Neil Pomerleau

Revisiting SDK Predictions

Before Macworld, I had predicted that Steve would demonstrate during the keynote how the distribution of third party applications would work. Although the SDK was mentioned, it was not specifically explained until a press event on March 6. I thought it would be interesting to compare my predictions to how the distribution will actually work. I first predicted that applications would be distributed through the Wi-Fi Store. This is essentially what happened, with the future addition of the App Store.

I also created an image of one of the menus for the store, which is quite similar to the one previewed.

I touched upon how updating would work. Here’s the prediction…

“With native applications there needs to be a way for applications to be updated automatically. So, we looked at what we’ve done with updating third-party content in the past, and we noticed that this is exactly what we do with podcasts. People can simply submit a URL to iTunes for their podcasts, and podcasts are automatically updated every time an iTunes user syncs their iPod. This is exactly what we’re going to do with applications.”

This is very similar to what will happen with the App Store. Steve explained how updates will occur through the store, over the air and completely automatically.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with how close my predictions were in terms of the SDK. I can’t wait for the June software update and all the great third party applications that will follow in its wake.

March 10, 2008 at 9:07 pm

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Hi, I'm Neil! I'm passionate about building delightful products at scale, creating music, and performing in theatre and comedy shows.

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