet a kid who just finished middle school, is that your competition? If he copies your thesis in his handwriting, is he competition now? Of course not. I'm not picking on anyone specifically, I simply would like to point out that too many people say "comp is good" in this forum because it sounds good, not because it has merit. Nikon vs Canon is competition, this isn't.

maclover,

exactly.

I remember the intense competition between Daimler Benz and BMW in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.
There was intense competition to be top in the home (German) market and, as a result, their products became so good that their sales abroad increased drastically.

But I agree; Apple has, at the moment, no effective competion.

Feb 16, 09 - 05:18 pm Comment from: SirROM

@ Brau

“Sooo ... I wonder how many apps they have between 'em? BlackBerry has about 400, so maybe 500 or so? Oooh, what palpable excitement.”

However, I'll bet none of them are fart applications...

Apple did patent the iPhone App Store, did it?

The sad thing is most people will think their phone's app store is great, and any problems they encounter, they'll just assume it's the same on all platforms, not realizing the truth.

This news somehow reminds me of the scene in Star Wars wher a beat-up Jawa jalopy stopping by and lining up a group of barely working, stolen droids for sale for cheap.

Feb 17, 09 - 10:04 am Comment from: Ampar

The other app stores will be a terrific boon . . .
. . . for hackers, phishers and virus writers. Pull my finger, lose your checking account.

Feb 17, 09 - 01:25 pm Comment from: emanon

Back in the heyday of Palm, I use to buy apps from Palmgear.com. I don't think they were owned by Palm, but they carried a pretty comprehensive library of quality apps.