Entrepreneur.com recently ran a great feature that more fully fleshes out the advantages of designing for the iPhone. For one thing, it has "sensory input," in the words of one entrepreneur (whose app is music-related). For another, it is multifunctional, and any apps that are in any way related to one of those core functions (listening to music; communicating with others; and more) would see a particular advantage to hopping onboard the iPhone. As the author writes, "this new mobile platform is making instant moguls of savvy developers. The technology, startup costs and workforces involved are not as daunting as they would be if you were launching full-service software."
The article contains further discussion: over whether app designers should be looking to monetize immediately, or hook users for future fee-charging; and over what the most popular type of app is (answer: games!).
A useful way to think of the iPhone is as a more focused, concentrated version of the Internet itself: it is a platform that reaches a ton of users, and it doesn't cost an entrepreneur who wants to hop onboard anything to reach all of those users. Compared to the massive entry costs in some other industries, particularly for entrepreneurs and wannabe small businesses, the iPhone truly does seem likely to play a major role in the world of entrepreneurship over the coming years.
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