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Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

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Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#101

Post by allenbrunson »

subbu wrote: post #52
peterarmstrong wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't make it anything short of disgusting -- it's worse than anything MS ever did.

2 differences between MS and Apple in this context. MS was very supportive of developers in its ecosystem. And they were never this arrogant.

Unless, of course, you were a developer at Stac Electronics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stac_Electronics

... or one of the many other companies that produced something that Microsoft decided would be better if it was bundled with the OS.

I'm not defending Apple here, but come on, be realistic.

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#103

Post by celticjames »

Is it possible to turn things around and compile an iPhone app to run on Android/Flash/etc.? I'm sure it would be a monumental task, but could the headers in the Apple SDK be wrapped in a cross platform library? Or is there a rule against that too?

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#104

Post by pwhelan »

ahi wrote: post #46
00joe wrote: post #35

I've had a couple of close friends and relatives have health issues that almost killed them. Afterwords their personality changed. They became much more negative and harder to be around. The things I have read about Jobs is that he is a health nut. To have the problems he has had might have been a big emotional blow for him. Since he has come back, things have gotten much worse for partner relations and there is almo…

You don't change CEOs because you want a nicer guy.

You may change CEOs if their behavior habits change significantly, including them turning from narcissistic jerk to narcissistic jackass. Instability at the helm isn't a good thing, even if you are currently still heading in a good direction.

I seriously doubt the legality of this part of the contract, which only sets them up for more legal battles with Adobe (with MSFT and GOOG as supporters) which will bleed cash, create ill-will among developers and take the focus off of doing what Apple does that creates its value. If you are thinking of developing a good tablet app, are you doing to want to deal with Apple OR will you try doing it on the new HP slate?

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#105

Post by cousin_it »

michael_dorfman wrote: post #95
stcredzero wrote: post #8

Summary: If you need to "originally" write your code in Swahili, while listening to Milli Vanilli, while reclining in a patch of mud, and then you need fifty oompa loompas to translate the Swahili into C, that is none of Steve Jobs f#ck^ng business.

And Steve's response, I imagine would be: if you want to sell your app in my store, it's my business. If you don't like my rules, develop for a different platform. Seriously: if Barnes and Noble decides it only wants to sell fiction by authors whose last names begin with "Q", wouldn't we just consider it a bone-headed move, and not the cause for moral outrage? The iPhone is not the only smartphone on the market, and…

I really can't see why folks are getting their knickers in a twist.

Your use of demeaning language doesn't make your opponents wrong.

wouldn't we just consider it a bone-headed move, and not the cause for moral outrage?

It's both. Legality != morality. A business practice can be perfectly legal but immoral. Of course you can say anything Apple does is moral because it's within their rights, but there are also other ways of assessing the morality of actions, e.g. weighing their consequences.

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#106

Post by rimantas »

MichaelGG wrote: post #91
rimantas wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, correction: yesterday they introduced iPhone OS 4 with background services. How Flash is fundamental in CS is still a mystery to me.

You misread. The point is that compilers are fundamental to CS, and barring things like a Flash compiler is vile.

Ok, compilers are fundamental to CS. Have you heard about Clang and LLVM? Do you know who is behind that project?

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#107

Post by doron »

It is interesting to revisit this thread based on Alex Payne moderate request for openness - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1243445

Apple progression to restrictive hardline, is going against developers with a generally pragmatic approach.

Apple seems to give no quarter when it comes to their inane lock down practices, developers shouldn't give much benefit of the doubt to apple either.

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#108

Post by ComputerGuru »

michael_dorfman wrote: post #95
stcredzero wrote: post #8

Summary: If you need to "originally" write your code in Swahili, while listening to Milli Vanilli, while reclining in a patch of mud, and then you need fifty oompa loompas to translate the Swahili into C, that is none of Steve Jobs f#ck^ng business.

And Steve's response, I imagine would be: if you want to sell your app in my store, it's my business. If you don't like my rules, develop for a different platform. Seriously: if Barnes and Noble decides it only wants to sell fiction by authors whose last names begin with "Q", wouldn't we just consider it a bone-headed move, and not the cause for moral outrage? The iPhone is not the only smartphone on the market, and…

See, that's because you're not affected.

My last name does happen to start with a Q, and I happen to like Barnes and Noble.

So WTF would I let them stop me? Yes, I would be very much PO'd about it, and make a hissy-fit.

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#109

Post by jrockway »

rimantas wrote: post #106
MichaelGG wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You misread. The point is that compilers are fundamental to CS, and barring things like a Flash compiler is vile.

Ok, compilers are fundamental to CS. Have you heard about Clang and LLVM? Do you know who is behind that project?

Not Apple's iPhone team.

Clang is some crazy engineers at Apple. Apple's new policies are straight from the top.

Re: Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad

#110

Post by skywalker »

tptacek wrote: post #87
skywalker wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I will use my operating system monopoly to put you out of business if you don't assist me in putting an unrelated competitor of ours out of business" is worse to you than "you may only use Objective C to develop on this device"? What about this: "I will use my mobile operating system prestige to put your mobile company out of business if you don't assist me in putting a competitor of ours, Adobe, out of the mobile a…

Sorry to be so presumptious but I don't think you've thought this through. Microsoft threatened to drive companies out of the computer industry . There are still plenty of other viable mobile platforms to develop for if the iPhone doesn't work out for you.

What I mean is that it is much more than "you may only use Objective C to develop on this device". You also haven't thought this through. It has many more long term implications than the language choice.

And we have a disagreement about what viable mobile platform means.

For example, "Gameloft sells 400 times more games on iPhone than it does on Android." http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/29757/gameloft-cutting-andro...

There isn't much of a mobile games market outside the iPhone. Unless you want to develop children games for the DS. And then you would need to wear a suit to sign a contract with Nintendo. And guess what, they don't sign more than X contracts a year, where X is a very low number. So you could be out of luck.

The point is that if the iPhone is the most lucrative platform now, it is not in the best interest of the developer to put their eggs in only one basket. And markets change. So they should create demand in parallel in other devices too.

But to port to other devices takes time and money, two scarce resources, as you now.

One way they could be less dependent on the iPhone with minimum investment is to use a compatibility layer like Unity. Unity already works on the Wii, and will work on the Android and Xbox soon, with windows phone probably not far away. But with the new rules, that is not a solution anymore.

Also, it is ironic that Unity will work on Xbox but not on the iPhone. Don't you think?

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