iPhone SDK: thoughts from the UK
By Ben Robinson on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 9:32 AM PST In Apple, iPhone
A LOT has been written in the small amout of intervening time since the announcements around the iPhone SDK – some good, and a lot negative (for some strange reason) – so time for my tuppenceworth, as IntoMobile’s resident UK … er …. resident! 
It fascinates me the hype that is generated around anything that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) does – to the point where people are spotting tiny graphical alterations being made in the UI (see Will’s article). Really this is a testament to how Apple have gone about things, but forgetting for a moment all of what is being said, Apple do continue to make great, simple, defined strides in Mobile – something, if you’ll notice, that they happen to do pretty well in computing, and personal audio also!
The SDK only looks to be building on what is, as far as I am aware a pretty solid mobile platform – unfortunately I am not lucky enough to own an iPhone, but have yet to hear mutliple reports about the O/S going over or hanging on simple tasks (something we all have heard too often with other manufacturers). Similarly, first reports I am hearing from people that have downloaded the SDK is that it is also well-designed, and easy to use – hardly surprising…..!
But the devil in the detail is if the SDK will allow developers enough access to do genuinely useful things with the iPhone – and we’ve no reason to assume that it won’t. Despite Stefan’s comment that “run one app at a time” is no good, I’d suggest that if the app is genuinely useful, doesn’t crash, and is easily accessible (the last two of which will be qualified by the iTunes distribution model), then that’s still one more useful app that we had previously.
I am going to be heading out to the US in a couple of weeks, and if I get the opportunity, I may just be tempted to grab myself one o’ them Apple phones (or should they be called multimedia computers? 
), and see what all the fuss is about – perhaps by the time I do finally get my hands on one, we’ll have some details about those genuinely useful new applications from third-parties too 
So let me get this straight – this guy does not own an iPhone? Oh please, tell me more about the SDK!! I can wait to read YOUR opinions!!!
Since when do you have to know anything about a subject to write about it on the Internet?
Hi guys
You don’t *have* to know anything, but it helps
Hopefully I can grab an iphone in the next coupla weeks, at which my developer friend (who *has* downloaded the SDK and is playing with it), will have knocked something together
Frankly I can’t wait – having only used other people’s iphones and got a taste for it, the full-on ownership experience should be great!
Ben
You can get an iPod Touch. Works great as a test platform and it is a great iPod:-)
Oh, btw, once I’ve got some more feedback on the SDK, I’ll come back with a more detailed piece – I’m sure Will will beat me to the draw though, he’s our iPhone guru
Keep those comments coming guys, we love ‘em!
@Bruizer – that is not a half-bad plan old chap, I may yet do!
If you do not have an iPhone or even access to an iPhone, why are you writing an article about it? Your article was trite old chap.
Hi Juan,
It’s another perspective on what is happening with the SDK – no more, no less
We’re in a transition period now, post announcement, where people are waiting for the first apps to drip through – and there is a lot of commentary on whether things were done right, or wrong with the implementation.
Personally, I think the SDK can only bring good things – and whilst I do have access to both the iPhone and the SDK by proxy, I’ll be pleased to have a first-person experience of both
Cheers,
Ben
Its one thing plying with friends iphones and owning one yourself for an extended period of time. The excitement fades very quickly and you start to see it for what it really is, especially after using richer handsets like N95.
As far as hearing about software faults, i’d suggest you check the forums for people’s issues. Apple products have a way of keeping their problems quiet.
Mine hung today whilst loading a website and playing a yourube vid. Two days ago, i was listening to music nd when a callcame in it switched off.
No OS/Plaform/Device is perfect, there are bugs everywhere.
Since the community is quite fanatic on perfection, faults are dealt with and discussed in hushed tones and thus you dont hear about them.
The SDK is nice and long overdue. I do hope it brings some sort of life to this cold, sterile, closed device. There is so much that swipes and swishes can do to interest a person befoe he drops it to one side and continues with his trusty “unrevolutionary” N95 8GB.
June cant come fast enough.
There’s still no excuse for not having multi-tasking, seriously. Even though you get useful apps, the fact that one can only be used at a time makes the platform very limitted.
“(or should they be called multimedia computers?
)”
No, they shouldn’t. “Multimedia computers”, as Nokia tags their devices, can function without a computer, whereas an iPhone requires a PC for most of its tasks. S60 devices can create and manage content without ever needing to be connected to a computer whatsoever.
I’ve also had no problems crashing an iPhone several times a day with my heavy usage, but my N95-3 has only crashed a handful of times since I bought it….in September.