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An iPhone App Store That Apple Doesn't Control

Posted by Soulskill on from the mr-jobs-tear-down-that-wall dept.

waderoush writes "Princeton's Ed Felten has criticized the iPhone and iPad as Disneyland-like 'walled gardens' and says there's no way the iTunes App Store can 'offer the scope and variety of apps that a less controlled environment can provide.' Now there's a central marketplace where developers can sell iPhone-optimized apps without going through Apple's gatekeepers. Launched today, it's called OpenAppMkt and it's a showcase for mobile Web apps — not just the type seen back in 2007-2008, before the advent of the App Store, but also for new games and other apps developed using HTML5/CSS/JavaScript (in some cases, the same apps compiled and sold as native iPhone apps). Xconomy has a behind-the-scenes interview with OpenAppMkt's creators, who say they're not out to compete with the native App Store, but that developers deserve new ways to reach users."

5 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. It's more like Nazi Computering with the banning by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 0, Troll

    It's more like Nazi Computering with the banning and censorship that is in the istore.

  2. What's so bad about a walled garden? by greg_barton · · Score: 0, Troll

    And, really, I don't want the crap arguments about how they will lead to totalitarianism in the consumer computing space. The same folks who argue that tend to have no problem with Linus Torvalds being the benign dictator of the linux kernel, so please spare me. Someone please explain to be why it's so bad to have one, _just_one_, closed ecosystem? Ya'll have android. (The primary SDK for which is Java based, which I always found ironical.) Why the need to trash the iphone?

    1. Re:What's so bad about a walled garden? by bennomatic · · Score: 0, Troll

      That's a good point. Most iPhone owners I know appreciate Android for its strengths, but the Android users out there are damned if they'll accept that even one person might possibly be just as happy with an iPhone.

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
  3. Re:Walled garden discussions by Karlt1 · · Score: 0, Troll

    The itunes market is now mostly DRM free and the iPod plays mp3s

    Apple sells music, music videos, audiobooks, e-books, tv shows, movies, and applications through iTunes. Only the music and music videos are DRM free. Nowhere can you buy DRM free mainstream digital media except for music.

  4. Re:Consider the audience by dissy · · Score: 0, Troll

    I didn't post a question, I posted a statement

    Oh, in that case you are simply wrong.

    If you mentally swap out 'iPhone browser' for 'iPad browser' and finish reading the sentence with the URL to go to, it installs just fine.

    I now have a springboard web shortcut on both my phone and ipad... Can't wait to check it out as my iPad came with 3.2.1 so no jailbreak yet for me