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I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. I like OSX a lot. I really hope they return to giving it

I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. I like OSX a lot. I really hope they return to giving it the attention it deserves soon.

symesc 17y ago
Somewhat ironic that the Mac OS X platform represents the only way to develop for the iPhone OS.
- CamperBob 17y ago
  True, but I think Apple sees this fact as a fortunate artifact of history, rather than as a sacred cow that must be preserved at all costs. Imagine a world in which Apple never created the Mac, but had instead been formed many years later, with the same people, processes, and design ethic. They'd still have become successful at selling iPhones, iPods, and iPads; nothing about those devices really depends on the Mac legacy, except for the fact that their OS happened to have been developed for the Mac first. In that world, if you walked into Jobs's office today and pitched him on the idea of launching a line of traditional personal computers, he'd say something sarcastic and tell you to GTFO. The idea wouldn't merit five minutes' thought. Hence the company's new name, sans "Computer."
  - pyre 17y ago
    So, Apple is going to push iPhone/iPad development onto Windows/Linux? Or onto iPhones/iPads?
    - CamperBob 17y ago
      Onto whatever makes sense at the time. iPhone OS development will work like game console development does now, where the dev tools are (again, for now) all hosted on Windows. It makes as much sense for Apple to have their own line of proprietary PCs as it does for Sony. Even Sony understands that.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - ZeroGravitas 17y ago
    I can still recall the shock when the first Windows compatible iPods where released. Ever since then many, many decisions have been made to favour the portable devices over the Mac platform.
- Perceval 17y ago
  My intuition is that Apple is beginning to follow a 90-9-1 rule with its offerings, probably not by design but just because that's how the market is actually structured. http://www.90-9-1.com/ http://www.90-9-1.com/ The 90-9-1 rule says that 90% of people are going to be consumers/audience, 9% will interact/edit/participate, while only 1% will be doing the actual creation of content for people to interact with or consume. The desktop Macs are for that 1%. In fact, most computers have been designed to cater to that 1% of coders and creative professionals. Very few computers have been explicitly designed and made for the other 99%. The iPad seems to me to be targeting that 90% that want to be an audience/consumer of content, but are not creators. It's a computing device/appliance finally made specifically with them in mind, rather than with hackers/creators/coders/geeks in mind as the target market. So, it makes sense that Macs will remain the only way to develop for iPhone OS. Making iPhone OS capable of becoming a development platform would be counter to the entire idea/market of iPhone OS. Macs may dwindle to 1% of Apple's sales some day, but they'll still sit at the top, trickling down all the content to the rest of the ecosystem.
mortenjorck 17y ago
Attempting to see all this from as wide a perspective as possible, I think it's only natural given the incredibly fast pace at which mobile is developing right now. The mobile industry is in the middle of a massive renaissance, Apple somehow ended up right at the center of it, and it just makes sense to focus all their resources on it while they have the advantage. In a few more years, as this new generation of mobile matures, Apple will probably shift back to the desktop as the pieces begin to drift together for the next generation there.
- bryansum 17y ago
  Or, perhaps more likely is that the distinction between what's mobile and a desktop app begins to blur.
  - ryanpetrich 17y ago
    That is exactly what Apple is betting on with the iPad
    - pyre 17y ago
      So Apple is banking on AutoDesk tools 'coming to an iPad near you?'
      - easp 17y ago
        Huh? How much has Apple ever banked on AutoDesk's tools on the Mac?
      - qq66 17y ago
        There are obviously cases where a mobile device cannot replace a desktop. For that matter, there are cases where a desktop cannot replace a mainframe computer (bank transaction processing). All technology shifts are about the 90% -- there is always the 10% of jobs that need a mainframe, or a fax machine, or even a telegram.
        17y ago
vaporstun 17y ago
While I certainly agree with you, I would also point out that OSX is also a very mature platform whereas iPhone OS is in its infancy. So one could argue that OSX does not need as much hype to spur development, and since it has been around for so long, many of the critical gaps in the application space have been filled on OSX. Whereas there are still many opportunities for mobile device applications that solve problems that are not yet solved.
- generalk 17y ago
  While I certainly agree with you, I would also point out that OSX is also a very mature platform whereas iPhone OS is in its infancy. That sounds like the mentality that had people stuck with Windows XP and IE 6 for years on end with no innovation in the space.
MWinther 17y ago
I agree with you on liking OSX. On the other hand, I'd rather see them put out a great 10.7 when they have been working on it properly, than just putting something half-finished out there despite their current focus on getting the iPhone platform up to speed. I am hoping for more attention on OSX as well, but I'm not really worried. The ADA are usually targeted on specific (and new) technologies, and the latest technologies like OpenCL and GCD are more useful from a behind-the-scenes-perspective. I can also imagine the plan being a convergence of the two platforms so that they'll put back some of the new thinking in the iPhone OS into OSX. It wouldn't have made sense to base that work on iPhone OS 3.0 when 4.0 put in as much new stuff as it does. Although, admittedly, a lot of that stuff is already available on the desktop.
zppx 17y ago
I think part of that is because Apple is growing as a content distributor, as long as OS X remains awesome (and gets no app store) I see no problem with that.
CamperBob 17y ago
I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. When they renamed the company from "Apple Computer" to "Apple", it should've been obvious which way the wind was blowing. They are not going to be selling Macs in ten years.
- pyre 17y ago
  What are they going to do with their development platform then? I can see how it makes sense for Apple to drop 'computers' and focus on 'devices,' but they are currently restricting their development platform to Macs. Do you feel that they will be able to create a competent development platform for Windows or Linux? Or do you think that we will all be coding on iPhones/iPads in 10 years?
  - CamperBob 17y ago
    I can't see using a tablet as a coding platform, but who knows what kind of wacky stuff will happen by the time they get around to retiring the Mac platform. As mentioned above, though, Windows-hosted development is the rule and not the exception in other industries like game development, which are just as technically demanding (if not far more so) than iPhone OS app development.
    - pyre 17y ago
      The problem is that Apple has never shown any sort of competency in developing stable and/or usable Windows applications. They need their developer tools to stay friendly during such a transition, too. They can't just expect i{Phone,Pad} developers to walk barefoot over broken glass just for the privilege of creating an application for the platform. {edit} Either that or they are banking on being so entrenched by the time they drop the Mac platform that developers will have no choice but to 'walk barefoot over broken glass' to develop for their mobile platform.
      - orangecat 17y ago
        They can't just expect i{Phone,Pad} developers to walk barefoot over broken glass just for the privilege of creating an application for the platform. Based on their recent policy changes that is exactly what they expect.
oomkiller 17y ago
Actually, I'd be quite happy if they forgot about OS X and released it as open source to the community (as in BSD licensed). They could still maintain the official version for their hardware, but the community could run it for free, along with fixing bugs for them and developing new features.
- rimantas 17y ago
  http://www.opensource.apple.com/ http://www.opensource.apple.com/ Sure that's not the whole deal, but still.

