Cats and dogs, living together, MASS HYSTERIA! Apple yesterday announced that there will be a software development kit coming for the iPhone. Up to now, independant developers wanting to leverage the computing power of the iPhone had to hack their way onto the phone (and I have LOVED some of the apps that has come from this hackery).
Why did Apple “change their mind” from the original statement (that the Safari browser was a great and secure environment for 3rd party apps)? A couple of reasons, I think. One, they just weren’t ready to support 3rd-party apps upon the iPhone’s release. I think that the software development effort on the iPhone strained Apple to the limit, and for proof I only point to the delay of OS X from the summer to (finally) next Friday. Lots of people who have compared the 1.0 software running the iPhone to the 1.1.1 version that came out last month say that what was first released was, to be kind, a little sloppy. Now, with Leopard done and 1.1.1 a more refined and stable mobile OS, they can support developers.
Second, and I think this is pretty obvious to anyone watching this “scene”, there’s an intense and widespread passion out there to make the iPhone a mobile computer, and not just an iPod/Browser/Phone hybrid. Apple saw the interest, ran the numbers, and saw that if they did not start selling applications throught iTunes (which is what this is all leading to, I think) they would be leaving money on the table. A lot of money.
Well, I’m still happily using my 1.02 iPhone with the hacked applications and will probably not upgrade my phones firmware for a while… Apple, create the ecosystem that is better than what I have now, and I’m there. Until then, I’m happy.