Apple will require iPhone developers to digitally sign their applications. The result is that any application can be traced back to the developer and the digital signature can be used to prove the app has not been altered, according to Dan Dilger at Roughly Drafted on Tuesday. That creates a native application development system that also creates a new kind of software market.

Apple holds the keys to that certificate, and the developers ability to distribute software can be terminated by Apple if they do something questionable in terms of the best interests of the users. "Apple can also vet software as it is submitted, and rapidly respond to user complaints by terminating the distribution and revoking the run rights of signed software. With such a system in place, there’s no need for iPhone anti-virus software. Our children will never know why Symantec and Norton ever existed," Mr. Dilger explained.

In quite natural way, the certificate and security system will also help the developers' bottom line. "All iPhone apps will similarly be wrapped by FairPlay, again making it easier for users to buy a legitimate copy than to find a stolen version," Mr. Dilger observed. "This will result in two positive effects: first, developers will be able to price their software lower to entice volume purchases. Second, users buying software will get a better overall experience, with automatic update notifications and records of their purchases."

The mobility of cell phones and their greater exposure to influences outside the home and office makes this new metaphor necessary. "Apple’s ability to both give out signing certificates to developers and to revoke those certificates afterward gives it the same kind of control over developers that the DMV holds over drivers," Mr. Dilger noted.

"If drivers faced no threat of losing their license, there would be no way of holding them accountable to drive according to the law. That’s how the desktop PC world currently works: anyone can jump in a car and drive any way they like, and neither Microsoft nor Apple nor any other desktop operating system platform vendor can really do much to reign in bad or malicious software drivers apart from erecting protective barricades around sensitive buildings," Mr. Dilger explained.

Observers have noted that the Apple iPhone is a new, major platform. Apple is clearly taking the opportunity to fix some of the weaknesses in security suffered by older platforms, the PC and Mac, that were designed long before the Internet went public. The chance to change the way we trust our personal computing can't be overlooked and will give Apple yet another game-changing edge.

"While Microsoft, Symbian, RIM, and others scramble to offer their own software stores that can match iTunes, it will all be too little, too late," Mr. Dilger concluded. "Apple has the cohesive platform grabbing the most attention, the most familiar and modern developer tools, and the most most trusted consumer software store. By offering developers guaranteed sales and sustainable profits at a low cost of entry, no smartphone vendor is going to be able to match the sophistication of apps that sprout up around the iPhone."