Comments on: iPhone OS updated; developers let down by Apple (a little)

By: T=Machine » Web 0.1: Apple: please hire some web developers

T=Machine » Web 0.1: Apple: please hire some web developers — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:29:06 +0000

[...] can no longer develop iPhone Apps. I am on my eighth attempt to download the 1.75Gb 2.2.1 SDK – without which, XCode refuses to even talk to my iPhone any more, because I allowed the iPhone to [...]

By: adam

adam — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:10:24 +0000

EDIT: Actually, ive got a better idea, ill blog it.

Suffice it to say for now: There are clearly big problems with the itunes app store; the rumoured plan is IMHO a very poor thing to do as it ignores the real issues and creates new ones.

By: Steven Davis

Steven Davis — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:31:09 +0000

Adam -

What are your thoughts on the premium store?

Steve

By: Andrew Crystall

Andrew Crystall — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:22:50 +0000

Ted; To be fair, the tools avaliable for the PS3 now are pretty good. Sony have rectified their mistakes. Apple continue to make them, and their attitude on this is, as far as I’m concerned, the same one they show to their customers.

By: Ted Howard

Ted Howard — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:54:17 +0000

Apple has never been known as a good platform company. Go watch Steve Ballmer blowing out his vocal cords yelling “Developers!Developers!Developers!” again and think about what that means about Microsoft. Look at how much attention Microsoft pays to backwards compatibility, API stability across major and minor versions and across patches. Look at Microsoft’s R&D in the Developer Division to see how much effort they put into building platforms that are designed for the profitability of ISV’s. Go search for stories about Sony PS3 developer tools; I’ll never forget the GDC when Sony announced the existence of a compiler for the Cell – those poor PS3 devs had been hand-coding Cell assembly language!

Platforms require understanding that end-users and ISVs are both your customers. You must cater to both populations. End-users want fun, functional, and pretty things. ISV’s want predictability, stability, and profit. If companies like Facebook and Apple want to build platforms, they need to look at successful platforms and failed platforms for lessons.