Apple Hits the 3 Billion Downloads Mark
By: Hillel Fuld
If the iPhone’s UI did not convince you that the mobile world will never be the same, Apple’s latest numbers might do the job. With a little over 130,000 apps in the App Store, Apple announced today that it has hit the 3 billion downloads mark. Think about that number for a second. A market that was not long ago obsessed with who can make the thinner phone, has been completely turned on its face and most experts will agree is now app-centric. Hardware is so 2009!
A lot going on lately in the mobile industry, but the two big events/announcements everyone is talking about are the release of the Google phone, aka Nexus One, and the rumored Apple tablet. Makes you wonder if Apple timed their announcement of the 3 billion milestone in accordance with the Nexus One release. It would not be a bad move on the part of Steve Jobs, after all, if there is one single factor that keeps people buying iPhones, and not Android phones, it is the abundance of iPhone apps.
Steve’s quote read: “Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months—this is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon.”
I, for one, am a BlackBerry user, and every day, I find myself thinking more seriously about the option of moving over to the dark side. My hesitation stems from the lack of two basic features missing from the iPhone portfolio. The first one is of course a keyboard. With all due respect to a virtual keyboard and its corrective software, sorry Apple, it just aint the same. If I am comparing the iPhone keyboard to that of the Android platform, Apple takes Google by a lot, but there is something to be said to actually pressing down on real keys when typing. I have never conducted a test, but from using my iPod Touch and my Bold, I am pretty sure I type close to double the speed on the BlackBerry keyboard.
The second factor that has stopped me from replacing my dorky looking BlackBerry Bold with a shiny, cool looking iPhone, is the lack of support for background apps. Even if I was willing to type on a virtual keyboard, how could I possibly take care of all my tasks with the ability to run one app at a time? I have close to 8 apps running at any given time on my BlackBerry. Well, Apple kinda dealt with this issue by enabling push notifications on the iPhone. It is not exactly the same, but it might just be close enough.
Those two factors in addition to the superior BlackBerry email experience have been responsible for my fighting the urge to get an iPhone. However, and I hesitate as I write this sentence, as time goes by, these minuses are starting to seem less important to me.
I have yet to make a final decision whether to replace my Bold with an iPhone, but every time Apple announces these numbers about the apps hosted on the App Store or the amount of downloads, I move one step closer to getting an iPhone. So, I think it is safe to say that Apple has done a good job with their “There’s an app for that” campaign, and as exciting as a Google phone might be to some, it is just another phone. 3 billion downloads and the transformation of an entire industry from hardware obsessed to software focused, that’s a revolution!
