Appillionaires: Secrets from Developers Who Struck It Rich on the App Store

Chapter 2: The Rise of the App

“Turn on the iPhone and the first, and only, thing you see is apps. When the iPhone came out it was striking that everything, everything, was an app. Even the voice call functionality was encapsulated in an app. This was a massive departure from phones at the time, which all had Send and End buttons. The mobile phone had been a physical thing and the iPhone made it a software app.” — John Gruber, Daring Fireball.

It’s September 7, 2005, and Steve Jobs is standing on stage at San Francisco’s Moscone Center to unveil a phone. It is the same stage he’ll take to in 2007 to launch the iPhone, but Jobs is here today to launch a very different product — a product that will bear very little relation to the iPhone. It is a new cell phone, built by Apple in collaboration with Motorola. The new phone is called the Motorola Rokr, and it includes an iTunes music player. But the device is remarkably un-Apple like; it looks clumsy and complex. When Jobs attempts to take a call on the phone, it doesn’t work properly, failing to continue playing music when the call is ended.

“Well,” Jobs says, staring in confusion at the phone, “I’m supposed to be able to resume the music right back to where it was.” The audience is silent. “Oops! I hit the wrong button.”

Apple’s False Start

Apple’s first, desperately flawed attempt at building a phone has faded into history, but the company’s experience with Motorola was crucial in bringing about the iPhone and provoking the global ...