Yesterday’s announcement of the iPhone software developer’s kit (SDK) “sets the stage for the iPhone as the phone to beat,” Melissa J. Perenson writes for PC World. “Period.”
MacDailyNews Take: Well, not really “period,” because she keeps writing. It’d be a really short article if Melissa stopped there, right? And we haven’t yet heard about this “stifling innovation” stuff…
Perenson continues, “Apple’s SDK blows open the process of creating native apps for the iPhone by letting most any would-be coder get started. Developers can sign up and download the SDK for free, which in turn allows Apple to reach out to a wider cross-section of would-be coders than they might have otherwise… Developers will need to do so in a Mac environment, though. And that leaves an open question as to how well these apps will be able to tie into the PC universe.”
MacDailyNews Take: Well, it makes sense that a writer for PC World would be worried about the PC being cut out of the equation in favor of the Mac, but since the Windows PC is perhaps most famous among those in-the-know for stifling innovation for decades, we fail to see how removing it is anything but a Good Thing™. Encouraging Mac use for iPhone development will only foster innovation and open the minds of some developers who, frankly, really could use just such a broadening of their horizons.
Perenson continues, “The biggest catch to Apple’s approach, though, is that the company is forcing everything to be distributed through the iTunes App Store, be it via the mobile device itself or the iTunes desktop client. This benefits Apple: The company retains a modicum of control over what gets installed on its devices. But without a third-party download source and a bonafide application installation/deinstallation manager, Apple will have the ability to constrain the needs of its consumers if and when it so chooses.
MacDailyNews Take: So, Apple not allowing malware to be spread throughout their platform is somehow a bad thing?
Perenson continues, “All of the attention on the iPhone SDK has to be making Apple’s competing handset manufacturers nervous. And rightly so. When the new iPhone 2.0 software update (which includes legitimate support for third-party apps) ships in June, it will transform the iPhone into the mobile phone to beat, for consumers and for enterprise users.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Spark" for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: As we suspected, the “stifles” bit in PC World’s headline was just there to grab attention.
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