Quoted today in MediaPost on the implications of Google’s App Inventor:
Why Google Wants To Turn Average Joes Into Apps Developers
Two caveats to my comments:
I’m skeptical that sheer number of apps is a good indicator of platform content quality, as many of these apps are going to be low quality, and the App Inventor could just add to the number of low quality boilerplate apps in Android Market. However, as with YouTube and video, there could be a few user generated apps that could bring visibility to the Android Platform.
I also don’t think that Apps on Android are really that important, as Google is working to increase the quality of mobile web sites (as they did recently with YouTube) so that apps will be less necessary for enjoying mobile content. It’s good that Google is allowing those who prefer to access content through mobile apps the ability to do so by continuing to develop Android Market with announcements like this, but I think a brand’s first step in reaching Android, iPhone and all other platforms is to develop a high quality, accessible mobile web site.
I’m trying to be optimistic with this because there may be a lot of people with really great ideas for useful application, and may just lack the know-how on app development.
My biggest fear is just the volume of low quality apps that will no doubt flood the Market. There are already so many useless or “crap apps” within the Android Market. I like that Google is open, unlike Apple’s strict policing, but at the end of the day, how many “Sexy Wallpaper” apps do I really need to see?