Apple's Own Apps Drive Competition and Raises Experience Bar

As I begin to process the iPad media event yesterday, March 7th, it is really hard to begin until we actually have the new iPad in hand and be able to truly get a feel for what the Retina Display and speed it offers.  But there are some things that we might be able to talk about with authority.  That's the iLife and iWork apps that Apple made available.  The newest one is iPhoto.

And I'm still in the process of getting to know the app better.  I like iMovie and I am sure iPhoto will not disappoint.   At the same time, I wonder why is Apple competing with other text editing, office suite, and movie/photo editor apps in the app store.  That cannot be a good thing right?

Well, it make me thing about Google with the Nexus phones and, soon, tablets.  If we take Google's words at its face value, which is harder and harder to do these days giving their privacy changes, the Nexus hardware serves as a template for how Android devices should be.  

And I reckon Apple is out to make the best iOS and Mac apps that it can in order to raise the bar for other developers.  One supporting evidence in this regard is that iPhoto is not everything Photoshop is.  It's not even everything Photoshop Elements or the newly released Photoshop Touch is.  But it offers a new UI and experience that challenges other developers to step up their game.  

The same is true of Pages and Numbers.  It's not everything Microsoft's Office is but it's easy to use and has gained a sizable market.  And whether its for the iOS or Mac, iWorks has managed to get others, possible Microsoft as well, to innovate with their apps.  

With the just released iPad, Apple not only upped the ante on the hardware but also raised the possibilities that exists from an experience standpoint for everyone, specifically the developers.  Knowing that Apple is also well represented in the app store keeps the competition well and alive.