Wired: IBM Researchers Using iPhone App Store as Test Bed

October 9 2008

More proof that the App Store is the killer app component of the iPhone...

Scientists studying the mobile web are seeding Apple's iPhone Applications Store with research projects in a bid to see how users in the real world take to them. The projects include an experimental text-input system and an application to sync multiple devices. ...

"The iPhone App Store gave us a chance to experiment in the wild," says researcher Shumin Zhai, who has added the experimental text-input system WritingPad to the App Store as a free download. "Putting it on the iPhone App Store gave us a sense of the value of the technology." ...

"In the first 24 hours of the program's release on the App Store it bagged about 60 reviews from real users. Now more than 500 reviews have been written of it," he says. "You can never have a total sense of user experience by doing lab studies."
Link: Wired: IBM Researchers Using iPhone App Store as Test Bed >

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  IBM  Add/View Comments [20]

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  1. 1  Bruce Elgort http://elguji.com | 10/9/2008 9:23:08 AM

    Now imagine if Lotus Notes had an app store. Salesforce.com has the AppExchange which is brilliant. Downloading a test drive version of an application onto a Notes client or Domino server would be killer. Are there any talks about creating some type of app store for Notes/Domino? You know I had to ask :-).

  1. 2  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/9/2008 9:24:54 AM

    @1 I think an app store equivalent for Notes is an excellent idea. Hmm, who would I talk to about that?

  1. 3  Stuart McIntyre http://blog.collaborationmatters.com | 10/9/2008 9:30:05 AM

    @1 Great idea Bruce. The problem might be that IBM does not have an efficient online store in any part of its business as far as I am aware, even the PC business' ibm.com site was run via a 3rd party before the sale to Lenovo.

    However, given the Websphere Commerce technology that IBM owns, it should be possible to put together. I guess that product team might be a good place to start?

  1. 4  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/9/2008 9:32:00 AM

    @3 there is actually another part of our business that has an efficient, working online store. It's something I'm looking into.

  1. 5  Stuart McIntyre http://collaborationmatters.com | 10/9/2008 9:33:18 AM

    @4 Interesting, would be great to hear more about it.

  1. 6  Bruce Elgort http://elguji.com | 10/9/2008 9:38:47 AM

    @Ed - we have talked about it on the back channel and let's talk offline so I can fill you in.

  1. 7  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 10/9/2008 9:58:29 AM

    Fantastic idea; what a way to reinvigorate the thinking behind stuff like the Nifty Fifty.

  1. 8  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 10/9/2008 10:51:30 AM

    I think App Store concept is the next killer app in software. RIM, T-Mobile and others have stated they want to create similar delivery models.

    I could see the same thing for Notes & Domino because generally speaking Notes application installation are similar.

    The only question I would pose would be the financial side.

    I could see a Lotus application store being the delivery mechanism, but not a payment mechanism simply because most Domino applications are not purchases one would put on a credit card. Almost all are bare minimum 4 figures; and for a large part 5 figure deals.

    But this is an easy problem solve. We use temporary license keys for our evaluation copies and when someone sends payment, then we issue a permanent license key.

    IBM would just need to figure out a model for "renting space" in the store.

    I still miss the old "Guide" book Lotus used to publish. The app store is the 21st century incarnation of the classic print catalog.

  1. 9  Jeff Gilfelt http://www.jeffgilfelt.com | 10/9/2008 2:15:03 PM

    An app store for Notes could work well using the Eclipse based provisioning available in version 8 and beyond. I have experimented and had some success with wrapping a traditional NSF based app inside a plugin which can be hosted and installed remotely from an update site. Upon plugin initialisation, the template and app database are created on a specified server. You could theoretically also use the plugin wrapper to manage updates (download a new template and refresh the existing design etc) and implement a trial period time-bomb.

  1. 10  John Foldager http://www.johnfoldager.com | 10/9/2008 2:28:09 PM

    As far as license keys, evaluation packages etc. I have previously suggested IBM to include this as a core functionality of a Notes database. A 'license' - wether it be a permanent, an expiration or a demo license could be implemented as a core non-deletable component with expiration date, use only on client, only on server etc.

  1. 11  Pete McPhedran  | 10/9/2008 2:47:54 PM

    Isn't OpenNTF kind of an App Store? I know you can't buy anything as it is all free, but what would it take to "upgrade" that?

