Sunday marked a big day for the iPhone app store, as its 3rd birthday came and went. And, while I am a couple days delayed, I still feel it appropriate to celebrate the movement that changed software forever.
The iPhone App Store launched on July 10, 2008 along with the iPhone OS 2.0 software, and has enjoyed immense success in the time that followed. Recently, the App Store hit the milestone of having 1.5 billion apps downloaded, as well as reaching the point of having 100,000 apps available that support the iPad.
There’s no doubt about it. The App Store movement arrived, kicked some ass, and is not going anywhere. The App Store movement has forever changed the way that we look at application downloads, and may eventually rewrite our notions of what it means to purchase software, replacing floppy disks, CDs and DVDs with environmentally friendly digital downloads.
Here’s what Steve Jobs had to say about the App Store in January 2007:
We define everything that is on the phone. You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.
And of course, it seems as though Steve was right! The App Store can be seen as one of Apple’s defining moments, forever reshaping the iPhone, the software industry, and the way we thing about our applications one app at a time.
Considering how much the App Store has already changed the game, I wonder where it might be in another 3 years? Time can only tell. So, happy birthday, App Store! Have a good, long life!
