SDK - What do you think?

[studioprisoner]

For you programmers out there, will you pay the $99 for the SDK?

me, i'm not a programmer, but i can't wait to see what programs come out of it

[baseballboy828]

When you really think it over, it's incredibly well planned out. There are very few possible holes in Apple's plan. I do wonder how the $99 fee will affect freeware. I'm sure some developers won't want to pay it. I suspect we'll be seeing donate buttons prominently featured on freeware dev's website to pay the $99 when the SDK comes out. I'm definitely looking forward to it. It will be interesting to see what apps we never thought would work on the iPhone end up being killer mobile apps.

[Yuiichi]

As Andy Ihnatko said yesterday, it was as if Apple was lining up several porciline plates down the hall of a shooting range and hit them all yesterday.

Personally, I think the value you get is great. Firstly, the actual development tools are completely free. While, in this space, that's rather normal, it's unheard of in other industries that this opens doors to. Take gaming. One actually has to prove to Sony that they'll use a dev kit for PS3 well before they can even buy one, and they're hideously expensive. Secondly, the $99 digital certificate thing is actually rather cheap for pretty much anyone. One can release as many apps as they want for that single payment of $99 and will probably make at least enough money to cover it. If not, well, their app really wasn't needed, was it? That cost will definitely keep away a lot of crappy applications that could end up out there, which is a really good thing.

One thing I have to ask, and is somewhat related to this discussion: how do iPod Touch users feel about the nominal fee? Will you pay it?

[Equin]

Originally Posted by studioprisoner

For you programmers out there, will you pay the $99 for the SDK?

No way, maybe if it's possible to share the same certificate with a couple of friends (buy one together, but pretend that it's only one user).

Originally Posted by Yuiichi

Secondly, the $99 digital certificate thing is actually rather cheap for pretty much anyone. One can release as many apps as they want for that single payment of $99 and will probably make at least enough money to cover it. If not, well, their app really wasn't needed, was it? That cost will definitely keep away a lot of crappy applications that could end up out there, which is a really good thing.

$99 is a big price to pay if all you want to do is to run your own program on your own phone.

Sure you'll get a higher average quality on the programs if you have a start up cost like this, but what you gain in quality you'll lose in diversity. Let's say that someone made a bad program, but based on a good idea, maybe someone else picks up on that idea and evolves it.. And I'm sure there will be a rating system / sort by download / whatever in iTunes, so you probably won't even see bad programs unless you look for them..

Also, really wasn't needed, by who? the majority? Let's say that someone makes a program that's really useful for a very small group, but not a big enough group that he can expect to earn enough money to cover the expenses. Maybe he'll drop the project just because of that.

I also think that the $99 start up cost will limit the number of freeware apps, many programs that would have been free or donation based will now cost money.

[houltmac]

I am pretty excited about this all in all, but I am sad not to see LDAP support. Having spent the last week working on a new Leopard Server/Xserve install to run our company I would like to have seen better iPhone integration for Apple based companies (we use Xserves, Airport, Macs, iPhones, the lot!).

I will formulate some more thoughts over the weekend, but for now I am so tired I just need to relax a little.

[baseballboy828]

One thing I have to ask, and is somewhat related to this discussion: how do iPod Touch users feel about the nominal fee?

I'll pay, I just hope nominal means $15 or $20 instead of $40 or $50. I am running jailbroken right now in order to get the January apps for free. However, since this is truly new functionality and not just something copied over from the iPhone that they didn't want to add to the touch, I feel like I really should buy it.

I noticed the same thing as houltmac. Why is there only ActiveSync support? Why doesn't apple support its own server products on the iPhone?

[Yuiichi]

Originally Posted by Equin

No way, maybe if it's possible to share the same certificate with a couple of friends (buy one together, but pretend that it's only one user).

I don't see this as being a problem, as long as your "friends" don't create questionable apps that would get pulled from the store. There's no limit on the apps that you can push out with that $99, so why not pool your funds and buy a certificate?

Originally Posted by Equin

$99 is a big price to pay if all you want to do is to run your own program on your own phone.

Sure you'll get a higher average quality on the programs if you have a start up cost like this, but what you gain in quality you'll lose in diversity. Let's say that someone made a bad program, but based on a good idea, maybe someone else picks up on that idea and evolves it.. And I'm sure there will be a rating system / sort by download / whatever in iTunes, so you probably won't even see bad programs unless you look for them..