I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. I like OSX a lot. I really hope they return to giving it the attention it deserves soon.

symesc 17y ago

Somewhat ironic that the Mac OS X platform represents the only way to develop for the iPhone OS.

CamperBob 17y ago
True, but I think Apple sees this fact as a fortunate artifact of history, rather than as a sacred cow that must be preserved at all costs. Imagine a world in which Apple never created the Mac, but had instead been formed many years later, with the same people, processes, and design ethic. They'd still have become successful at selling iPhones, iPods, and iPads; nothing about those devices really depends on the Mac legacy, except for the fact that their OS happened to have been developed for the Mac first. In that world, if you walked into Jobs's office today and pitched him on the idea of launching a line of traditional personal computers, he'd say something sarcastic and tell you to GTFO. The idea wouldn't merit five minutes' thought. Hence the company's new name, sans "Computer."
- pyre 17y ago
  So, Apple is going to push iPhone/iPad development onto Windows/Linux? Or onto iPhones/iPads?
  - CamperBob 17y ago
    Onto whatever makes sense at the time. iPhone OS development will work like game console development does now, where the dev tools are (again, for now) all hosted on Windows. It makes as much sense for Apple to have their own line of proprietary PCs as it does for Sony. Even Sony understands that.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  I can still recall the shock when the first Windows compatible iPods where released. Ever since then many, many decisions have been made to favour the portable devices over the Mac platform.
Perceval 17y ago
My intuition is that Apple is beginning to follow a 90-9-1 rule with its offerings, probably not by design but just because that's how the market is actually structured. http://www.90-9-1.com/ http://www.90-9-1.com/ The 90-9-1 rule says that 90% of people are going to be consumers/audience, 9% will interact/edit/participate, while only 1% will be doing the actual creation of content for people to interact with or consume. The desktop Macs are for that 1%. In fact, most computers have been designed to cater to that 1% of coders and creative professionals. Very few computers have been explicitly designed and made for the other 99%. The iPad seems to me to be targeting that 90% that want to be an audience/consumer of content, but are not creators. It's a computing device/appliance finally made specifically with them in mind, rather than with hackers/creators/coders/geeks in mind as the target market. So, it makes sense that Macs will remain the only way to develop for iPhone OS. Making iPhone OS capable of becoming a development platform would be counter to the entire idea/market of iPhone OS. Macs may dwindle to 1% of Apple's sales some day, but they'll still sit at the top, trickling down all the content to the rest of the ecosystem.

