When the first iPhone was announced in early 2007, it was billed by some as the third major computing platform, after Windows and Mac OS. It was to be the Holy Grail of connectivity, the blogosphere said — one device to rule them all and, in its sleek shiny silver, bind them. The imitations were not far behind; there are now untold handheld units that bear more than a superficial resemblance to the iPhone. But none of them have reached the status of true integrated platform in the way the iPhone has (although Blackberry is still trying very, very hard).
What makes it so special for both application developers and users is its ultra-simple app store, which lets users add functionality for just a few clicks and a few dollars. For retailers, this is a tantalizing new frontier. Witness the Amazon Remembers app, built by the online juggernaut of the title, which lets users snap a photo of an item; moments later, they receive a link to buy that very product online.
It’s also a pretty powerful piece of computing technology, and creative uses for in-store are starting to emerge. ProcessAway is a $19 app that turns an iPhone into a portable credit card processing device — essentially, a handheld POS at a dirt-cheap price that could revolutionize the way smaller merchants handle their business.
But perhaps above all else, the iPhone represents the first real intrusion of a high-end Web experience into the real world. Comparison shopping has taken on a whole new meaning, with shoppers checking one store’s prices and inventory while standing in its competitor’s aisles — even placing an order from the competitor while sipping someone else’s complimentary coffee.
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