iAds: Coming to an Apple Device near you

So you went out and paid $800+ for your iPhone, or got jammed into a long term contract that sees you paying over $1000 for the device, you faithfully stood by Apple even though your iPod or iPhone exploded. Your even excitedly impatient for the release of the iPad near you so you can snap one up at $900, despite it's severe lack of features and general uselessness. You're a faithful Apple user, you buy apps by the dozen, you're addicted right?

You're even about to wet your pants over the release of the announced iOS 4.0 and the speculation over a new iPhone device. Well here is a feature in iOS 4.0 you may not have heard to much fan fare about, iAds. That's the name of course Apple have given to their new targeted advertising system, which will place targeted advertisements in your apps.

That's right you've paid for a device and an application that is going to spam the heck out of you every time you use it. I'm sure if you enjoy having ads all over the place this won't present the slightest problem to you, but for most people iAds might just be an iKiller. I mean we put up with the ads from Google, Facebook, myspace and the like because well, they're free services, ads are how they make their money. But apple make a hefty profit without ads, they're essentially asking you to pay for the privilege of being spammed. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has announced he plans to serve 1 BILLION ADS PER DAY

Sure you could just use the device in default and not download any extra apps, but seriously if you were going to do such a thing, why would you bother getting an iPhone or iPad? There are plenty of phones in the $100 - $200 range that have the same features as the iPhone minus the apps (Heck some even have the apps too now days).

So, why the sudden shift into advertising you might ask? Well firstly it isn't sudden, it's been planned for quite some time now. Apple plan to give 60% of the profits to the application developer and keep 40% to take care of the costs of serving those ads. It's a move that is meant to make iOS look like a more desirable platform to big name game and software developers, like Nintendo. Apple seems to think people will want to spend hours on end playing in-depth, graphic rich games on their iPhone or iPad as opposed to their Gaming Console or PC; I think Apple are a little delusional.

If Apple are so interested in gaming perhaps they should focus on making the MAC more gamer friendly, &/or developing a gaming console of their own. They sound like far more logical solutions to me, but of course in the world of Steve Jobs it's a better idea to attempt to get people to play games on a tiny screen (part of which will be taken up by ads while you're in the game) with poor user game controls. And of course the Telcos will love this idea, think about it. 17% of the mobile market in Australia owns an iPhone, each one being served data using ads, day and night! Oh yeah, get ready for your mobile bill to rise.

Which leaves just one question left, seriously, what is with Apple placing an 'i' before the name of every product they sell? Am I the only one who is getting annoyed at that? But I suppose if they insist on putting an 'i' before there advertising product, a more accurately descriptive name might have been "idontwantads".

Links;

iTWire Article
The Age Article
Nintendo USA President on Apple