4 ms·

The mac app store is the end of an era. For a while the mac was the most user-centered AND developer-centered platform that existed. When I bought my first mac

by sammcd 16y ago

The mac app store is the end of an era. For a while the mac was the most user-centered AND developer-centered platform that existed. When I bought my first mac apple was actively recruiting developers by having free conferences around the US. Apple has decided to go more in the user-centered direction then the developer-centered direction. This is definitely the right move for them. However it makes me a little sad, its the end of an error. Now I see linux as the developer centered OS with OS X as the most user-centered OS. Its a hard call to make. Mostly I think I am harboring some resentment. "Back in my day we had to write our own licensing code, host a web payment code, and host autoupdates. All the kids these days do is launch the darn app." I think I almost believe its not fair. I guess at the age of 24, I am running into one of the first big changes that I have to accept if I want to stay relevant. I knew this market changed quick, I just always assumed it would be in the way that I wanted it to change.

count 16y ago
Only because it's semantically important - did you mean 'end of an era' or 'end of an error'?
- sammcd 16y ago
  Thanks, I replaced it with what I intended, 'era'. I think my fingers are much more used to typing 'error' then 'era'. :)
  - hasenj 16y ago
    There's still another instance of "end of an error" you forgot to edit. Are you British? :P
geoffpado 16y ago
I would argue that bringing a massive amount of new customers to their developers is actually rather developer-friendly. Maybe not "programmer friendly", as Linux is, but how many developers do you see making a living off Linux applications?
- sprout 16y ago
  More than making a living off iOS applications. And there's probably a lot of overlap in fact. If iOS is the client, I think it's a pretty good bet Linux is the server.
msbarnett 16y ago
In what way is the presence of a Mac App Store making the Mac less developer-friendly? If anything, the creation of yet another possible revenue channel only makes the OS more friendly to me, not less. "Back in my day, we had to roll our own blitter if we wanted to do anything serious" could also be said, but that doesn't mean modern graphics libraries and hardware are less developer friendly. Eliminating the need to do repetitive grunt-work is always a good thing.
- sammcd 16y ago
  Because of these things: - Apple decides which apps go and which don't. - I have to read a list of rules to know if I can actually sell my application - Apple takes 30% of my money. - Apple decides what programming language I can use. I thought it was agreed upon that the app store is not overall good for developers.
  - msbarnett 16y ago
    Agreed upon by whom? An App Store isn't that great for developers (in the "developers being free to do whatever they want" sense of "good for developers") when it's the only option available. That is not the case with the Mac App Store. If you don't find any benefits in the tradeoffs that particular option provides, don't pursue it. Write your "own licensing code, host a web payment code, and host autoupdates" like the "good old days", if that's what floats your boat. But it's still better to have another revenue option at your disposal than to not, even if you don't choose to use it.
    - scrod 16y ago
      >An App Store isn't that great for developers ... when it's the only option available. That is not the case with the Mac App Store. I keep hearing this, but I've yet to be convinced. Over the last 5-10 years Apple has pushed developers more and more aggressively. They put giant efforts into things like Classic and Rosetta, only to strip them from the OS entirely a few years later. They repeatedly trumpeted the full equivalence of Carbon and Java to Cocoa, and now it's infeasible to use either as the basis for any full-featured application. They developed all kinds of new APIs for QuickTime in 10.5, and then in 10.6 introduced "QuickTime X" as the only 64-bit native solution, effectively deprecating everything else. And most recently there's this unusual attack on the Flash plugin of all things. It's as if they now revel in actively destroying backwards-compatibility. All of these decisions had the effect of reducing Apple's support and maintenance overhead while strengthening their control over the direction of their platform. I would be surprised if Apple's very clearly demonstrated zeal for taking control and eliminating developer options did not extend to the new Mac App store.

by sammcd 16y ago

count 16y ago

Only because it's semantically important - did you mean 'end of an era' or 'end of an error'?

sammcd 16y ago
Thanks, I replaced it with what I intended, 'era'. I think my fingers are much more used to typing 'error' then 'era'. :)
- hasenj 16y ago
  There's still another instance of "end of an error" you forgot to edit. Are you British? :P

geoffpado 16y ago

I would argue that bringing a massive amount of new customers to their developers is actually rather developer-friendly. Maybe not "programmer friendly", as Linux is, but how many developers do you see making a living off Linux applications?

sprout 16y ago
More than making a living off iOS applications. And there's probably a lot of overlap in fact. If iOS is the client, I think it's a pretty good bet Linux is the server.

msbarnett 16y ago

In what way is the presence of a Mac App Store making the Mac less developer-friendly? If anything, the creation of yet another possible revenue channel only makes the OS more friendly to me, not less. "Back in my day, we had to roll our own blitter if we wanted to do anything serious" could also be said, but that doesn't mean modern graphics libraries and hardware are less developer friendly. Eliminating the need to do repetitive grunt-work is always a good thing.

sammcd 16y ago
Because of these things: - Apple decides which apps go and which don't. - I have to read a list of rules to know if I can actually sell my application - Apple takes 30% of my money. - Apple decides what programming language I can use. I thought it was agreed upon that the app store is not overall good for developers.
- msbarnett 16y ago
  Agreed upon by whom? An App Store isn't that great for developers (in the "developers being free to do whatever they want" sense of "good for developers") when it's the only option available. That is not the case with the Mac App Store. If you don't find any benefits in the tradeoffs that particular option provides, don't pursue it. Write your "own licensing code, host a web payment code, and host autoupdates" like the "good old days", if that's what floats your boat. But it's still better to have another revenue option at your disposal than to not, even if you don't choose to use it.
  - scrod 16y ago
    >An App Store isn't that great for developers ... when it's the only option available. That is not the case with the Mac App Store. I keep hearing this, but I've yet to be convinced. Over the last 5-10 years Apple has pushed developers more and more aggressively. They put giant efforts into things like Classic and Rosetta, only to strip them from the OS entirely a few years later. They repeatedly trumpeted the full equivalence of Carbon and Java to Cocoa, and now it's infeasible to use either as the basis for any full-featured application. They developed all kinds of new APIs for QuickTime in 10.5, and then in 10.6 introduced "QuickTime X" as the only 64-bit native solution, effectively deprecating everything else. And most recently there's this unusual attack on the Flash plugin of all things. It's as if they now revel in actively destroying backwards-compatibility. All of these decisions had the effect of reducing Apple's support and maintenance overhead while strengthening their control over the direction of their platform. I would be surprised if Apple's very clearly demonstrated zeal for taking control and eliminating developer options did not extend to the new Mac App store.