A year ago, Apple opened for iPhone application store. If you read the press a year ago, you can not help but smile: almost every analyst predicted the failure of Apple's initiative. Foreign publications wrote about some incredible framework in which they are driving developers and example set Windows Mobile platform, the program for which you can download from multiple catalog sites. Russian media forever be remembered for the fact that the App Store called the lack of inability to buy the program on a disk (there were some warnings for the readers!).
Now success is unlikely anyone would challenge - in the App Store contains more than 65,000 applications. And the store is really become popular - proof that more than 1.5 billion downloads. Now, similar steps have been taken or are going to make Nokia (Ovi), Microsoft (Windows MarketPlace for Mobile), Palm (App Catalog), Google (Android Marketplace), and many others.
Another interesting point - App Store is not the first mobile application store. For example, Handago earlier this year celebrated a decade, they have partners in almost all manufacturers of smartphones and software to them: Nokia, Microsoft, Research In Motion, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, however, result in the background Appple not so bright: supporting more than 1000, Handago devices for 10 years and 8 operating systems have about 100 million downloads.
One can argue that ensured the success of the App Store, but two things are indisputable. First, Apple has made the easiest store, download and buy software which can ordinary people, not geeks who are not accustomed to climb on a soft-archives. Second, the company has managed to convince developers and investors in the prospects of the iPhone platform. In computer literature devoted to Apple, you can find the assertion that in the late 80's - mid 90's Apple lost Windows because of the lack of a large number of applications. Even so, in the case of the iPhone, Steve Jobs did not repeat the mistakes.
This week on the pages MacRadar you can read some interviews with the developers of popular applications for the iPhone. We hope you will be interested in their opinion on the App Store.