"We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February.... It will take until February to release an SDK because we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc...
Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than 'totally open,' we believe it is a step in the right direction. We are working on an advanced system which will offer developers broad access to natively program the iPhone’s amazing software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs."
related: Developers on iPhone SDK: OMG! ABFT!
"Chris Messina, an open-source advocate and co-organizer of iPhoneDevCamp, also thinks the SDK is an admission by Apple that the world just wasn't ready for web-based apps … yet.
'They gave the web a chance to prove itself and the web failed them,' Messina says. 'In some ways, I think that the web has failed the iPhone and Steve Jobs. It's kind of unfortunate. It could've been the first real web-driven platform. But since we're not there yet, it looks like we'll just have to wait.'"
