Critics and cynics alike will continue to point out the obvious that no one application/software is perfect. There will always be room for improvement and piracy will continue to abound in this day and age, but the Mac App Store will continue in Apple’s trailblazing ways. When the iPhone App Store was launched there were merely 500 apps, but in just over 2 years there are now 300,000 plus apps with over 7 billion downloads. Not to mention those are the figures from the most recent Keynote address back in October of 2010, which does not account for figures from the past 3 months.
It is no secret that jailbroken iPhones, iPods and iPads are all able to download apps without properly paying for them and yet the Mobile App store has thrived and grown in numbers and revenue. I am neither advocating, nor condoning pirated apps, I am simply stating that despite this fact, the Mobile App store has been extraordinarily successful.
While there have been many avenues for people to download applications for their Mac or PC, having a central hub to research, download and update apps on your Mac, Apple will once again set a precedent currently unmatched within the industry. The availability of going to a website to download apps/software has been around for as long as some can even remember. However, the concept and introduction of a native application store directly on your OS streamlines the process, namely through ease of use.
Analysts have stated that there are problems with uninstalling and updating existing applications, but this is par for the course with any “all-in-one” product. Updates and fine-tuning will continue and it will undoubtedly rise to a level similar to that of the Mobile App store, especially if 1 million downloads in the first day is any indication.
After reviewing and downloading several apps from the Mac App Store, I think that Apple has put another winner out in the stratosphere. Everything from free apps like Twitter, Evernote, Alfred and Caffeine, games like Angry Birds and Chopper 2, all the way to the more pricey production and editing apps like Aperture, this is your one stop shop for Apps.
