Apple's 'game changer' App Store

Apple's wildly successful iPhone App Store is changing everything about how we interact with the Web — and how software developers make money — according to a New York Times report. What does Apple's "game changer" application distribution system mean for its competitors, its partners, and the rest of us? And what's Apple's next move? (Watch an Apple "game changer" ad)

The App Store model will be hard to match: The "sexy" iPhone and iPod Touch "played a huge role" in the App Store's success, says MG Siegler in TechCrunch. But Apple's real masterstroke was "placing the App Store on top of iTunes," its already "proven" music-selling powerhouse. By making it as easy and familiar to buy an app as a song, Apple has created a lucrative "cycle ... that will be very hard for competitors to break."

"With iTunes, Apple conditioned us for the App Store"

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There's still room for improvement: The App Store is good, says Michael Rose on The Unofficial Apple Weblog. But Apple's review process for applications needs revamping — currently, "in review" limbo can be "measured by the year." Luckily, Apple seems to be "thinking seriously about how the App Store's failings" are driving developers away. If Apple's looking for ideas, how about "more clarity, more transparency, and more equity"?

"NY Times Business section features the App Store"

The iPhone could save newspapers: The App Store's huge contribution is that it's shown us a viable alternative to the prevalent "everything in a browser is free mentality," says Jason Kaneshiro at Webomatica. Newspapers should take note. Instead of "threatening to move their websites behind a pay wall," they could sell their content through a subscription-based iPhone app. Now "that would be embracing the future — at least Apple's version."

"Why Apple's App Store is so important"