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Apple's Mistake

paulgraham.com

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Re: Apple's Mistake

#221

Post by c1sc0 »

mseebach wrote: post #220
c1sc0 wrote: post #212

I cross-post this from the other thread I started since I noticed the Apple heat is in this one, if you want to learn the background about my app, check this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=951360 Below is what I've learned after 2 months of AppStore dev. Here are a few dirty tricks & ideas that I hope will make life in AppStore purgatory easier: Use the 'Easter Egg' field to plead directly to the reviewe…

You list of advice is good. It's that it needs to exist to put software on one of the most popular devices of the decade that's absurd. In the 80's you could travel pretty freely as a western visitor in communist eastern Europe if had a similar list, telling you who to nudge where, what gifts to bring for cheap bribes (IIRC I heard that a good ball point pen got you far in some places) and so on. Now, the ultimate so…

Completely agree. Apple needs competition from people who have a clue, but in the meantime a lot of developers will continue traveling to 'communist' Apple, because that's where the money is ;-)

Re: Apple's Mistake

#222

Post by nearestneighbor »

Retric wrote: post #178
JunkDNA wrote: post #61

Part of Paul's reasoning depends on Apps being central to the iPhone experience the same way software is central to the desktop experience. I'm not totally sure this is the case. While apps are certainly a major component to the iPhone, are they really the major factor in end-user adoption? With the exception of games, how many killer iPhone apps are there that don't already ship with the phone? The phone shipped for…

Thank you, I just got an iPhone and I have found zero apps worth downloading. Take this 35 list of great apps http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/15/the-35-best-iphone-apps... and find something useful or fun.

Have you tried http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/app-attack-top-15-iphone...

Re: Apple's Mistake

#223

Post by bumblebird »

wvenable wrote: post #166
JunkDNA wrote: post #61

Part of Paul's reasoning depends on Apps being central to the iPhone experience the same way software is central to the desktop experience. I'm not totally sure this is the case. While apps are certainly a major component to the iPhone, are they really the major factor in end-user adoption? With the exception of games, how many killer iPhone apps are there that don't already ship with the phone? The phone shipped for…

> While apps are certainly a major component to the iPhone, are they really the major factor in end-user adoption? All the ads I've seen lately for the iPhone are of the "there's an app for that" variety. So Apple themselves seem to think that the apps are a critical factor. That being said, the iPhone sold very well before there were any apps at all.

They're a good gimmick. But at the end of the day, half of the apps you can find equivalent web versions that run just as well in the browser.

I agree with others - the app store is not that important. It's a fun thing. I'm not convinced it'll even be around/relevant in 5 years.

Re: Apple's Mistake

#224

Post by bumblebird »

joe_the_user wrote: post #200
JunkDNA wrote: post #61

Part of Paul's reasoning depends on Apps being central to the iPhone experience the same way software is central to the desktop experience. I'm not totally sure this is the case. While apps are certainly a major component to the iPhone, are they really the major factor in end-user adoption? With the exception of games, how many killer iPhone apps are there that don't already ship with the phone? The phone shipped for…

I think you miss the point. Developer relations are central to Apple as a whole. Apples needs iPhone developers, desktop developers, web developers and developers for whatever they do after the iPhone. If Apple creates hostile feelings in the developer community with its App Store behavior, Apple is going to have ongoing problems regardless of whether it needs third party developers at the moment.

Not really :/ They need people developing webapps. To be honest, I think the appstore is just a stopgap until webapps become mature enough to take over (And wifi is prevalent enough). I wouldn't put too much effort into the appstore, and I don't really blame Apple for being half hearted about it. It's certainly not the future.

Re: Apple's Mistake

#226

Post by hristov »

mseebach wrote: post #220
c1sc0 wrote: post #212

I cross-post this from the other thread I started since I noticed the Apple heat is in this one, if you want to learn the background about my app, check this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=951360 Below is what I've learned after 2 months of AppStore dev. Here are a few dirty tricks & ideas that I hope will make life in AppStore purgatory easier: Use the 'Easter Egg' field to plead directly to the reviewe…

You list of advice is good. It's that it needs to exist to put software on one of the most popular devices of the decade that's absurd. In the 80's you could travel pretty freely as a western visitor in communist eastern Europe if had a similar list, telling you who to nudge where, what gifts to bring for cheap bribes (IIRC I heard that a good ball point pen got you far in some places) and so on. Now, the ultimate so…

I don't know about ballpoint pens but a good bottle of cognac always worked. I knew some people that started a business right after communism fell -- they had to buy cognac by the case.

Re: Apple's Mistake

#227

Post by dirkstoop »

mkramlich wrote: post #193
dirkstoop wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I make Mac apps for a living and have, over a few years built up nice relationships with Apple. In spite of only being a small, not US-based, company (11 people now, but only 5 when we won our first Apple Design Award), it was never hard for us to get noticed by Apple, or to get in touch with the people at Apple we needed to talk to at any given point. Our first app was built using 'unsanctioned' technology, PyObjC (…

You've shipped PyObjC-based apps for the Mac? We should talk. :)

Drop me a line anytime :) — my first name at madebysofa dot com

Re: Apple's Mistake

#228

Post by tome »

How much of the goodwill Apple once had with programmers have they lost over the App Store? A third? Half?

pg, can you please clarify this? What exactly does it mean to lose "a third" or "a half" of goodwill?

Re: Apple's Mistake

#229

Post by viraptor »

fhars wrote: post #96
allenp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep seeing this notion of opening the platform brought up here. I'm having a hard time visualizing how this works out. Does Apple continue the overhead/cost of the app store? Do they have a giant disclaimer that they do not support or condone the applications, take no responsibility for any damages, etc? Do they still act as the payment gateway? How does this impact Apple's brand and the consumer trust of the prod…

Before Android, there was no phone platform with open app development, JavaME and Symbian require a code signing certifiate (at about $300 per year) just for running your own code on your own phone in an acceptable manner. Symbian seems to have opened up a little bit in the last few months with free online signing for your own IMEI, but it is still very little, very late.

They don't - you can run basically anything you want on JavaME without code signing. The only difference is that you can't set a permanent "ok" for some actions without it (that depends on the phone model though).

Re: Apple's Mistake

#230

Post by charltones »

tokenadult wrote: post #9

Y Combinator RFS 5: Development on Handhelds, mentioned in the submitted article: http://ycombinator.com/rfs5.html

Some Nokia devices have a TV out facility that lets you see the screen output on an attached TV. Coupled with a Bluetooth keyboard you have the beginnings (I know it isn't perfect) of an acceptable input and output arrangement. Then take a text editor and something like Python for Series 60 and voila - a mobile development device. I've already got Putty (SSH) running on my phone, so I can do server side development via that.
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