how difficult is it to use the iPhone sdk to create apps and when will apps be avaible

should be very similar to developing for OSX. It remains to be seen how obfuscated the Core Touch framework is, but apple’s frameworks keep getting better all the time.

It is relatively fast to develop for. The clincher comes when you must pay the 99$ developer fee to distribute. This is to make sure only developers serious about their products get to distribute.

99$ for not having to deal with CCs (chargebacks, merchant integration, et cetera?) AND placement in the central repository? Sounds like a good deal to me!

I agree :)

Don’t forget bandwidth savings!

just for clarification also, it is a $99 /yr membership to distribute. Could you develop yourself for free without distribution?