| Apple Imposes silence upon Application developers |
| Written by Admin | |
| Thursday, 10 July 2008 | |
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Everyone knows that Apple is obsessed for secrecy. The projects are divided into small teams and employees are told not to make friendhsip with members of other groups. But now Apple is trying to pull its cloak of darkness over the Internet and software industries. The most interesting aspect of the launch of Apple’s new iPhone 3G Friday is the beginning of the App Store that will let independent software and Internet companies sell or give away applications for the iPhone. Lots of the companies are working on nifty iPhone apps. But when I ask them about this, executives recoil in fear because Apple has told them they are not allowed to discuss the application until a time that Apple has set — noon Eastern time Thursday, according to several people I got e-mail pitches from Wednesday. Said one publicist for a giant company that has agreed to Apple’s gag order, “Apple rules the world when it’s shipping season.” Apple’s agreement with iPhone developers has a strict clause banning them from disclosing confidential information. But even that agreement concedes that information stops being confidential if it is “generally available to the public.” Apple has done its best to make the public quite aware that by the time the iPhone goes on sale Friday, there will be all sorts of applications available for it. What those applications do would seem to be secrets of the software developer and not in any way of Apple. The iPhone App Store, of course, is very different than most other software markets. Developers can only distribute programs approved by Apple, through Apple’s site, at price points set by Apple. Maybe none of this matters. Maybe Apple is right and everyone would be better off to learn about all the applications at the same time. (It does build up more excitement and hype.) And maybe it is wrong for developers to ever charge $2.50 for an application, rather than $1.99, $2.99 or another Apple-approved price. But you have to wonder how much of Apple’s success will depend on fostering an ecosystem of innovation and creativity — and that kind of innovation isn’t generally compatible with obsessive control over information. |