Apple announced today that 1 Million iPhones were sold and 10 Million Apps were downloaded in the first three days. Developers should be thrilled, right? 10 Million is a lot of apps!

When I first read the press release I was genuinely impressed until I started breaking down the stats and thinking about my own experience from the past three days. Ten third-party apps per phone, right? Wrong. Remember, all prior iPhone and iPod touch owners have the ability to upgrade to the 2.0 software which contains the App Store. Even if only 1 Million of that audience upgraded the 2.0 and explored the App Store, the average number of third-party apps per phone cuts in half to just five.

Moreover, based upon my own experience I know that app downloads do not correlate to active usage. For example, Loopt (free) and Cro-Mag (paid) remain idle on my phone. I’m not in love with either app so they are just serving to clutter my home screens.

In the case Cro-Mag got their money so they likely don’t care that I am not using their app. Loopt is different. The app that was built as a means to create a service. One they no doubt hope will be indispensable for an iPhone user thus driving up their valuation. Not the case for me so far.

The App Store is a fantastic delivery vehicle, but quality and utility will be the key to winning the hearts and minds of users.

No doubt most iPhone owners have spent the last few days scouring the App Store.  From Texas Hold’em to AOL Instant Messenger, native applications on iPhone a year from now will seem like something we’ve always had and can’t imagine ever being without. 

There are a handful of terrific applications such as Pandora and Texas Hold’em which I have already found quite addictive. At the same time, it is also very clear that many apps are half-baked.  

I wonder why more third-parties are not acting like the best of third-party vendors on the Mac. The ones that “act and feel” like something that could have come out of Cupertino. Comic Life immediately comes to mind. The iPhone SDK is so rich that it is very shocking to see apps like Cro-Mag shipping with a “Settings” menu that looks like it was drawn by a second grader.  A second grader who could have built a better menu via the built in interface elements in Interface Builder.

Double Encore offers a rapid iPhone application development service.  In just eight weeks, we take your idea through a full design and development cycle. From the drawing board to completion, we deliver a high quality final product from our expertise, processes, commitment to excellence.

I have read a few blog entries lately questioning the value of open source. The most over-the-top comes from Andy Patrizio. In his posting, titled “Big Money and Open Source May Not Compute”, Andy sounds like a school yard bully angry that his turf is finally being challenged:

Oh yea?! Well, open source hasn’t produced a billionaire. Take that!!!

I have some experience in Open Source, so I am compelled to opine. In 1999 I co-founded a Linux company. Terra Soft Solutions, Inc. is the developer of a flavor of Linux for IBM’s POWER microprocessor family intended for the High Performance Computing market segment.

Over the last decade, the company has seen some amazing accomplishments. Our customer list includes every Department of Energy national lab, all the major defense contractors, and corporations such as Boeing. One of our proudest moments was landing a contract with Lockheed Martin and the US Navy to provide a complex sonar solution that was deployed on-board the US Navy Submarine fleet.

All this and more from a small technology company out of Colorado. How did we do it?
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