When Steve Jobs had no idea about the size of the App Store

Ten years after the birth of the App Store, The Wall Street Journal shared an unprecedented interview with Steve Jobs from 2008 that talks about hopes for what was then an absolute novelty.

The interview dates back to August 7, 2008 – about a month after the launch of the App Store – and was conducted by WSJ reporter Nick Wingfield. Jobs begins by comparing the App Store for iPhone to iTunes for the iPod, saying that it is a service created to improve a device with content provided by the Internet:

"The way we think about it is that the App Store is for iPhone what iTunes is for iPod. Just like with the iPod, which we have improved with an internet service to bring new content, we are doing the same thing with the iPhone.

We are improving it with an Internet service to provide content directly on the phone. In this case, since we have already brought iTunes music content to the phone, we bring the applications.

We believe that the result is the result of the same strategy used with the iPod. Upgrade the device with content provided by the Internet. In addition to iTunes, we can deliver wireless content directly to the device without a PC. We can automatically update applications. It's a service that works on the shoulders of iTunes.

Jobs explains that at that time about 50 new applications were launched each day on the App Store. A tiny number compared to current data.

Next, there is talk of the role that Apple plays in moderating applications sent by developers:

"There are limits to respect. We do not allow porn, of course, but there are also copyright issues. There was a nice movie app that advertised the scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Fox, owner of Rotten Tomatoes, called us and said, "They do not have the right to do it."

We need to go back to the developers and say, "Hey, we need to remove your app" . Copyright owners gave their opinion to be respected. We need to remove apps until they can solve the problem with the copyright owner.

The Apple CEO also mentioned some figures, such as the 60 million apps downloaded in the first 30 days since the launch of the App Store. In 2017, Apple reached 180 billion downloads on the store.

But already with these small numbers, Steve Jobs was surprised:

"We did not expect such a launch. The telephony industry has never seen anything like it. To be honest, even the computer industry has never seen anything like this: 60 million apps downloaded in the first 30 days!

On the future of the App Store, Steve Jobs hoped that one day he would become a billion-dollar market. Last month, Apple claimed to have paid developers $ 100 billion in 10 years:

"Who knows, maybe it will be a billion dollar market in the future. This should not be a problem. A multi-billion dollar market is opening.

Wingfield then asks Jobs which application he downloaded to his iPhone, and the Apple CEO says he often uses Yelp, Bloomberg, some games like Susoki, Facebook and the application of Mandarin audio phrases ( an audio conversation guide in Mandarin Chinese).