Apple announced today that the iTunes App Store, one year post-launch, has served up over 1.5 billion downloads of more than 65,000 apps created by over 100,000 registered developers.

Says Apple CEO, Steve Jobs:

“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality. With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”

Strange as it is to see Jobs mention "the competition" there's no denying the App Store is run-away success beyond even Apple's lofty expectations.

Congrats! And let's hope the next year is even better!

Twitterrific developer Craig Hockenberry has written a long, considered essay on Furbo.org framing the changes Apple has already made to the iTunes App Store, what problems it still presents to developers, users, and Apple itself, and proposes some interesting solutions.

From the differences between selling music and apps, to the long delays and uncertainty surrounding the approval process, lack of viable upgrade options, ill-defined rules, inability to provide demos, inability to respond to iTunes reviews, and the lack of discoverability for apps, Hockenberry leaves few stones unturned -- nor does he throw those stones, turned or otherwise, in Apple's direction.

He comes off as a veteran developer more than a little frustrated not just at what is, but at not yet reaching the potential of what could be. One solution he proposes might be controversial -- and we've heard it from him before -- but is still more than promising:

Charge [developers] $999 for premium service. For professional developers, this cost is not prohibitive and would allow Apple to provide additional services...

He does, rightly, chastise Apple for not communicating effectively with developers -- for failing to hold up their end of the platform partnership. However, by pointing out how far the App Store has come in just one year, it leaves us with hope that given Apple's and developers' shared passion for the iPhone, it can go further still in year two.

Right Apple?

TiPb will be back tomorrow with our Picks of the Year, and Editors' Choice in honor of Apple's iTunes App Store one year birthday -- and yes, we're really calling it our Appy Anniversary coverage.

1 billion+ downloads and 56,000+ apps are the figures, but just how many of those downloaded apps have made it onto your iPhone or iPod touch?

Barely an extra screen worth, more than the expanded 180 even iPhone 3.0 allows, or $143K and change for the whole shebang? How many does iTunes show, and how many are actually on your device?