Why the open iPhone frenzy misses the point

I think it’s pretty obvious that the reason for the delay in apple’s develper kit is the switch in iPhone / touch from ARM powered chips to Intel powered chips. Why put out dev tools for a platform that’s going to change in a year?

“I find it rather ironic that Steve jobs, a former hacker and phone freaker, is now the CEO of a major corporation; a major corporation that is in a constant battle with modern day hackers.”

Really Zack? And your buddies at Microsoft have no problems with hackers, right?
Actually, I think that’s probably true.

jf: good points – the iPod classic is named classic for a reason; the future is iPod touch with OS X.

new zealand: you’re delusional to think Apple listens to hackers. If you’d listened to what Jobs said in Jan 2007 after preview, in May 2007 at All Things D, and in June after launch, you’d know he said Apple was working the very issues he touched upon in his letter. And as important as the SDK is in making the iPhone an even better data-driven device, it wasn’t important enough to delay the iPhone release. btw, is the SDK more important than Leopard? And even Leopard was delayed (which meant delaying the SDK).

eric: since you don’t seem to understand what some have already written, you’ll just have to wait a year (or two) to see exactly how iPhone has revolutionized the call phone.

steve: VoIP is coming along with tiered all-data (no voice minutes) plans (as soon as 3G is built-out by AT&T and added to iPhone 3rd gen). that’s the future for cell carriers. Apple and iPhone are helping AT&T to get there first. mark my words. (actually, go back and read what stephenson and jobs said at launch.)

mike: don’t be dumb and jump on a frickin’ bandwagon. just buy what is best for your needs. for many who’ve tried it, that’s an iPhone.

I find it rather ironic that Steve jobs, a former hacker and phone freaker, is now the CEO of a major corporation; a major corporation that is in a constant battle with modern day hackers.

The point:

The # of people using OS X will double within 12 months. This snowballs the already-potent “halo effect” which has led to record Mac sales. In turn, more developers will write for OS X (Macs, iPhone, touch) and thus more third party apps will lead to more sales of Macs, iPhone, and touch — a virtuous circle with profound ramifications for Apple’s future and for the future of tech. All this without even mentioning Apple’s plans to integrate the living room via yet another OS X device which is on the verge of some major upgrades and new capabilities — AppleTV.

Sea change well underway.

All I keep reading is how the iPhone has revolutionized the call phone platform. Come on it;s got touch screen who cares. I’ll take my $200 dollar Blackberry any day over some over priced flashy platform like the iPhone, and yes I love my Zune.

This may sound good and all but there are already several black market iPhones in Asia that have all of the cool features that people want. They are being sold for a hefty premium but there are no guarntees or return policies with such devices. I hope that Apple will track down and help to get these rogue group of hackers and bootleggers prosecuted in their respective countries.

i think we should all wait until feb to see exactly what these development tools are. if apple were serious about third party apps, they would have had them from day 1. it is only through all the hacking that apple has seen the incredible demand for them.

and who would have though that in a few years from now buying software online for your iTouch and iPhone will probably become another billion dollar business unit.

I think this article misses the point. The bigger question is not the populatiry of the platform on which it will run (there’ll be plenty of users on either/both platforms to consume the apps – and plenty of apps that will target both platforms). Instead, I’d like to know what it takes to get certified by Apple to distribute the apps? Will the certification process and fees mean that we’re stuck with a very limited set of expensive apps? Will certain types of apps be declined for certification just because of external pressue (VOIP)? And, given what’s been happening with the hacked versions, will we need to reinstall all apps every time Apple releases a firmware update?

To all analysts and people like Mike who talk slim about Apple and iPhone. You need to use the iphone for a day and then see why Apple stock is going to reach $225.00 in couple of months.

To Mike of Conshohocken, PA
Yes, you are right, there are millions and even billion people such as you are, but you need not to worry. The iPhone or iPod Touch is not for everybody else that is not you.

Good article, just what I was thinking in fact

The problem with the idea that a iPod Touch w/ VOIP would somehow canabalize iphone sales however is that it still would only work where you have WiFi and most people want there phone to function everywhere, not just where one has WiFi.

