Comments on: Thoughts on Paul Graham’s post: “Apple’s Mistake” http://aralbalkan.com/2560 Passionate geekisms. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:59:57 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Tom Morris http://aralbalkan.com/2560/comment-page-1#comment-258425 Tom Morris Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:31:44 +0000 http://aralbalkan.com/?p=2560#comment-258425 One thing which has put me off trying to build an iPhone app is having to pay to test it on my iPod touch. I've paid for the hardware. I've bought the Mac. And now I've got to pay $99 to test my code? What the fuck, Apple? That's bullshit. That's like the bad old days when you had to pay good money for compilers. People still do, I guess. Perhaps I've been spoiled by Java, gcc, Python and so on where the idea of having to pay to develop for a platform is completely antithetical. And while all this is going on in iPhone-land, it feels like the development of the Mac as a platform has slowed down a bit. The new laptops are much better hardware, for sure. As a Mac customer, I feel like Apple have become an entertainment and mobile phone company (and, worse, still a DRM/lock-in pusher) and aren't as interested in providing the great experience and tools that attracted so many designers and developers to the Mac platform. As Graham said, Apple now feel like Big Brother rather than the woman with the hammer coming to smash the telescreen. A few years ago, I was as happy as can be on the Mac platform. I now feel like I'm trapped here, waiting for Linux to get just a little bit better. One thing which has put me off trying to build an iPhone app is having to pay to test it on my iPod touch. I’ve paid for the hardware. I’ve bought the Mac. And now I’ve got to pay $99 to test my code? What the fuck, Apple? That’s bullshit.

That’s like the bad old days when you had to pay good money for compilers. People still do, I guess. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Java, gcc, Python and so on where the idea of having to pay to develop for a platform is completely antithetical.

And while all this is going on in iPhone-land, it feels like the development of the Mac as a platform has slowed down a bit. The new laptops are much better hardware, for sure. As a Mac customer, I feel like Apple have become an entertainment and mobile phone company (and, worse, still a DRM/lock-in pusher) and aren’t as interested in providing the great experience and tools that attracted so many designers and developers to the Mac platform. As Graham said, Apple now feel like Big Brother rather than the woman with the hammer coming to smash the telescreen.

A few years ago, I was as happy as can be on the Mac platform. I now feel like I’m trapped here, waiting for Linux to get just a little bit better.

]]> By: najier http://aralbalkan.com/2560/comment-page-1#comment-258421 najier Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:58:28 +0000 http://aralbalkan.com/?p=2560#comment-258421 It is called 'g-r-e-e-d'. It is called ‘g-r-e-e-d’.

]]> By: Ericzoo http://aralbalkan.com/2560/comment-page-1#comment-258419 Ericzoo Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:38:55 +0000 http://aralbalkan.com/?p=2560#comment-258419 "Apple's worries will truly begin when the silent developers simply stop developing for the iPhone and take their efforts elsewhere. " Until that 'elsewhere' materializes, these developers have no other viable mobile platform to go to. Google and Microsoft have a real chance of diverting developer adoption away from Apple and all we see are near hits and gross misses. What this space needs is a real competitor. “Apple’s worries will truly begin when the silent developers simply stop developing for the iPhone and take their efforts elsewhere. ”

Until that ‘elsewhere’ materializes, these developers have no other viable mobile platform to go to. Google and Microsoft have a real chance of diverting developer adoption away from Apple and all we see are near hits and gross misses. What this space needs is a real competitor.

]]> By: kode80 http://aralbalkan.com/2560/comment-page-1#comment-258418 kode80 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:10:47 +0000 http://aralbalkan.com/?p=2560#comment-258418 Your closing comment about the less vocal developers rings scarily true. I think if things don't change over the next year Apple are going to be in for a rude awakening. Which is a real shame because not only is it one of the most important mobile devices of this decade but also (Apple sandbox aside) one of the nicest platforms to develop on. Your closing comment about the less vocal developers rings scarily true. I think if things don’t change over the next year Apple are going to be in for a rude awakening. Which is a real shame because not only is it one of the most important mobile devices of this decade but also (Apple sandbox aside) one of the nicest platforms to develop on.

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