Selling one billion apps in roughly eight months is one thing -- and it has received plenty of coverage (I did a backgrounder in an interview today for Deutschlandradio's weekly Breitband tech show (you'll find the interview's MP3 here).
The truly amazing fact is that almost every player, hardware vendor to carrier, is now copying the app store's infinitely customizable device approach. As with the trinity of iPod/music downloads/the iTunes store, Apple did not invent the pieces, but was the first to put them together ingeniously well. For a glimpse into the company's deep understanding of consumer-friendly design as a kind of derivative repackaging, check out my brand eins analysis that dealt with the iPod's genesis.
What's next? Everything we send and sense. I call them user-generated universal touring machines.
Apple's lead is hard to catch up to. Most mobile developers write for the iPhone/iPod platform by now, and once they can access the dock and other parts of the devices' brains come July, the attraction will only increase. Turning a headset into a noise sensor or plugging in any kind of peripheral that feeds biometric data into an app is a dream come true. It hasn't really worked since Handspring tried it with the Visor for geeks and students.
The Swiss knife approach exerts a powerful network effect that competitors such as perennially lagging copycat Microsoft or RIM and even Google's Android will have to contend with. Already, the appeal of these two devices has transcended the original intent. They have become universal music/entertainment/communication centers. Their embedded system is only one thing: each user's individual interests.
It's fascinating to me to see that the fastest growing category of apps are e-books. Forget the single-trick pony called Kindle with its East German design esthetics and retro black and white screen. Amazon hedged its bets when they bought Lexcycle, makers of the Stanza e-reader app this week.
Sooner rather than later Apple will have touch tablets and other ultraportable devices that put today's primitive netbooks to shame, and the Swiss knife model will be in full bloom. Just look at the SF Chronicle piece today about how iPhones/iPods have become babysitting devices. Take them with you and you can entertain, calm or creatively engage your infant or child. Try that with a Kindle, and you know why that single-use model is a dead end!
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