Also, really wasn't needed, by who? the majority? Let's say that someone makes a program that's really useful for a very small group, but not a big enough group that he can expect to earn enough money to cover the expenses. Maybe he'll drop the project just because of that.

I also think that the $99 start up cost will limit the number of freeware apps, many programs that would have been free or donation based will now cost money.

I can see your point if all you want to do is install your app on your own phone and not distribute it. I'm not sure, but can't you do this just through the SDK tools? I'm probably wrong though.

Just think of the value you're getting for your money, on the other hand. Instead of having to take care of actually get hosting up, buy shopping cart software for your website, and market your product, Apple does this for you. Instead of being obscure, you're right in iTunes (on the Mac or PC) or the App Store (on the iPhone). I think that's more than fair for $99.

What about thinking about it from Apple's perspective. They needed some way of quality control, so that they could keep a certain amount of control over what you can and can't use the iPhone for. Instead of this relatively open solution, they could have had a system in which you would have to submit your source code for evaluation, having dedicated Apple engineers making sure that each app lives up to the quality that they want the iPhone/iTouch experience to come across as. Do you think that would be any better for diversity?

In business, one has to realize that they're only fooling themselves if they try to satisfy everyone. If Apple set the barriers to entry low enough so that everyone could shovel out apps, they would have a serious situation on their hands. They want to try and keep the experience on the iPhone/iTouch as amazing as they can - shovelware wouldn't help that goal. Sure, you might have a few apps lost because of it. Maybe even quite a few - who knows? In the grand scheme of things, Apple made the choices that would satisfy the greatest number of people. I think that's a fair trade.

Setting a price on mass distribution might force developers to also adopt a monetization strategy. I don't really have a problem with that. Paying people for doing a good job gives them incentive to keep the development active and the application fresh. I also don't see that as a bad trade off.

I think that's about the best I can do addressing your points. I hope I've made some sense :P

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

I'll pay, I just hope nominal means $15 or $20 instead of $40 or $50. I am running jailbroken right now in order to get the January apps for free. However, since this is truly new functionality and not just something copied over from the iPhone that they didn't want to add to the touch, I feel like I really should buy it.

Would this mean paying for the January apps too? I'm not sure how the jailbreak will work with the new platform, but who knows? Hackers are a pretty industrious bunch, to be sure.

Being in the market for an iTouch, finding the right time to buy one is a challenge. Who knows when they'll add more features that will require a "nominal fee" for entry?

[baseballboy828]

It might mean paying for January apps, it might not. It depends on what Apple decides. Since there will be significant changes in the apps in 2.0, I feel Apple should include them for those who didn't buy them. A jailbreak will surface eventually if there is demand. It just depends on how open Apple leaves the iPhone to apps. If it keeps the iPhone too tight a platform, people will want a jailbreak.

[houltmac]

The tools and possibilities look fantastic to me. I think the $99 fee is fair and won't hamper many people who actually know what they are doing since they will want to distribute anyway. I can still see a lot of freeware apps being put out there in a kind of Rogue Amoeba style.

One thing that got neutral/negative feedback immediately was distribution. I think the split is actually quite fair. Having been involved in business decisions around the issues Jobs presented. Hosting, distribution, updates, and marketing all add up pretty quickly when you have a popular product; even if it's digital and fairly small. The one thing I think it really cool though is that Apple are "taking care of" all the credit card fees. These can be very steep and add up very quickly. This is a good deal.

Of course, you can't buy advertising like this business model, so that is completely priceless. With the apps that were shown off during the presentation I think there will be a lot of cool apps out there and to be spotted you need an even playing field. I say well done Apple, and may the trend continue. Now just add OS X Server support!

[notabadname]

After watching the Job's presentation, I have to say I am very impressed. They really thought this out. This is going to be the next Palm (only much better). I loved the thousands of apps that came out for my palm (which is with me no longer). I think the $99 is very fair, especially with the iTunes store as your distribution point. What a great, instant, built-in market to have for your creations. The stuff they demoed already, such as Monkey Ball, looked awesome. It is like Wii meets PSP. Nintendo and Sony are going to take a hit as a result, they can't be happy about Apple's move into the portable game arena. Sony already fired one CEO for ceding the "Walkman" market to Apple. Now we will have a PSP/DS alternative that does all those other great things the iPhone does or even the Touch. And I realize it isn't just games that will populate the Apps selection on iTunes, but I think they will be the big sales driver.