March 2, 2008 at 9:51 am
I haven't commented on all the things that have happened in the past week with regards to the SDK, so I might as well now.
What it looks like we're going to be getting is an iPhone SDK announcement on Thursday. A 'beta' version of the SDK will arrive then, with the final version arriving in June. App distribution can be done in traditional, over-the-web ways, or they can be distributed through iTunes. Distribution through iTunes will require Apple to examine the app to ensure it meets a certain quality bar.
My personal project is one that I really want to try to sell. Sunset was a lot of fun, and it was rewarding to get all the positive emails I got, but I determined some time before releasing it that I didn't want to do a project of such a scale for free again. With that in mind, iTunes distribution is incredibly attractive. If the model is like Adsense, Apple would handle all purchases for an app and then send a monthly check for an amount based off of how well the app sold. I would love such a simple model. Furthermore, the really beautiful thing about iTunes is that it's the best way to reach the entire iPhone and iPod touch market. You need iTunes in order to sync either device. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, you use iTunes. The audience for apps on iTunes is every single person who owns one of those devices. Can't get much better than that.
March 9, 2008 at 8:20 am
Heh, well, I've been a bit busy messing around with the SDK ^_^. I'll get to it eventually.