Great article here about how Apple has approached applications that are competitive or ‘too silly’. If this proves to be the thin end of the wedge then this approach could prove too dictatorial for even the biggest iPhone fanboy. The fact that even Microsoft’s ‘Mr. Mobile’ – Jason Langridge is pointing to this as a step too far is a worrying sign. At least Microsoft treats its app developers ‘fairly’ by producing a similar product, including it for free and then using its weight to market the hell out of it – thus crushing the competition slowly..
This is an area where Google hopes that Android’s ‘openness’ will shine. The idea being that the Google marketplace will be a democracy rather than the App Store’s dictatorship. It could be argued that this will lead to a lower quality threshold but hopefully the voting system on the market place will help wade through some of the rubbish. I would forsee that users could also access applications via other sites and will not be restricted to just the Google market site.
