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Gruber's a pretty good apologist.

sjs 17y ago
He completely failed to acknowledge a big issue for developers and users of other mobile platforms. They miss out on apps in a world where there is a leading platform in a monopoly position, and nobody can use cross-platform toolkits to develop for that platform. (I don't know why Gruber was compelled to invent the term "meta-platform", but oh well.) Ask any Linux or OS X user - except Gruber apparently; non-native apps might suck, but they are better than nothing if they're the only one of their class on your platform. Most people prefer native apps on any platform, that's why Apple had to change Safari on Windows to better match the Windows look & feel. But if Safari were the only web browser for your platform you would use it no matter what. Even with cross-platform toolkits we Linux & OS X folks don't get quite the # of apps there are for Windows (unix software doesn't count for most people ;-). I'm apologise in advance as I strongly dislike the term, but Gruber is a fanboy. You have to keep that in mind and know to bring a sack of salt to daringfireball.net. That said he gets enough right on the money to keep reading. Just don't forget the salt!
neonfunk 17y ago
"I’m not arguing that it’s anything other than ruthless competitiveness." Seems more like an explanation of their motivations rather than a defense. Not to be a Gruber apologist.
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  Who exactly required an explanation? We all know it was intended to mess with the competition. And if your explanation includes claiming, falsely, that all those affected were producing shitty apps then that's not an being an explainer, it's being an apologist.
  - neonfunk 17y ago
    I am very confused with all of the rhetoric going around. His post was one of the more substantial explanations I've seen on HN. (And of course, the resulting comment thread here is usually very helpful in parsing this kind of debate.) "We all know it was intended to mess with the competition" -- sure; but you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to go more in depth.

sjs 17y ago

He completely failed to acknowledge a big issue for developers and users of other mobile platforms. They miss out on apps in a world where there is a leading platform in a monopoly position, and nobody can use cross-platform toolkits to develop for that platform. (I don't know why Gruber was compelled to invent the term "meta-platform", but oh well.) Ask any Linux or OS X user - except Gruber apparently; non-native apps might suck, but they are better than nothing if they're the only one of their class on your platform. Most people prefer native apps on any platform, that's why Apple had to change Safari on Windows to better match the Windows look & feel. But if Safari were the only web browser for your platform you would use it no matter what. Even with cross-platform toolkits we Linux & OS X folks don't get quite the # of apps there are for Windows (unix software doesn't count for most people ;-). I'm apologise in advance as I strongly dislike the term, but Gruber is a fanboy. You have to keep that in mind and know to bring a sack of salt to daringfireball.net. That said he gets enough right on the money to keep reading. Just don't forget the salt!

neonfunk 17y ago

"I’m not arguing that it’s anything other than ruthless competitiveness." Seems more like an explanation of their motivations rather than a defense. Not to be a Gruber apologist.

ZeroGravitas 17y ago
Who exactly required an explanation? We all know it was intended to mess with the competition. And if your explanation includes claiming, falsely, that all those affected were producing shitty apps then that's not an being an explainer, it's being an apologist.
- neonfunk 17y ago
  I am very confused with all of the rhetoric going around. His post was one of the more substantial explanations I've seen on HN. (And of course, the resulting comment thread here is usually very helpful in parsing this kind of debate.) "We all know it was intended to mess with the competition" -- sure; but you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to go more in depth.