Keep in mind that Apple has made a lot of mistakes and missteps with the iPhone since its debut. How many of those mistakes haven't been corrected?
At first there was no 3G support.
There was no GPS.
There was no SDK or store ("Just write web apps!")
Built-in apps like Maps lacked fundamental features like placemarks.
Other core features like landscape keyboards were arbitrarily unavailable in many apps.
You couldn't listen to the iPod on Bluetooth headsets.
You couldn't record video.
The SDK, when it did arrive, came with an obnoxious NDA that kept developers from being able to talk to each other.
There's probably a few dozen other points I could make.
Basically, while I think Apple's SDK licensing requirements and the App Store's approval process are both giant, poorly-thought-out clusterfucks, I have no reason to think their worst shortcomings won't be fixed. My iPhone has received better post-sale support -- for free -- than any other device or software package I've owned. So I'm slow to add my own voice to those of the complaining masses.
Give it a year. If there are still arbitrary goofy rules about no "frameworks" being allowed, and if apps from everybody from Trent Reznor to Google to Joe Nobody are still subject to the approval whims of some random anonymous minimum-wage outsourced troglodyte, then I'll agree that Apple has taken their eye off the ball. But as things stand, they get a lot of slack from me, based on previous willingness to fix their mistakes.
The App Store is not only not getting better, it's actively getting worse (see M17 ratings for anything with UGC).
I thought they were temps at first too, but apparently the AppStore reviewers are full Apple employees in Cupertino. My current theory is that they were the same cretins that review submitted music + video, and the management in the chain above them is a poisonous combo of MBA + hideously-stupid + overly-powerful. Maybe they were recruited from a MAFIAA member...
Oh I do agree that it's hard to get it right for the first time and that there has been an improvement for the iphone.... But while there has been a lot of improvement feature wise (which makes complete sense by the way, release the simplest thing that work and iterate from there is great in my book), I didn't see a lot of improvements on the application approval process after almost one year...
And as someone living in a tropical country, I'm concerned with their warranty policy. I have a friend in Singapore whose iphone was not repaired under the warranty because of supposed water damage to the phone which didn't happen save for the normal condensation you get when living in such a country and going from a building with aircon at 20 degrees to outside with 32 degrees and 80+ % humidity.
At first there was no 3G support. There was no GPS. There was no SDK or store ("Just write web apps!") Built-in apps like Maps lacked fundamental features like placemarks. Other core features like landscape keyboards were arbitrarily unavailable in many apps. You couldn't listen to the iPod on Bluetooth headsets. You couldn't record video. The SDK, when it did arrive, came with an obnoxious NDA that kept developers from being able to talk to each other. There's probably a few dozen other points I could make.
Basically, while I think Apple's SDK licensing requirements and the App Store's approval process are both giant, poorly-thought-out clusterfucks, I have no reason to think their worst shortcomings won't be fixed. My iPhone has received better post-sale support -- for free -- than any other device or software package I've owned. So I'm slow to add my own voice to those of the complaining masses.
Give it a year. If there are still arbitrary goofy rules about no "frameworks" being allowed, and if apps from everybody from Trent Reznor to Google to Joe Nobody are still subject to the approval whims of some random anonymous minimum-wage outsourced troglodyte, then I'll agree that Apple has taken their eye off the ball. But as things stand, they get a lot of slack from me, based on previous willingness to fix their mistakes.