Earlier quoted context omitted.
Never. It's Gruber.
Honest question - what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux or anything not Apple? Is it just spite?
The tools.
John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
101–110 of 116 posts
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#102Features: I'm all for simplicity, in the right circumstances. I use Clear from Realmac Software because when I'm creating to-do lists, speed is the most important thing to me. However, when I'm writing notes, accessibility is probably the most important thing for me and that means sync, I'd also bet this is the case for many people, hence the popularity of things like Evernote and Google Keep. The absence of sync fro…
Once Evernote got hacked that dropped any chance of ever using them again for me.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#103Ugh... another note-taking app. How does this non-innovation make frontpage news at Techmeme and other places? I don't get it.
Make an app that takes notes FOR me, automatically, without me having to even think about it, and I'll pay $5 for that. Seriously, we've been making note-taking apps since the dawn of the text editor. It's a solved problem. Move along.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#104I find the choice of name interesting. I realise it's a Bond reference, but the first impression I got was of an unreliable old moped, not the image I think the developers would want to associate with.
That would be a "Vespa".
Which are, ironically enough, rather reliable despite their old age.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find sync that requires an account a negative factor. There are many notes I wouldn't want to share with Google. Also as soon as you offer sync you need to have a conflict resolution approach and there is no way to always resolve in a clean way without user intervention.
We've been working on sync for a number of years, and have created an open-source lightweight iOS library and backend server. It's still alpha, but it's already in use by a handful of apps in the App Store. Here's an overview: https://github.com/couchbase/mobile The iOS embedded sync database: https://github.com/couchbase/couchbase-lite-ios Embedded sync database for Android: https://github.com/couchbase/couchbase-li…
Stuff like this helps. I have looked at this for my lists app (http://itunes.com/apps/fastlists - mostly for checklists and repeated use lists rather than todo lists) and may look again but there are still scenarios where you have to do one of the following:
1) throw user data away.
2) ask the user a question about how to resolve the conflict
3) save both copies and leave the user to figure out which one they actually want.
As a developer I'm not yet comfortable with any of these approaches for casual user scenarios although option 2 or 3 is probably right in many more serious/professional set ups. I've gone with email as my transfer mechanism which also allows sending to other users and to be used as a backup although I do keep looking at sync systems and solutions.
I found this a good write up of the potential complications even for a simple list app like mine.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find sync that requires an account a negative factor. There are many notes I wouldn't want to share with Google. Also as soon as you offer sync you need to have a conflict resolution approach and there is no way to always resolve in a clean way without user intervention.
The time for punting on sync because it's too hard or inconvenient can't last indefinitely in the industry...
It isn't just hard or inconvenient it is impossible (to do losslessly without human intervention). I take data loss very seriously and I also take privacy issues seriously so even if it was easy and convenient to implement a state of the art solution it still wouldn't be a no-brainer.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Never. It's Gruber.
Honest question - what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux or anything not Apple? Is it just spite?
I would prefer not to write software for Android or Windows because I don't want to support Google or Microsoft if I can help it[1]. Google is too powerful and has too much data and I really don't trust them. Microsoft while reasonably well behaved recently (maybe because they have lacked the power not to be) have a long history of dubious practices and unfairly squashing competition.
Linux, Blackberry, Firefox OS, I would be happy developing for if they had worthwhile market share.
[1] Note that this isn't an absolute and if the market conditions dictated it I would swallow this preference and live work with them but while there is a choice I would prefer not to. If I had a mega-hit on iOS I may port it to cash in, while I put non-zero dollar value on avoiding Google/MS it isn't unlimited either.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question - what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux or anything not Apple? Is it just spite?
I would prefer not to write software for Android or Windows because I don't want to support Google or Microsoft if I can help it[1]. Google is too powerful and has too much data and I really don't trust them. Microsoft while reasonably well behaved recently (maybe because they have lacked the power not to be) have a long history of dubious practices and unfairly squashing competition. Linux, Blackberry, Firefox OS, I…
Thanks for the response. So it is an ethics thing with you. Personally the idea of supporting Apple over Google is alien to me, but is interesting reading other people's perspectives.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question - what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux or anything not Apple? Is it just spite?
Why bother? An app like this is going to make significantly more money in the Apple ecosystem. With all the Vesper features they could be working on, I'm sure they don't see any need to spend time on Android or Windows right now.
> An app like this is going to make significantly more money in the Apple ecosystem
More money possibly, but its hard to imagine it is not worth the cost of porting these types of apps - and that's what is relevant. Unless it is an ideological thing.
Re: John Gruber and friends launch Vesper note capture app
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question - what is it with these Apple fanatics not wanting to write any software ever for Android, Windows, Linux or anything not Apple? Is it just spite?
That's an odd question because it frames people exercising freedom to choose what they spend their own time on as unreasonable. Do you choose your own activities, necessarily not choosing others, out of spite?
I wouldn't choose to work for Goldman Sachs, for ethical reasons. I wouldn't buy an app from a guy that was rude to me when I met him, out of spite. I don't do certain things because I don't want to support certain companies or ecosystems. Often these things are, ethics aside, inconveniencing me, or stopping me from making as much money. Sometimes I just bite the bullet and use the app by the guy I don't like.