Today on the Windows Developer Show, on which I was a guest, Microsoft’s Bryan Tomlinson announced that the new Windows Phone App Studio had seen usage higher than the company anticipated, with 30,000 applications started in the first 48 hours of the tool’s life.

Given the stronger-than-expected demand, Microsoft is currently “throttling” usage to the service. However, your lag time to entry should not be too long. Perhaps a day.

Why does the 30,000-projects-started figure matter? Simply because it shows that developers and non-developers showed up to test the darn thing out. I was one of the 30,000.

However, what we must discuss today is context. On Tuesday, when the tool was released, Microsoft described it online, through an example, as for the “savvy developers” of the world. That didn’t sit well with me.

TechCrunch, among other publications, noted that that specific positioning of the Windows Phone App Studio felt somewhat odd. Is the tool strong enough that folks such as myself can build something that is worthy of publishing? Here’s TechCrunch’s Darrell Etherington on the service:

Windows Phone has the advantage of having a relatively simple visual style that looks good across a variety of apps, so there’s a chance it could result in a net good. But there’s probably a greater chance that we’ll just end up with more crud blocking up the charts, search and overall library.

Yes. Only, today on the show, Tomlinson noted that the app would be great for individuals who want to load their lightweight apps directly onto the phones of their friends, to help folks get their first taste of development, and for other similar reasons. And this is what the App Studio is perfect for. It was all but the correct marketing pitch for the product.

But two days earlier, the company stated in its own copy that the App Studio was great for savvy developers. That’s the opposite of what it said today. Mixed messaging can often lead to muddle, and a confused press and general public. The gist of this is that Microsoft does in fact know what its neat new service is for. Or for whom, depending. This is welcome news.

If you want to get in line for a turn at App Studio, go here.

Top Image Credit: Vernon Chan