Apple’s September 9th announcements were all about iTunes and the iPod. However, the new products were almost overshadowed by the fact that the presentation was headed by Steve Jobs himself. This is his first appearance in such a capacity since last year when he stopping speaking for Apple to take care of his health.
At the center of the announcements was iTunes 9, a new version of iTunes that is already available for download through Software Update on your Mac. iTunes 9 features some interface changes in how you view your library, and also a new look for the iTunes music store. New features include the ability for iTunes 9 to communicate across your home network and sync media files between computers. You also have a new interface for deciding which songs and videos sync to your iPod or iPhone. The Genius feature now includes nine mixes created from your music library that act as personal radio stations.
On the iPhone and iPod Touch, version 3.1 of the OS adds a Genius feature to the App Store app, giving you suggestions about which apps you might like. You can also no purchase major-music-label pre-made ringtones in the iTunes app.
New iPods were announced and are now on sale, including new versions of every single iPod. The iPod Touch now has a faster processor and comes in a 64GB size. The iPod Shuffle has new colors. The iPod Classic is now 160GB. The biggest change, however, is the iPod Nano, which now has a video camera, FM radio and pedometer.
All iPods except the Classic have new lower price points. Check out the Apple store for prices for each of the models. All of these new models are already in stores and on sale online.
Apple has made the entire presentation available to watch.
Last Friday Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6, came home to live on many Macs around the world. Most updates went smoothly. Some issues centered around users not having the latest patches to iWork and various third-party applications. Some third-party applications do not have a Snow Leopard-compatible version out yet, but that is rare since Snow Leopard has been available for developers to test on for about 18 months.
But Apple doesn’t seem to be resting after this major release. They have invited press to a special event on September 9. The only hint as to the content of the event is that the invitation shows an iPod and the words: “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” So there will most likely be announcements about iTunes and the iPod.
Apple may offer new hardware, perhaps a new Nano and iPod Touch. They may also release iTunes 9. There are strong rumors of them offering song-based ringtones for sale directly from iTunes. Currently, you can purchase whole songs as ringtones and select your own 30 seconds to use as the actual ringtone.
September 9 is the official release date of the remastered Beatles catalog on CD, so it would also make sense that the Beatles songs will go on sale for the first time in the iTunes store. But it would be odd for the event to be named after a Rolling Stones song, in that case.
There has been a lot of controversy lately about how Apple handles iPhone app store submissions. The app store is a strange distribution platform. It is similar to past distribution platforms in some ways, but has its own unique mix of problems.
Previous to the iPhone app store, software on mobile phones worked one of two ways. The first was that a developer could get an application on a phone only with the approval of the phone company, phone manufacturer, or both. The second was that a user could download and install software through their computer. Some phones only supported the first method, while others allowed both.
The problem with the first method was that developers had to figure out how to get their apps into the system so they could be downloaded on to the phones. Some systems didn’t even reveal to the public how it worked. As a developer, you had to track down the right people, make connections, set up meetings, spend money, and convince someone to get your app on to the phone. Even then, you had further convincing to do if you wanted your app to appear in the phone’s listing of purchasable applications in such a way that you might actually get people to notice it.
Phone companies favored apps by established developers with brand-name licenses. New or small developers had very little chance of getting the app listed on the phone. It was like retail — there was only so much shelf space and getting your product on the shelves was a mysterious and costly process.
The second method, where users could choose to download an application on their computer and transfer it to the phone, was much more open, as long as the phones and carriers that allowed it. But only a few people would go to all the trouble. A vast majority of mobile phone users would just purchase an app from their phone and wouldn’t bother to learn how to install applications from non-official source. So, for developers, it was tough to make a living doing it this way.
The iPhone app store is definitely in the first category because Apple is the gatekeeper and you have to convince Apple to allow your app to get on the iPhone. But it is different than all of its predecessors in that the app store has room for a virtual infinite number of apps — there isn’t limited shelf space. In addition, Apple has revealed the exact process to get your app to the store, even providing the software development environment, tutorials, a Web portal, etc. They are still the gatekeeper, but they are letting 99% get into the store.
So, what’s the problem?
Well, the problem that people are talking about is that 1% that doesn’t get into the store. Why doesn’t it get in there? Apple apparently follows a set of rules, and has a team of people that try to apply these rules to every app that is submitted. But being people, not machines, they are not all applying the rules in the same way. So whether a developer’s app makes it into the store, depends a bit on chance.