    As for IBM having a working ecomm site, "Ha!" I scoff at the notion. I bought a very difficult to get HDD for a very restricted server on line and even though it "looked" all ecommerce-y, in the end, according to the guy I had to follow up with as it took 7 days for a simple confirmation email, the on line store simply "prints" the order on a printer deep inside IBM and when someone notices it, they manually process the credit card and push the paper.

    In the end I cancelled the order and bought a new server for 1/2 the price of the hard drive. In all fairness though, this was in 2006, it is possible that the labs are working on a real ecomm solution.

    --Pete

  1. 12  Vince Schuurman http://blog.vinceschuurman.com | 10/10/2008 2:50:15 AM

    Pete is right and there are already some IBM applications published on OpenNTF.

    If there is a need to change the OpenNTF site to accommodate IBM's needs I'm always open to suggestions.

  1. 13  John Head http://www.johndavidhead.com | 10/10/2008 9:44:59 AM

    Well Vince, if you want to turn OpenNTF into a true 'app store' like service, you need a new UI. It should work from within the Notes client, show minimal info like the apple app store, and have a single install button that installs the notes app on to the client. It could be a browser app, but it needs to work from within the notes client browser and know where it is. where to put stuff. It should be able to add a workspace and open list bookmark. I would see the best way is to have a new tab on a project which has the app store listing info. end user friendly title, description, screenshot, etc. And it should allow for notes apps, composte applications, widgets, sidebar plugins, plugins for expeditor, and all the jazz. The end user doesnt have to do anything special .. no dragging, funky dialogs .. just an install button.

    If you can do that, you can bridge the gap.

  1. 14  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 10/10/2008 9:58:41 AM

    Anything else John?

  1. 15  John Head http://www.johndavidhead.com | 10/10/2008 11:01:49 AM

    Ben ... wow, nice attitude. Vince asked, I shared. Your input is what here?

  1. 16  Bruce Elgort http://elguji.com | 10/10/2008 11:06:29 AM

    @12,

    1) Don't do anything without funding and support from IBM. Ed talked about supporting OpenNTF and other community efforts a few months back on a blog post.

    2) Your time isn't free

    3) Go to step 1

    4) John Head says...

  1. 17  Bill http://www.billbuchan.com | 10/10/2008 1:10:59 PM

    As a long term business partner, IBM already has a product catalog, which you need to actually be authorised to get into.

    Betcha you all didnt know about that, eh ?

    Well, thats the main problem with the catalog - no-one knows. We've had - oh - perhaps four clickthroughs in five years or so.

    That in itself is not far away from being an appstore, given that it has information about the app already.

    Incredibly, Ed passed me a link on the IBM website where you could actually buy a licensed copy of Lotus Notes using a credit card (here in the UK). And after merely a few tries (and a days wait because one component was down), it worked!

    (As a long term 'customer' of the 'partnerworld' web site, I feel that I'm allowed to be especially sarcastic about the IBM web site and its capability)

    So clearly these two components could actually work in a collaborative fashion, and provide the domino customers out there with a one-stop shop.

    ---* Bill

  1. 18  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 10/10/2008 2:57:04 PM

    Bad day John? OK, so you were serious... Hmm...

    Well I would hope that you know your suggestions are entirely impractical.

    Not that they can't be done technically (although there are a fair few challenges if you're trying to do all that in a browser interface -- I can't imagine any browser is going to permit one-click workstation installs like you describe), but that level of integration and ease is simply not going to happen. This is IBM we're talking about. And expecting OpenNTF to shoulder such a burden is pure pie-in-the-sky.

    When Vince asked for ideas, I'm assuming he was after practical ideas rather than management thinking ;o)

  1. 19  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/10/2008 4:07:28 PM

    @18 Ben, I am siding with John on this one. He and I have not discussed this at all (I haven't been online much this week) but I will say that his reaction was similar to mine. My earlier comments in this thread were intended to inject a realm of possibility discussion here, not just the usual "no way is this going to happen". Maybe my new team and I can do something, and maybe we can't. But we won't know until we try. I appreciate Vince's offer, but I agree with you that it would be difficult. That doesn't mean the discussion should shut down -- far from it, really.

  1. 20  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 10/10/2008 5:46:02 PM

    I have nothing against the idea, I would have thought my earlier comment indicates that. I just think we're going off on a tangent expecting OpenNTF to fill the breach -- in fact, to expect *any* website to do this. I defer to Jeff in his knowledge of the Eclipse delivery model as a way forward on this, but my experience of provisioning rich clients indicates that there's still a long way to go before anything like the Apple app store is possible on the Eclipse platform.