The iPad App Store Is Live
The first batch of iPad apps is live in the App Store, days before the device has been released to regular, non-media humans. First impressions? So many apps! Also: So expensive. Full listing here.
Context & Ripple Effects
The iPad's software shelf has been previewed twice in under a week — App Advice's March 26 exclusive walkthrough of the iPad App Store and MacStories' March 28 video browse through its shelves — and today those previews became real inventory: the first batch of apps went live while only reviewers hold the hardware. The story traveled widely enough that syndicated pickups were counting titles (more than 2,300 per the WSJ's Digits blog) rather than just reacting.
What makes the moment analytically interesting is the split in the same day's coverage: Gizmodo flags plentiful-but-expensive apps, while a syndicated piece at The Business Of Online Video argues many content owners can't afford to produce iPad-ready video at all, and Macworld notes Apple publishing its own list of 'iPad-ready' websites. Launch catalog and launch cost are being weighed simultaneously.
First-order effects
- Developers with approved iPad titles can start selling days before consumers own the device, letting early buyers pre-build libraries — and the 2,300-plus title count instantly becomes the launch-week talking point for a category with no installed base yet.
- Early hands-on impressions flag app prices running high relative to what buyers are used to, so the iPad's perceived value is being set by premium price points before anyone has used the screen.
Second-order effects
- Content owners who balk at the cost of tablet-format video have a fallback Apple is actively curating — the 'iPad-ready' websites list — which shifts some of the launch-content burden from paid apps to optimized web experiences.
- Rival device makers preparing their own tablets now have a concrete bar to clear: matching a four-figure-deep catalog on day one, not months after launch.
Third-order effects
- If premium tablet pricing holds past launch week, the App Store effectively runs a two-tier economy — cheap phone apps and pricier tablet apps — testing whether bigger screens justify bigger price tags.
- Catalog depth at hardware launch hardens into a competitive metric for new device categories, pressuring every future platform to seed developer inventory before shipping.
The trend: New device categories are increasingly judged by the depth and price of their app catalogs before the hardware ships, making storefront population a launch requirement rather than a follow-on.