An Appeal To Humanize the Apple App Store
Erstwhile Apple exec. Jean-Louis Gassée, now a venture partner with Allegis Capital iwith a sideline in online blogging, says that with one million titles and no human guides, the Apple App Store has become unwieldy and incomprehensible for most people, but maintains that a there is a simple solution. That would be curation by humans instead of algorithms.
Mr. Gasseé has posted an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook in his Monday Note blog making the case that the App Store isn’t being mined in the best interests of Apple’s customers and developers, nor, in the end, in the interests of Apple itself.
He suggests assigning a small group of “adepts” to create and shepherd an App Store Guide, with sections such as Productivity, Photography, Education, and so on. Within each section, this team of respected but unnamed (and so “ungiftable”) critics would review the best-in-class apps, offering seasoned opinions on must-have features, UI aesthetics, and tips and tricks. A weekly newsletter will identify notable new titles, respond to counter-opinions, perhaps present a developer profile,and so forth, resulting in a more intelligible App Store that will make iOS users happier.
You can read more of Monday Note’s coverage of technology and media here:
http://bit.ly/1r6paNG