Now if the touch somehow for EDGE or better yet 3G HSDPA to celluar networks then you’d have VOIP available everywhere… but come on if they’re putting in a celluar antenna and chipset why would they just add a speaker and microphone which brings you back to having an iPhone.

The people who would adopt a touch w/ VOIP only available in range of WiFi would be very very small.

One last thing canabalizing iPhone sales in favor of Touch sales is a moot point to apple… it’d matter to AT&T, but either way it’s not going to happen due to VOIP.

“…will displace the laptop, Microsoft will scramble to write Safari software, and HP will concentrate on printers.”

What a joke. I actually like Apple products and have tried to make money on software that supports the Mac.

Jobs is a design and marketing genius. However, he is not yet sitting on anything close to the platform hegemony enjoyed by MSFT. The corporate market still swings a big bat.

“These 3rd party apps are going to be what separates this platform from the Blackberry and from Nokia.”

You might want to check with the remnants of Palm about that. Third party apps they had and still have plenty. The smartphone market is fairly tightly controlled by the network providers in the USA.

Some smart hacker breaking into a physical device is quite different from designing, implementing, marketing, supporting and profiting from a new third party application.

To all you should-a, would-a hindsighters. The world will play by Jobs’ rules. AS phone service becomes even more ubiquitous & cheaper the iPod Touch will disappear, the iPhone (on steroids) + bluetooth viewing goggles will displace the laptop, Microsoft will scramble to write Safari software, and HP will concentrate on printers.

They can’t enable VOIP on the touch. There is no speaker and no microphone

I will consider the iTouch and the iPhone when it comes down to a price that “i” can afford, based upon what it can do with the service provider I want. I already have an MP3 player, a digital camera, a PDA, and a cell phone whose service (Verizon) is excellent. I generally use each item separately, when I need to. So I am at a loss as why I should just jump on the Apple bandwagon. (No, I am not a Verizon employee).

Love apple and love the iphone/touch….b ut I can’t wait till we get past xmas and apple releases what we all truly are waiting for, the IPHONE or TOuch with VOIP, bluetooth, GPS, CAM, and no ATT.
Until then I’m just not taking the bait.
My shelves are still littered with all the old variations of IPOD dinosaurs, and I’m not going there again!

Here comes $200 per share for Apple!

JF, good article. Lots of the media have gotten sidetracked in the whole open iPhone debate. They think it matters that a few hackers had their phones shut down for a week.

The real issue from the business standpoint is that Apple created an entirely new platform/interface. The iPhone and Touch are going to change how people interact with handhelds from now on.

So once Apple sets the ground rules and closes up any potential security holes, there are going to be a host of new applications being written.

These 3rd party apps are going to be what separates this platform from the Blackberry and from Nokia. And my guess is that Apple understood this from the start.

That problem is, if they enable VOIP etc. on the touch then they will cannibalize iPhone sales, and make the cost of the touch much higher. Eventually, the two products I think will have to overlap more, but for this Christmas I think they are going for “market segmentation”

This is terrific news, we have a vibrant oftware engineering community that can add more than Apple to these devices, and now Apple is creating a mobile platform that will put Win.Mobile to shame. Now if I can only use some of this goodness on Sprint.

This crazy author either is big Microsoft and Nokia shareholder or he just hates Apple.

Whatever Steve Jobs does, will always be wrong for such an idiotic author. If he did not open the platform, Jobs is crazy control freak. If he opens the platform, he is inviting hackers.

jf: Huh? What piece were you reading?

Dead on. You nailed it.

It’s nice to read pieces like this that are authored with a deep sense of the strategic thinking that certainly goes on behind closed doors in Cupertino.

Apple’s ducks are in tight formation.

Cheers

I actually prefer the iPod Touch to the iPhone.

Imagine how much more popular it would be if it did have a gps, camera, and/or bluetooth.

Add GPS functionality paired with Google Maps, and in less than a year, Apple would be the biggest name in GPS Navigation systems.

Add bluetooth and everyone would grab this for voip calling.

Add a camera, and you have the perfect all-in-one media device.

Add all three, and Apple has created another revolutionary device.