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Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of

by sohn 15y ago

Unlike most of you Hacker News readers may think, Apple devices are not common out there (yes, I know, there are iPhones - yet they're too expensive and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C), so Obj-C didn't catch on yet.

dan1234 15y ago
"…and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C…" Got any sources to back that up? I've often looked for numbers for ObjC vs PhoneGap vs Titanium vs etc comparisons but I've never managed to come up with anything conclusive.
- vetinari 15y ago
  I think that sohn's point is not that PhoneGap/Titanium/etc are more popular than they really are, but that most iOS apps are really written in C/C++ with only thin shim to interface with iOS where necessary (think games portable to other platforms).
  - rsynnott 15y ago
    Which is, indeed, true for some games, particularly high-end games. However, the bulk of apps on iOS are not high-end games.
peteretep 15y ago
6 months ago, there were 250 million iOS devices had been sold - that's iOS only, no Macs. I make that one for every 28 human beings on this planet. What number would tip this so that you considered Apple devices to be common?
- VMG 15y ago
  To be fair, many people own multiple iOS devices.
  - sambeau 15y ago
    A small number of geeks and a fair number of households own more than one iOS device. Most people don't.
    - estel 15y ago
      Perhaps, but equally most iPad owners seem to also own an iPhone.
  - JadeNB 15y ago
    According to http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+many+cars+on+Earth http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+many+cars+on+Earth, there are under 700 million cars on Earth. I think a ratio of 3 cars : 1 of your product counts as its being popular, even if some people own more than one. :-)
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
sipefree 15y ago
> most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C Yeah I'm going to call bullshit on that. Bullshit.
jopt 15y ago
Do you have a source for that (iOS mostly
rbarooah 15y ago
Since you acknowledge that this is not the prevailing view, do you have any data or sources to support it?
vellum 15y ago
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Apple sold around ~133 million iOS devices in 2011. How is that "not common"?
jiggy2011 15y ago
Apple devices may not be the most common devices out there, but they are a very popular target for developers. Many applications developers will target iOS before they target android etc, even though the sales numbers may be higher simply because the apple store has a reputation for converting paid apps better. Therefor, any serious mobile developer probably know objective C. Not sure what you think the applications are being coded in? Sure, maybe some use cross platform toolkits but I bet the best selling apps are written in obj-C or at least by developers familiar with it.
jwarzech 15y ago
For what its worth CNBC's 'All-America Economic Survey' (http://www.cnbc.com/id/46857053 http://www.cnbc.com/id/46857053) resulted in the conclusion that 51% of all homes in america have at least one Apple product. I would say thats starting to get pretty common (of course this is probably skewed based on the demographic reading cnbc)
batista 15y ago
Not according to sales. For example the iPad is like 90%+ of all tables sold. The iPhone has sold 100 million+. The iPod has the majority of the mp3 player market. The Mac has ~10% of the US market share. As for "Obj-C didn't catch on", not true according to the TIOBE index.

by sohn 15y ago

dan1234 15y ago

"…and most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C…" Got any sources to back that up? I've often looked for numbers for ObjC vs PhoneGap vs Titanium vs etc comparisons but I've never managed to come up with anything conclusive.

vetinari 15y ago
I think that sohn's point is not that PhoneGap/Titanium/etc are more popular than they really are, but that most iOS apps are really written in C/C++ with only thin shim to interface with iOS where necessary (think games portable to other platforms).
- rsynnott 15y ago
  Which is, indeed, true for some games, particularly high-end games. However, the bulk of apps on iOS are not high-end games.

peteretep 15y ago

6 months ago, there were 250 million iOS devices had been sold - that's iOS only, no Macs. I make that one for every 28 human beings on this planet. What number would tip this so that you considered Apple devices to be common?

VMG 15y ago
To be fair, many people own multiple iOS devices.
- sambeau 15y ago
  A small number of geeks and a fair number of households own more than one iOS device. Most people don't.
  - estel 15y ago
    Perhaps, but equally most iPad owners seem to also own an iPhone.
- JadeNB 15y ago
  According to http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+many+cars+on+Earth http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+many+cars+on+Earth, there are under 700 million cars on Earth. I think a ratio of 3 cars : 1 of your product counts as its being popular, even if some people own more than one. :-)
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

sipefree 15y ago

> most of their applications are NOT being coded in Obj-C Yeah I'm going to call bullshit on that. Bullshit.

jopt 15y ago

Do you have a source for that (iOS mostly

rbarooah 15y ago

Since you acknowledge that this is not the prevailing view, do you have any data or sources to support it?

vellum 15y ago

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Apple sold around ~133 million iOS devices in 2011. How is that "not common"?

jiggy2011 15y ago

Apple devices may not be the most common devices out there, but they are a very popular target for developers. Many applications developers will target iOS before they target android etc, even though the sales numbers may be higher simply because the apple store has a reputation for converting paid apps better. Therefor, any serious mobile developer probably know objective C. Not sure what you think the applications are being coded in? Sure, maybe some use cross platform toolkits but I bet the best selling apps are written in obj-C or at least by developers familiar with it.

jwarzech 15y ago

For what its worth CNBC's 'All-America Economic Survey' (http://www.cnbc.com/id/46857053 http://www.cnbc.com/id/46857053) resulted in the conclusion that 51% of all homes in america have at least one Apple product. I would say thats starting to get pretty common (of course this is probably skewed based on the demographic reading cnbc)

batista 15y ago

Not according to sales. For example the iPad is like 90%+ of all tables sold. The iPhone has sold 100 million+. The iPod has the majority of the mp3 player market. The Mac has ~10% of the US market share. As for "Obj-C didn't catch on", not true according to the TIOBE index.