iPhone® Development
For most of much of my career I developed cross-platform code for Unixen of various flavors. The iPhone application, CT RVParks, is the first platform specific application I have written in many years.
The iPhone holds a lot of promise as a mobile computing platform. There are issues, but it has a solid foundation with a Unix-based operating system, iPhone OS, and a mature application framework, Cocoa, incarnated as Cocoa Touch. The possibility of larger form factor mobile platforms from Apple is intriguing. I do hope that the mythical iTablet materializes soon.
I feel a tectonic shift in my career. I think I'll focus on the iPhone for a bit. Assuming I can find the appropriate partners, I will develop apps for Behavior Analysts and related professions. And at the same time I will maintain CT RVParks and the ContinuousTraveler.com site.
iPhone as Mobile Computer
The iPhone is a telephone with a bunch of other functionality aimed at serving the general public as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It has some designed-in limitations that protect its central telephonic functionality that unfortunately make it somewhat difficult to use a general mobile computing platform.
iPod touch®
The iPod touch is essentially an iPhone without the cellular radios or GPS chip. It does have Wi-Fi for Internet connectivity, however. Software that runs on iPhone will generally run on iPod touch unchanged.
In many cases the iPod touch would be a lower cost alternative to the iPhone. The purchase price is lower, and there is no monthly phone bill.