So I finally got to play around with the iPhone SDK and it doesn’t seem too bad. Sure, I’m not really familiar with Objective C and the syntax is much different than I’m used to, but I don’t think it will take a huge effort to learn and apply what I need for the few, simple, applications ideas I have so far.

iPhone SDK

That said, I think what’s motivating about the iPhone platform is the potential audience.  Not only are the users generally “Internet-savvy”, but they’re also very loyal to the Apple brand and platform.

One thing that’s pretty unique in the way iPhone applications are delivered is that because new applications are automatically featured at the top of the ONLY distribution channel (the App Store), every new submission has a chance to become popular.

I’m not at all saying it’s easy to create a successful app; however, the initial exposure for an iPhone app is virtually unparalleled in most software markets.

If you didn’t know, Nick Bradbury is the creator of FeedDemon, written in Borland Delphi, and a successful blogger.  I read his article on supporting favicons in FeedDemon and realized I’ve found myself in a similar situation.

Annoying Code

I was writing a library to calculate the total download size of a given web page and the client wanted to include the size of images referenced in external stylesheets, even if the external stylesheets weren’t located on the same server.  Needless to say, determining the file path of referenced images became a bit annoying.

So should Nick have left out that favicon support?  Definitely not.  Some features just seem more simple than others.