Steven Frank on the iPhone
iPhone competitors have less reason than ever to provide a stellar experience for Mac desktop users, as the iPhone has that angle sewn up. I expect future non-Apple smartphones to scale back Mac desktop support even further than they already do, as it will cost them a fortune to provide an experience that’s even half as good as the iPhone provides with the iTunes/MobileMe ecosystem.
The first time around, Palm’s Mac software was a late, crummy Windows port. This time, they’re just trying to piggyback off iTunes.
Frank expands on Marco Arment’s point:
In other words, you have the Windows market, and the Mac market, but within the app store itself. And you’d better be damn sure which one you’re targeting, and set pricing and development schedule accordingly.
3 Comments RSS · Twitter
I think you're wrong about the original Palm Mac software; it was a revision of the Claris Organizer software which Palm purchased (and then never did anything with). The sync software did look like the Windows version, but I don't necessarily think it was ported code.
Geoff: Palm (or perhaps US Robotics) bought and revised Claris Organizer as their second try at the software, after the original port was so poorly received.
