As a developer I’ll put it simply: If I were at any company working on any product, I’d place developing a well-tuned iPhone app or service at the top of my list–above any other skunkworks projects. Yes, any company. Any product. Even if I worked at a competing company and used a competing platform, I’d dedicate every extra minute to better understand the iPhone and its platform. Top to bottom. I guarantee that whatever I was doing up to that point was off target. Whatever tradeoffs I’d once accepted about what’s feasible in the marketplace I’d need to step back and reassess them.
Like the Macintosh before it. The iPhone is a game changer.
Don’t get me wrong. There are several things about the iPhone I don’t think are right. The original Mac wasn’t ideal either. Those aren’t that important here. The real key is how the iPhone’s mobility, connectivity, and interactivity play together to form a device that ages all others.
Am I saying this because I have an iPhone app up my sleeve? No. I’m not there yet. But I know I should be.