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The "App Store" Debate
With Apple trademarking the term "App Store," and Microsoft fighting that trademark, and Apple now suing Amazon over use of the term, I'd like to weigh in with a few thoughts on it.
First and foremost, to think the term is too generic and obvious is to ignore that the term was not in use until Apple came up with it. People who believe all such sites should "obviously" be called app stores have bad memories. No one ever did until Apple's became, by far, the most successful.
Second, there have been a number of places where people could purchase mobile software. RIM, Verizon, Microsoft and many others have had this capability for years. Yet not one of them called it the App Store, so clearly the name isn't as obvious as everyone seems to think in hindsight.
Finally, even the term "app" was not in widespread use until the App Store. People thinking otherwise again have bad memories. Steve Jobs has used the term for over 20 years, but there were few others. Most everyone else used "application."
In short, other companies attempting to use the term are simply trying to horn in on Apple's success. This is so obvious I'm surprised it generates any debate. A term no one had heard of until a few years ago is suddenly the one all Apple competitors swear they were going to use, even though none of them ever had? People are buying this? Please.
The Daily: What It Needs
After using The Daily a couple of days I can already tell I won't subscribe when the trial ends. I may not even use it for the duration of the trial. Here's a list of what would need to improve before I'd consider subscribing:
- Startup sound. This should never make a list like this, but The Daily's implementation is so egregious it bothers me. I don't like startup sounds. I don't like them even more if they cannot be shut off. And I abhor them if they ignore the mute switch (The Daily chimes on startup even if the iPad is muted). This is a horrible design decision.
- Speed. There's not much to dwell on here, just five minutes of using it reveals it's slower than a pregnant turtle.
- Orientation. Some articles cannot be read unless the device is in portrait mode. I don't use portrait mode, but even if I switched modes all the time it's ridiculous to require one to read some articles' content. Another horrible design decision.
- Interface confusion. I can't be the only one tapping things with the expectation of getting an article or something and finding out it's not a tappable item. It's sometimes hard to tell the difference. The slow speed adds to the problem because after a tap you wait to see if there's something that's just slow to load.
- Content. I think it tries too hard to utilize graphical and animated content. To be sure, I'd be disappointed with just a USA Today look-alike, but especially given the slow performance they should have dialed it down a notch. The writing seems USA Today-like, which is what I expected as a target, but I don't think it meets that mark.
In short, when I want USA Today I use their iOS apps, which are very well done. For other types of reading there are specific apps like Reuters, BBC News, NYT, etc., but what The Daily has really done for me is make me appreciate Flipboard even more. Flipboard is customizable, with a nice UX and lots of varied content. At this point The Daily just doesn't fit in with the apps I use most for reading.
Installing a Mac App Store app over a non-App Store version
Apple released the Mac App Store today, and I was curious how it would deal with "upgrading" an app already on the Mac to a newer version from the Store. Since I run Evernote 2.0, I used the free Evernote 2.01 from the Store as a test.
The upgrade was uneventful in that it worked as I expected. I had the app running during the install to see what would happen:
- App downloaded and displayed its progress in the Dock.
- When it came to the end of the progress bar, the Store brought up a dialog box saying I must quit the running app before the install could complete.
- As soon as I quit the app the install finished.
- Since there was already an Evernote icon on my Dock it didn't add a new one, but rather bounced the existing one to show the install was complete.
- Launch the app, and all data, preferences, etc. were maintained.
In short, it worked like any other update except that I had to quit the app instead of getting an "install and relaunch" dialog.
Aside form whatever other changes come in 2.01, there is one especially noticable change. When Apple says the Mac App Store must be used to deliver updates to its apps they aren't kidding.
Evernote 2.0 Menu and Preferences:
I have no issue with this, and in fact having one place for updates is something I love about the existing App Store. Still, it does make it clear there's a distinction between the two versions of Mac apps. From a web site, updating presumably remains built-in, but from the Store it's handled via the Store's own update facility. I suspect this difference will eventually lead some developers to stop offering a web download for the Mac.
Thoughts On Today's Ruling About "Legal" iPhone Jailbreaking [u]
First, Jailbreaking was never really illegal. If legality is what kept anyone from doing it I think they were misinformed. It was a gray area awaiting a ruling either way; Apple wanted the court to settle the question as to whether jailbreaking violated copyright, and they did, though not in Apple's way.
There is zero evidence to support Apple would have gone after individual jailbreakers (had the ruling gone the other way), any more than they go after one-off Hackintoshers.
I believe Apple wanted the shield of illegality not to go after geeks, hobbyists, etc., but rather to stop the unscrupulous who may now crawl out of the woodwork to make a quick buck on this.
I can practically see "Jailbreak Kits" for sale already. Their marketing copy gushing about how this once forbidden activity is now available to the general public. They'll publish a link to the Library of Congress statement that few will read and fewer will understand. They sure as heck won't dwell on the practice being unsupported, or that the next iOS release will likely kill it. Money in hand, they're off to the next sucker leaving their current "customers" yelling at Apple as if it's Apple's fault.
Finally, Apple will continue to "break" jailbreaks. Not only does the statement not mean Apple must allow the activity, but I believe every jailbreak so far relies on a security exploit. Of course Apple's going to plug that hole. They better.
[UPDATE:] See this excellent post for more information what today's copyright ruling really says.
iPhone Developer Shows One Way To Handle An App Store Rejection
Options…
- become enraged at the fact that Apple has the audacity to reject us for knowingly using code that violates our developer agreement then alert the media in hopes that everyone will be sympathetic to our plight especially Gruber (be sure to link to a post of his saying that he was right about something because we all know that that’s the easiest way to DF linkage) then write Steve Jobs a letter and sulk at his inevitable response where he doesn’t bend an inch then bitch-quit the App Store (only to return with tail between legs 6 months later)
- just remove the illegal feature and submit again
The above is from a post about getting Camera+ approved for the App Store. The app had just been rejected, and it's their description of the two options they felt they had.
They chose the second one, by the way.
The result? Not only is Camera+ in the App Store, it recently received a killer update and I believe is now better than Best Camera. (Like Camera+, Best Camera was designed with a photographer to make it easy to shoot, edit, and share photos.)
So whether you appreciate the Camera+ developers and photographer for focusing on getting their app to market instead of complaining, or simply because they have a great app, you should check it out.
Finally, I know there are App Store rejections not so neatly dealt with. That's all the more reason to highlight Taptaptap's actions. The complaining from those who could just follow the rules tends to drown out those with legitimate issues who don't have such a clear option.
