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Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

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Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#61

Post by andrewljohnson »

gcheong wrote: post #56
andrewljohnson wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always respond this way, and I always get scorned here. But, the iPhone platform has worked for us. Updates have been a bit slow, but we feel like we have been rewarded for our work. Some things are tricky and unintuitive, but that's the way it is in any market. Selling a product just isn't easy. You are always fighting against smart people, and there are unknowns. I feel like people shouldn't get into the App Stor…

I think all the developers want is some clear guidelines and transparency into the approval process and some recourse when they feel they have a good argument why their rejected apps should be approved. I think if those two things were in place, most developers would be satisfied. As things stand now, your app is just an update away from rejection by Apple and they don't even have to give you a reason.

My only answer is, the market has spoken. Apple's process may be kludgy and untransparent at times, but they have the dominant App Store and phone for a reason.

Some how they have succeeded in enthralling tons of developers and tons of end users. I can't help think that part of that is that because the process is actually pretty good in the scheme of things.

It would be really expensive to deal with every bitchy developer who had a problem, personally.

I mean, Google operates the same way and they are great. It's nearly impossible to email anyone for support for any Google product.

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#62

Post by beamso »

djehuty wrote: post #48
mattmaroon wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the user who actually uses a phone to make calls.

I'm sure that's AT&T. I'm in Australia and there's been no such problem personally or from anything I've heard.

I've had issues on Telstra. Sometimes the phone UI will prevent you from answering the call. Sometimes the phone crashes mid-call. Sometimes you answer the phone and you can hear the other party but they can't here you.

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#63

Post by zmimon »

jodrellblank wrote: post #8
zacharypinter wrote: post #6

I have no objection to Apple running an official App Store with strict rules for compliance. I don't even mind that they take a cut of the profits. However, I find it utterly reprehensible that Apple doesn't allow developers to distribute their applications on their own. iPhone owners should be able to install whatever they want on the device they purchased.

iPhone owners should be able to install whatever they want on the device they purchased. Why? It's such an entrenched idea, but you don't get to rewrite paragraphs of books, or scenes in films, or suits in a pack of playing cards or the firmware in your alarm clock. The iPhone is sold as is, why should we expect to use it any differently?

> The iPhone is sold as is, why should we expect to use it any differently?

Wow. It's almost sickening to see the inversion of the principles of software freedom that Apple is able to get away with and not get criticized in the fanboi community. Geeks have been lambasting Microsoft for merely having proprietary formats for 20 years. They even got fined for billions of dollars just for not documenting their protocols well enough. Now Apple plays god and controls every single application that can ever even run on a platform. They make developers sign NDAs that prevent them even talking about technical details of the platform publicly. They do these things that are the antithesis of everything the open software community have been trying to achieve for the last 15 years and not only do people like yourself give it a pass, you go out of your way to stand up and defend it. I find it breathtaking.

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#64

Post by symesc »

sachinag wrote: post #2

The iPhone is a terrible platform for the vast, vast majority of developers. The process of getting on board, promotion, and success is a total black hole. First movers such as ngmoco and Tapulous have done well; people with better apps - for free - have failed. Maaaaaaaybe 3.0 makes it easier for niche plays to work; certainly, as far as I can tell, add-on payments aren't supported in Palm's marketplace. I do think…

So why stay? Love?

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#65

Post by whatusername »

djehuty wrote: post #48
mattmaroon wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the user who actually uses a phone to make calls.

I'm sure that's AT&T. I'm in Australia and there's been no such problem personally or from anything I've heard.

I've heard of a couple of complaints about low signal strength. (compared to other phones on the same network). (this was in Oz - think it may have been optus)

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#66

Post by ujjwalg »

GHFigs wrote: post #47
ujjwalg wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what the hell are you talking about? I make my own notes within a book. A lot of times I even add things I have read from other sources in the book I buy. Once I own the book, I am allowed to do anything with it as long as I am using it for my own personal use.

You own a copy of the book, but you do not own the contents of the book. Similarly, the owner of an iPhone owns the hardware, but does not own the software. Claiming that one should have the same rights over Apple's software that you have over a copy of a book that you own strikes me as nonsensical. I understand that people want Apple's software to allow certain things, but I think stating it as if Apple is impinging…

The point I am saying is that when I buy the book, I can do whatever I want with the content as long as it is for my own personal use and am not distributing it. I am not sure why you think its not true or nonsensical by any means. And the same is true for software.

All they should do is void warranty if someone tempers with the OS. Same for books.

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#67

Post by jsz0 »

sfphotoarts wrote: post #60
joubert wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a Crackberry once. Worst thing ever. Email sucked. Browsing sucked. Mapping sucked. Crappy menu system with the actions I wanted to use most frequently buried in the deep abyss of boring, corporate-inspired menu hierarchies. The thing was as ugly as bat shit. I voted with my feet.

browsing sucks for sure, but email? come on? Thats the whole selling point and they sell very very well with most customers being repeats. Your experience is very atypical.

I disagree. It was great about 5 years ago but the times have kind of passed it by. Perhaps the situation is better on the Storm or Bold but on my 8330:

1) No native IMAP support 2) No native Exchange support without a BES 3) Horrific attachment viewer. 4) No real-time spellcheck 5) No auto-correction 6) No easy way to sync contacts/calendars over the air 7) No (minimal?) HTML e-mail support (unfortunately sometimes it does help make long e-mail chains more readable) 8) Gotta rely on your carrier for push e-mail -- or in the case of Sprint "Oh yeah we'll send it if we get a chance. Give us like 20 minutes K?" e-mail service. 9) No intuitive way of deleting lots of e-mail messages that don't happen to all be sequential to each other in the list. 10) No folders -- just one big flat mailbox. Hard to save messages on your phone this way. Again, fixed if you have a BES but I don't want my $200 SmartPhone to require $2k-$5k in hardware/software to be functional.

It certainly gets the job done for the basics but once you get used to having more options and flexibility it's hard to go back.

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#68

Post by olefoo »

djehuty wrote: post #48
mattmaroon wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the user who actually uses a phone to make calls.

I'm sure that's AT&T. I'm in Australia and there's been no such problem personally or from anything I've heard.

It may just be AT&T in some regions too. I have never experienced the level of frustration that seems to emanate from iphone users in the Bay Area (I'm in Oregon).

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#69

Post by fatdog789 »

GHFigs wrote: post #55
lutorm wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh but I do get to rewrite paragraphs in books to my hearts desire. I may not be allowed to sell the books so made to others, but in the privacy of my own home I get to do what ever I want. Not so in the case of the iphone et al.

Not true, as evidienced by the existence of jailbreaking, unlocking, etc. Apple has not taken any legal action against people for doing these things. What legal action they have taken has been against people allegedly infringing on their software copyrights. The difference is crucial.

No, it's not. They haven't yet gone after people who jailbreak their phones. That doesn't mean they won't.

And btw, they have gone after sites that talk about how to jailbreak the iPhone. Copyright was just an excuse.

Re: Apple’s WWDC-Closing ‘Fuck You’ to iPhone Developers

#70

Post by vorador »

GHFigs wrote: post #53
ankhmoop wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's the boot loader, locked to the device that they own, that actively blocks loading unsigned software.

The boot loader is likewise software which you do not own. You're free to replace it along with any other software.

But practically it's impossible to write a bootloader with equivalent functionnality.
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