mortenjorck 17y ago

Attempting to see all this from as wide a perspective as possible, I think it's only natural given the incredibly fast pace at which mobile is developing right now. The mobile industry is in the middle of a massive renaissance, Apple somehow ended up right at the center of it, and it just makes sense to focus all their resources on it while they have the advantage. In a few more years, as this new generation of mobile matures, Apple will probably shift back to the desktop as the pieces begin to drift together for the next generation there.

bryansum 17y ago
Or, perhaps more likely is that the distinction between what's mobile and a desktop app begins to blur.
- ryanpetrich 17y ago
  That is exactly what Apple is betting on with the iPad
  - pyre 17y ago
    So Apple is banking on AutoDesk tools 'coming to an iPad near you?'
    - easp 17y ago
      Huh? How much has Apple ever banked on AutoDesk's tools on the Mac?
    - qq66 17y ago
      There are obviously cases where a mobile device cannot replace a desktop. For that matter, there are cases where a desktop cannot replace a mainframe computer (bank transaction processing). All technology shifts are about the 90% -- there is always the 10% of jobs that need a mainframe, or a fax machine, or even a telegram.
      - 17y ago

vaporstun 17y ago

While I certainly agree with you, I would also point out that OSX is also a very mature platform whereas iPhone OS is in its infancy. So one could argue that OSX does not need as much hype to spur development, and since it has been around for so long, many of the critical gaps in the application space have been filled on OSX. Whereas there are still many opportunities for mobile device applications that solve problems that are not yet solved.

generalk 17y ago
While I certainly agree with you, I would also point out that OSX is also a very mature platform whereas iPhone OS is in its infancy. That sounds like the mentality that had people stuck with Windows XP and IE 6 for years on end with no innovation in the space.

MWinther 17y ago

I agree with you on liking OSX. On the other hand, I'd rather see them put out a great 10.7 when they have been working on it properly, than just putting something half-finished out there despite their current focus on getting the iPhone platform up to speed. I am hoping for more attention on OSX as well, but I'm not really worried. The ADA are usually targeted on specific (and new) technologies, and the latest technologies like OpenCL and GCD are more useful from a behind-the-scenes-perspective. I can also imagine the plan being a convergence of the two platforms so that they'll put back some of the new thinking in the iPhone OS into OSX. It wouldn't have made sense to base that work on iPhone OS 3.0 when 4.0 put in as much new stuff as it does. Although, admittedly, a lot of that stuff is already available on the desktop.

zppx 17y ago

I think part of that is because Apple is growing as a content distributor, as long as OS X remains awesome (and gets no app store) I see no problem with that.

CamperBob 17y ago

I am really not liking the whole emphasize-iphoneOS-over everything-else direction of apple recently. When they renamed the company from "Apple Computer" to "Apple", it should've been obvious which way the wind was blowing. They are not going to be selling Macs in ten years.

pyre 17y ago
What are they going to do with their development platform then? I can see how it makes sense for Apple to drop 'computers' and focus on 'devices,' but they are currently restricting their development platform to Macs. Do you feel that they will be able to create a competent development platform for Windows or Linux? Or do you think that we will all be coding on iPhones/iPads in 10 years?
- CamperBob 17y ago
  I can't see using a tablet as a coding platform, but who knows what kind of wacky stuff will happen by the time they get around to retiring the Mac platform. As mentioned above, though, Windows-hosted development is the rule and not the exception in other industries like game development, which are just as technically demanding (if not far more so) than iPhone OS app development.
  - pyre 17y ago
    The problem is that Apple has never shown any sort of competency in developing stable and/or usable Windows applications. They need their developer tools to stay friendly during such a transition, too. They can't just expect i{Phone,Pad} developers to walk barefoot over broken glass just for the privilege of creating an application for the platform. {edit} Either that or they are banking on being so entrenched by the time they drop the Mac platform that developers will have no choice but to 'walk barefoot over broken glass' to develop for their mobile platform.
    - orangecat 17y ago
      They can't just expect i{Phone,Pad} developers to walk barefoot over broken glass just for the privilege of creating an application for the platform. Based on their recent policy changes that is exactly what they expect.

oomkiller 17y ago

Actually, I'd be quite happy if they forgot about OS X and released it as open source to the community (as in BSD licensed). They could still maintain the official version for their hardware, but the community could run it for free, along with fixing bugs for them and developing new features.

rimantas 17y ago
http://www.opensource.apple.com/ http://www.opensource.apple.com/ Sure that's not the whole deal, but still.