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When I was a kid, the Apple ][ was the system I coveted most to learn how to program. Instead, my computer club could only afford a teletype interface to some r

When I was a kid, the Apple ][ was the system I coveted most to learn how to program. Instead, my computer club could only afford a teletype interface to some remote system (think 1982) and up until recently I've always suffered from at least a partial Mac envy. No more. This is ridiculous.

houseabsolute 16y ago
Did it just become ridiculous with this current rejection, or was it one of the dozens of previous similar ones where it started becoming ridiculous? And is this really news any more?
axod 16y ago
No, this is ridiculous: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+apple&meta=&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anews.ycomb... This is hacker news, not Apple gossip.
- mahmud 16y ago
  I just flagged the story. Steve Jobs owns the Apple platform and can do whatever he wants with it, but he doesn't own Hacker News. [Edit: Removed "FOAD" to be nicer to AAPL]
  - tvon 16y ago
    Jobs isn't voting these stories up, HN users are.
rimantas 16y ago
I've always suffered from at least a partial Mac envy. So you don't own a Mac? Let me explain: Apple makes some devices: a phone called iPhone; a music player called iPod. About two weeks ago they started to ship their new product iPad — kind of media consumption device. And they also make computers, which happen to be called Macs: Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini and Macbooks. These are great for programming: you get UNIX with GUI what makes sense. Also you get a half a dozen or so programming languages out of the box, including free IDEs.
- cabalamat 16y ago
  > Also you get a half a dozen or so programming languages out of the box, including free IDEs. For now. I'm sure Jobs would love to make the Mac a locked-down platform.
  - argv_empty 16y ago
    Many of his actions since returning to Apple have been contrary to that goal.
  - eli 16y ago
    If the personal computer was just coming of age today, the Mac would be a locked down platform with an App Store. Luckily for us, I think it's too late to get away with anything like that on a device that people consider a general purpose computer.
jstevens85 16y ago
You can download Scratch for Mac here: http://scratch.mit.edu/download http://scratch.mit.edu/download The rejected iPhone app was merely a Scratch program Viewer. It couldn't be used to actually program using Scratch. That requires a PC or Mac.
acg 16y ago
It seems completely understandable to me that Apple would not want kids using ipads as toys when they are trying to build a premium product. They seem acutely aware that the software that most commonly run will define the purpose of the new device and will ultimately define the price. Cheap looking flash widgets and kids toys could damage the image. I'm sure that there will be plenty of cheap tablets that kids can use, they just won't be using daddy's iPad.
- nooneelse 16y ago
  So they are getting rid of all kid toy apps? No, they aren't. Only the ones with these learning through programming aspirations. There are all sorts of other cheap looking toy apps let in, therefore your argument doesn't really work.
lsb 16y ago
Build for the internet! Instead of writing a ROM chip, you wrote easy-to-port software. So build code for a web browser, and route around the arbitrary limitations.

houseabsolute 16y ago

Did it just become ridiculous with this current rejection, or was it one of the dozens of previous similar ones where it started becoming ridiculous? And is this really news any more?

axod 16y ago

No, this is ridiculous: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+apple&meta=&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anews.ycomb... This is hacker news, not Apple gossip.

mahmud 16y ago
I just flagged the story. Steve Jobs owns the Apple platform and can do whatever he wants with it, but he doesn't own Hacker News. [Edit: Removed "FOAD" to be nicer to AAPL]
- tvon 16y ago
  Jobs isn't voting these stories up, HN users are.

rimantas 16y ago

I've always suffered from at least a partial Mac envy. So you don't own a Mac? Let me explain: Apple makes some devices: a phone called iPhone; a music player called iPod. About two weeks ago they started to ship their new product iPad — kind of media consumption device. And they also make computers, which happen to be called Macs: Mac Pro, iMac, Mac mini and Macbooks. These are great for programming: you get UNIX with GUI what makes sense. Also you get a half a dozen or so programming languages out of the box, including free IDEs.

cabalamat 16y ago
> Also you get a half a dozen or so programming languages out of the box, including free IDEs. For now. I'm sure Jobs would love to make the Mac a locked-down platform.
- argv_empty 16y ago
  Many of his actions since returning to Apple have been contrary to that goal.
- eli 16y ago
  If the personal computer was just coming of age today, the Mac would be a locked down platform with an App Store. Luckily for us, I think it's too late to get away with anything like that on a device that people consider a general purpose computer.

jstevens85 16y ago

You can download Scratch for Mac here: http://scratch.mit.edu/download http://scratch.mit.edu/download The rejected iPhone app was merely a Scratch program Viewer. It couldn't be used to actually program using Scratch. That requires a PC or Mac.

acg 16y ago

It seems completely understandable to me that Apple would not want kids using ipads as toys when they are trying to build a premium product. They seem acutely aware that the software that most commonly run will define the purpose of the new device and will ultimately define the price. Cheap looking flash widgets and kids toys could damage the image. I'm sure that there will be plenty of cheap tablets that kids can use, they just won't be using daddy's iPad.

nooneelse 16y ago
So they are getting rid of all kid toy apps? No, they aren't. Only the ones with these learning through programming aspirations. There are all sorts of other cheap looking toy apps let in, therefore your argument doesn't really work.

lsb 16y ago

Build for the internet! Instead of writing a ROM chip, you wrote easy-to-port software. So build code for a web browser, and route around the arbitrary limitations.