By now most folks will have seen the announcements from Apple® for the capability that will be coming in iOS 5 from earlier in the week.

An example from Mashable

One of the issues around this announcement is about how Apple has taken feature/functions that are currently in 3rd party applications (Camera + from TapTapTap as an example) & put these into the base product.

Nothing like a good idea it seems – the above example is particularly relevant as that app was withdrawn from the iTunes app store for a while because it used the volume button as a shutter button. Apparently Apple is now making this an option.

It will come to pass, and probably caused by European regulators that Apple’s bundling in of capability that is not core to the operating system will come to a stop.

Why is it, dear reader that only Cisco gets to do the base VPN capability for iOS & not others as well ?

We all should remember the unbundling that Microsoft had to do – Internet Explorer – we all now get to state what we want as the default browser – and have the ability to remove IE from the install if we are so inclined.

If Apple is serious about the eco system of apps that surround the iOS platform then it should take a similar approach – that is allow users to replace function that comes with iOS with an alternative

e.g replace the inbuilt camera app, or replace the Safari browser with for example Opera mobile.

That is what IMO I believe Apple can learn from the folks from Microsoft, though it may be a bitter pill to swallow, you need to be willing to free up control, just a little, over the user environment & allow those who have the willingness to do so to choose alternatives that suit.

This will send a clear message to all those app developers that Apple is not going to replace your app with a feature – well not entirely & encourage innovation across the whole eco system.

That, dear reader is the last point I make – small app developers are always going to be far more agile than even Apple (or any big company for that matter) can be – and that will drive innovation that will drive success for everyone.

Thanks for reading