The iTunes Store sells simple games for iPod users. This may be the way all iPhone applications are sold, too, once the iPhone SDK becomes available later this month. *
Screenshot: iTunes Store * Apple's upcoming iPhone software development kit will do more than enable programmers to create new software for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
It will also turn iTunes into a software store, because Apple will probably use iTunes as the primary distribution vehicle for what's likely to be a massive community of iPhone software developers. In so doing, it could usher in a new way of buying low-cost software that's both easier and faster than downloading shareware or purchasing shrink-wrapped boxes.
"I think a lot of developers simultaneously see this as the best thing and the worst thing in the world," says Daniel Jalkut, who develops the blogging tool MarsEdit and other Mac applications.
"The feeling is: 'Oh no, Apple is going to set up this stronghold where [developers] can't set their own prices or have control,'" Jalkut says. "But personally, I think a lot of them trust Apple enough that they'd be willing to make that trade-off."
That trust is undoubtedly tied to the fact that -- regardless of the hoops developers have to jump through or the powers they have to relinquish -- iTunes is an unparalleled platform for digital distribution. An estimated 35.7 million people use iTunes, according to Nielsen Online. Based on the figures Apple CEO Steve Jobs provided at this year's Macworld Expo, Apple has now sold more than 4 billion songs through its iTunes Store. By some estimates, 20 percent of the U.S. population now purchases its music through iTunes. Whether the store is ultimately the only venue for distributing iPhone and iPod Touch software or not, using it for app distribution means that many third-party developers will have the chance to get their software noticed by a huge base of users.
Expanding the store's offerings to include iPhone and iPod Touch software is, in many ways, a natural extension of Apple's current distribution channel, says John Chuang, an expert in economics and distributed systems and an associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Information. (In addition to music and video, Apple already sells a handful of games for the iPod through the iTunes Store.)
The ability to dock your iPod Touch or iPhone, purchase an application and have it transferred immediately to your devices is an attractive proposition.
For software purchases, Chuang says, Apple will be effectively acting as an editor, providing a unified platform, vetting offerings and highlighting choices from among a diverse and numerous field of developers.
"From a consumer perspective, the experience of looking for and purchasing software for their devices will come from this one unified and familiar platform, and that adds a lot of value," Chuang says.
But there are still a number of outstanding issues that could make developers uneasy with Apple's distribution scheme. Beyond questions about how using the iTunes Store will affect and potentially inhibit competition, there's also the fact that Apple will have all but total control over both the hardware and the distribution channel. As a result, the company may exert even more influence over software developers.
Based on Apple's current developer-friendly approach, many industry experts assume Apple won't do anything to muck up developer relations. Filtering apps through the store and requiring certification will likely become a part of the deal, but Apple undoubtedly wants as many people developing for the platform as possible, because an attractive or innovative device is nothing without a host of cool apps to go along with it. And, as Chuang notes, a creative or clever app can sell a device as well as a sexy touchscreen UI.
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