{"id":216,"date":"2010-04-09T10:39:27","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T17:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/35.225.155.113\/blog\/index.php\/2010\/04\/09\/it_is_about_more_developers_for_the_mac\/"},"modified":"2019-10-13T12:43:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T19:43:37","slug":"this-it-is-about-more-developers-for-the-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weinstein.org\/blog\/index.php\/2010\/04\/this-it-is-about-more-developers-for-the-mac.html","title":{"rendered":"This is About More Developers for the Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wake of Apple’s press event
\nannouncing the latest software update to its mobile platform due out
\nthis summer<\/a>, John Gruber<\/a> and other suggests<\/a> that, with an interesting
\nmodification to the developer agreement, Apple is trying to increase
\nthe quality of applications created for their growing family of mobile
\nmulti-touch devices.<\/p>\n

\n

Specifically the new agreement, which
\ndevelopers must accept in order to use the latest development kit,
\nbans the use of cross-platform compilers<\/a> in creating applications for
\nthe iPhone\/iPad\/iPod touch.<\/p>\n

\n

That is to develop software for the
\nupcoming iPhone OS release a developer has one of two options; use
\nApple’s development environment, complete with compiler and
\nprogramming interfaces to develop an application specifically
\ndesigned for the iPhone\/iPad\/iPod or target multiple platforms by building a
\nweb app that can also run in the web browser, Safari.<\/p>\n

\n

However, the restriction goes, you
\ncannot develop using, for example, Adobe’s pending Flash update<\/a>
\nwhich is designed to enable the building of an application in one
\nenvironment, Flash, and in turn, recompiled for multiple, “less
\npowerful” platforms such as the Android or Windows smartphones.<\/p>\n

\n

Yet, as other commentators have noted,
\nApple already reserves the right to review apps submitted to their
\niTunes store and that hasn’t stopped the store from getting bogged down
\nwith lots of crappy apps.<\/p>\n

\n

Thus, their logic goes, Apple is really
\ntrying to lock in developers. If you want to develop for the iPhone,
\nwhich everyone has, you can only use our toolkit. Oh and you have to
\npay us $99 to get a copy of the developer kit. Oh and the software
\ndeveloper kit only runs on a Mac, which only we make, so that will be
\nanother $1,000. Mahhhaaaa, we’re so evil….<\/p>\n

\n

But one Hacker News<\/a> commentator, \tthought_alarm<\/a>, I think is on
\nthe right track noting, “Few developers have any experience with
\nCocoa or Objective-C.”<\/p>\n

\n

Exactly!<\/p>\n

\n

Compared to the number of Windows
\ndevelopers or web developers out there, few have developed using
\nCocoa<\/a> or Objective-C<\/a> given the Mac’s market share
\ncompared to other computers. Few individuals or companies have looked
\nto develop Mac-only or Mac specific applications.<\/p>\n

\n

But now the iPhone and iPad are the
\ntoast of the town. Everyone wants to get in while the getting is
\ngood. Naturally, Apple wants to capitalize on this.<\/p>\n

\n

Now, it just so happens that Xcode<\/a>, the
\nsoftware development kit for the iPhone, is the exact same
\ndevelopment kit Apple provides to Mac developers. Objective-C the
\nexact same language. Cocoa Touch<\/a>, a variation of the Cocoa framework
\nfor the Mac.<\/p>\n

\n

All these new iPhone developers have
\neverything they need to develop for the Mac.<\/p>\n

\n

Apple isn’t looking to lock in these iPhone developers, instead Apple is looking to open up the
\nnumber of Apple developers out in the wild, be it iPhone, iPad, iPod
\nor Mac.<\/p>\n

\n

See, a few years ago, when the iPod was
\ngrowing in popularity, there was a lot of talk about the “halo
\neffect<\/a>.” The idea that consumers, who for whatever reason had
\nignored Apple and the Mac, but now wanted an iPod, would in turn take a second look at Apple when looking for their next computer
\npurchase.<\/p>\n

\n

By all accounts the halo effect is
\nreal. While the PC industry has been in the dumps during the recent
\nrecession, Apple has sold record numbers of Macs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

But the Mac still doesn’t command the
\nmarket to demand individual developer’s attention. The iPhone,
\nhowever does. <\/p>\n

\n

By getting developers to use only Apple’s software
\ndevelopment kit for the iPhone, Apple gets a chance to say “See how
\neasy that was to develop for the iPhone? Now just imagine what you
\ncould do for the Mac! You already have everything you need to write a
\nkiller Mac application. Go on, we dare you!”<\/p>\n

\n

The only other option, developing a web
\napplication, still works overall in Apple’s favor. Since the framework for
\nSafari on the iPhone, Webkit<\/a>, is the same that drives the Safari web
\nbrowser on the Mac.<\/p>\n

\n

In other words, Apple is looking to grab the attention of developers, who for whatever reason had ignored Apple and the Mac, but now want to develop for the iPhone\/iPad\/iPod, and in turn might take a second look at the Mac when looking at their next software project.<\/p>\n

\"\"