It seems that some of the rules are easy to apply literally and apps were rejected one ridiculous grounds. For instance, a dictionary app was rejected because profanity is not allowed. I guess those words shouldn’t be in the dictionary. An e-book reader was rejected because it is possible to find an e-book copy of the Kama Sutra. You can view that e-book in Safari on the iPhone. Other apps have been rejected on the grounds of “duplicate functionality” such as email clients or podcast feed reading. But these provided alternate methods to do these things, and were clearly not duplicates of existing Apple-created apps.
But rejection isn’t the only nightmare that app developers face. Do you see the apps on the front page of the App Store in iTunes? They probably make a ton of money for the developers. But how about the 50,000 other apps that Apple doesn’t bless with front-page recognition?
Obscurity is just as deadly as rejection in the iPhone app development world. When an individual decides to poor hours, days or months into creating something, only to find it buried in the app store, it spells ruin for that app and that developer.
So there is limited shelf space in the app store. It is still like a retail store, with room to display only so many products. The difference is the iPhone app store has “more in the back” that most people won’t ever bother to ask for.
So in the end, the app store is more like the traditional closed mobile phone app market, restricting success to the few. And it certainly favors large developers and brand names, as anyone who goes to the app store front page can see.
However, the small developer can break out of that and find success — like the American Dream. Let’s call it the “App Store Dream.”
That’s why developers are doing it. Not because they are sure of success, but because they hope for it. And I’m glad they do, because it is clear that this is where innovation will come from. It won’t be from the established developers rehashing their old games or purchasing brand licenses.
I just wish Apple would do more to more to help App Store Dreams come true. They need to speed up the app store review process. They need to use more common sense when approving apps. They need to provide a reasonable remedy system for apps that are rejected so developers don’t have to launch media campaigns to get wrongs righted.
If Apple believed in the App Store Dream, it would not only mean more success for developers, but for the iPhone as well.
I could swear that the front page of Apple looked like this for a minute tonight. Maybe I was imagining it…
Or, maybe it was this:
Or, perhaps:
Apple shocked the Mac news world on Monday with the announcement that Snow Leopard would be released in only 5 days. Tomorrow, Friday August 28, it will be available in Apple stores and ship on new Macs.
The price of a single upgrade from Leopard is $29. Anyone who bought a Mac on or after June 8 can get it for $10 if they sign up at the Apple site and order within 90 days of their Mac purchase.
You can find out more about Snow Leopard and how to upgrade in this week’s videos: Snow Leopard FAQ and The Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Snow Leopard.
Analysts at Piper Jaffray have forecasted that the new version of Mac OS X will sell 5 million copies in this next quarter. Meanwhile, other reports are coming in that computer sales in general are up, with Apple leading the pack in growth once again. Apple has started running some new TV spots as well.
Apple news this week has been dominated by rumors of a September 9, 2009 (9/9/9) event. While there has been no official announcement of such an event by Apple, this hasn’t stopped bloggers from speculating on what APple may announce. Here is a run-down of possibilities.
It could be the Apple Tablet that we have been waiting for. Most rumors of this mythical tablet have pointed to later in the year, or early next year for release. But Apple announced the iPhone 6 months in advance, so they could be announcing this tablet early too. If the tablet relies on iPhone apps for content, then an early announcement would give app developers time to adapt their apps to a larger tablet screen.
Apple seems to have September announcements concerning the iPod in most recent years. So this could be an iPod update. There have been rumors of a new iPod Touch that adds a camera and other iPhone features. Add a larger screen and maybe the new iPod Touch and a tablet are one in the same.
One of the rumors that makes the most sense is the release of iTunes 9. Rumored features for this new version are social media links and the ability to sync with non-iPod devices. Apple may want that last feature to keep iTunes as the center of the Mac users’ media world, instead of resorting to a third-party application to sync with their non-iPod device.
The very date of 9/9/9 hints at the Beatles. The words “Number 9, Number 9, Number 9” are from the oddest Beatles song, Revolution Number 9 from the White Album, and are heavily associated with the Beatles in popular culture. The Beatles appearing on iTunes has been rumored for years. 9/9/9 is the release date of the Beatles Rock Band game for game consoles, and the issue of a remastering of the Beatles catalog. This remastering is often linked with the Beatles coming to iTunes. This could also include a limited edition Beatles iPod, similar to the U2 iPod from years ago.
Another possibility could be that September 9 is simply the release of Snow Leopard. This would be a non-event, as Apple has already said that Snow Leopard will be out in September. The only surprise would be if Snow Leopard boxes were unveiled at Apple Stores and it was available immediately.
Of course, the event could be any combination of the above. Throw in a surprise like Steve Jobs making the announcement personally, perhaps with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at his side, and it could be quite exciting.
