Apple's App Store changed the software world 17 years ago

On this day in 2008, the still-new iPhone gained an App Store, destroyed selling software in boxes, made apps cheaper — and is now mired in controversy.Software used to cost hundreds of dollars and if you didn't pick it up at a retail store, you had to wait to have it be posted. And in either case, it came in a sometimes huge box, plus you then had to schlep through feeding disks or CDs into your machine.That box size would be down to the manuals and we can all lament the demise of a really well-written manual. But otherwise the change the App Store brought is so night and day, so clearly the right thing to have happened, that anything before it seems quaintly historic.Plus even if you have never used the iPhone's App Store, you naturally know how it works. That's because all software, for all devices, is sold and delivered in the same way. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums