

Will there be an iPad App gold rush? - RichardPrice
http://www.gaborcselle.com/blog/2010/01/will-there-be-ipad-app-gold-rush.html

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seldo
The author frames the question as to whether iPad native apps or web apps will
win, but obviously the much bigger question is: how many people will buy
iPads?

The iPhone app rush is predicated on the enormous popularity of the iPhone
itself, which was already a given when the App Store was introduced. With the
iPad, it's a very open question whether a gap in the market exists for a form
factor between a phone and a laptop -- and whether it is better than the
current contender for that space, Netbooks.

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orangecat
Right, especially since it's looking like a large part of the iPad's market
will be technophobes who don't want to deal with the "complex" features of
normal computers. How many apps are those users actually going to buy, as
opposed to just using it for web browsing and email?

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mattiss
Games, games, and more games. Take advantage of the multitouch features.

As a side note, I'm developing a pretty awesome concept for a game in time for
the iPad release, and could sure use some artists to partner with... Give me a
shout if you are interested.

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gojomo
I also think there's an opportunity for 'board' games: the iPad can be
positioned on a table for viewing and operation by multiple players
simultaneously, moreso than previous devices.

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mattiss
Yep I definitely have considered that as well. Especially the possibility of
RTS board games of some sort, as opposed to turn-based. I'm sure the Parker
Bros would be well advised to make a Monopoly app.

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nckpark
I've got to admit, the board game idea for the ipad is pretty cool. In
general, though, I'm not convinced I see the game market for the ipad being as
large as it is on the iphone. A phone is in your pocket when you're on the
bus, in the waiting room, or in the bathroom (you know you do it). These are
perfect opportunities to pull out the device and play a game for a few
minutes. I don't see people having as quick of access to the ipad or planning
to bring it somewhere just to game on.

That being said, I'm guessing we can assume that the next flash sdk's ability
to build for iPhone will extend to the iPad, in which case the games
floodgates are going to open regardless.

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jws
_1\. Web apps are an order of magnitude easier to develop than iPad apps._

I'm not sure I agree with that. Applications with limited UI are easier as
webapps if you forget all the other browsers you might want to be compatible
with. Native apps live in a wonderfully deterministic world, albeit with a
target market of one to three-ish devices.

Personally I'm looking forward to counting how many "flashlight" applications
there are on release day! Currently there 240 apps that return for
"flashlight", almost all of which are competing for the ever lucrative _I want
more light than my wallpaper lets through_ market.

~~~
stanleydrew
Yeah i think I agree with you. Web apps require knowledge of a ton of software
layers, not least of which is the web server/client architecture and
protocols. To the extent that native apps are also communicating with remote
services there is probably not much difference, but many native apps are built
to stand alone which, in my opinion, makes them an order of magnitude easier
to develop.

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jsz0
I think the opportunity of the iPad for developers is to offer feature rich
desktop quality applications. Judging from the iWork demo, and the other
built-in applications, the iPad hardware & SDK is advanced enough to create
some serious applications. As a result I think there won't be the same race to
the bottom we saw with iPhone apps. There will be a bigger market for $20-$50
_applications_ here.

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gcheong
As a lone developer, I'm very hesitant to invest a significant amount of time
on a project knowing that Apple can, in one strike, kill my project.

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netcan
As a lone developer, you should be in the best position to take that kind of
risk. No?

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nex3
Just because you're the best one to take a bad risk, doesn't mean the risk's
worth taking.

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Keyframe
I was ready to buy one for my girlfriend - I kind of promised her one already
before it was presented. She wasn't all that keen on a new "computer" for her,
and my selling pitch for iPad to her was "you can run your farm on farmville
on it" ... do I need to continue?

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tyrmored
You can? I thought Farmville needed Flash.

EDIT -- Didn't realise I was just completing your thought for you. Sorry.

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Keyframe
and as I understood iPad doesn't have Flash support, right? So when I told her
that, she said (was watching screens over my shoulder) "but he showed
facebook" - referring to the facebook app. And this, my friends, is your
typical user.

At least she got an "ugly duckling" farmville mug. I'd tell you I bought
myself one too, but then I'd lose my street cred - so I wont tell you.

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ntownsend
I've just thought of the first app I'll make for the iPad. It will be a
version of _top_. Seeing as the thing only runs one process at a time, it
should practically be a one-liner.

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ubernostrum
Seeing as you've apparently not bothered to learn anything about how the
existing iPhone OS works, you might be surprised at the results you'd see from
such an application.

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ntownsend
Relax, buddy. It's a joke.

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ubernostrum
So it's OK to make jokes which aren't even tenuously based in fact?

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ntownsend
Yes. Yes, it is.

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sgk284
I'm sure there will be money in it... but a tablet is in no way anywhere close
to the 'necessity' that a phone is.

Everyone has a phone, and most people use their phone for a good majority of
the day. It's easy for anyone from a teen to a grandparent justify buying an
iPhone. I don't see this tablet having nearly as much of a market share...
phones are simply much more a part of our lives (and central to even our style
and personality) than a tablet.

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robryan
I'd say it may pay to develop a game which works really well with the iPad
size. May cash in on the initial rush when everyone gets one and wants a good
app to see the advantages of the bigger screen.

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dylanz
I want to see educational, multitouch, applications. Like, learning how to
trace letters, simple math games, etc.

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pieter
it's not just the development environment app writers care about, but also the
app store infrastructure: an easy way to charge for your application and in-
app content, availability of user reviews and ratings and possibly free
advertising are all things that a bigger screen won't offer for webapps.

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wisty
iPhone is a bigger market than iPad, and iPhone apps will work on iPads.

I'm sure that most of the #100 iPhone apps will make a special iPad-enhanced
version, but that's not going to be a killer feature.

I guess some apps can only ever work on an iPad (due to size / CPU / RAM)
constraints, but those will be a niche.

I'd just say that the iPad is a larger incentive to target the iPhone. Some
apps will be a big deal on the tablet, but mostly they will be better
targeting the iPhone first.

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theprodigy
Yes I have an app idea in mind that will help the newspaper industry out.

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ecq
This all comes down to where the developer can make the most money, a native
app or a web app.

Someone also mentioned the infrastructure and resources needed to support a
web app to support thousands/millions of users. as opposed to basically
nothing for a native app.

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NathanKP
Once again the main problem with iPhone OS web apps is that they can't take
advantage of many of the truly unique features of Apple products: multi touch,
motion sensors, etc.

If you want to make something truly interesting you have to actually write an
native app.

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tolmasky
There are multi touch events in mobile safari.

