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Four years and change later the central thesis that developers will abandon Apple en masse because the App Store is a great crime against programmers rings holl

by Steko 13y ago

Four years and change later the central thesis that developers will abandon Apple en masse because the App Store is a great crime against programmers rings hollow. iOS is still the first target for many developers and for those where it isn't, they're more likely following the enormous Android userbase most of which Apple doesn't even compete for. I'm sure it has cost them some developers but the short list of big time Android first apps tells you the score. At the end of the day hot dog vendors sell hot dogs in highly regulated NYC because people in NYC buy hot dogs. Companies sell their goods to Wal-Mart and Neiman Marcus instead of at the flea market because that's what keeps the lights on. Small publishers work with Amazon despite horrible terms because it puts steak on the dinner table. One thing this article reminds us of it that pg has the not uncommon HN blind spot for Google who he claims has "remained true to their founding principles". I guess stabbing a close partner in the back by releasing a clone of their flagship product is not being evil. I wonder if he's also a fan of the Samwer brothers?

MichaelApproved 13y ago
"I guess stabbing a close partner in the back by releasing a clone of their flagship product is not being evil." What is the product you're referencing?
- droopybuns 13y ago
  facebook?
- e28eta 13y ago
  Steve Jobs would say the iPhone
  - MichaelApproved 13y ago
    I guess that's what OP was referring to but how is it surprising that a major tech company was getting into the mobile device business? Even Amazon created a tablet.
    - fivethree 13y ago
      Their early versions looked closer to a blackberry. The general Jobs assertion is that Google switched to full touch screen after seeing the prototypes.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- bobbles 13y ago
  He is talking about the way that Google released a full touch-screen based phone to directly compete with the iPhone after becoming familiar with the project due to their board connections.
  - jcampbell1 13y ago
    I mistakenly read it as Google being pissed because pg funded a competitor to Google. Should probably just delete my comment.
  - Steko 13y ago
    There were board connections but primarily Apple partnered closely with Google starting with the iphone because Maps and Search were great services that Apple wanted to build right into the core of the device and really the whiz bangness of the iphone intro to me was when Steve searched for a shop, brought it up on maps, touched the number and the companies phone was ringing. When Eric got onstage at the iphone keynote [1] and joked about Apple and Google being such great partners that they should merge, it got an honest laugh at the time but watching the same moment in retrospect is absolutely jarring. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9hUIxyE2Ns8#t=3021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9h... Here's Steve, who had some experience losing a big market to a close partner, demonstrating the betrayal he felt from Google: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake teams at Google want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them, he says. Someone else asks something on a different topic, but there’s no getting Jobs off this rant. I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing, he says. "Don't be evil is a load of crap" Now Apple is in the Maps business today and is slowly entering corners of the Search business as well but imo they didn't want to be and they aren't particularly good at it and know it. But the battle lines that were drawn in 2009 made it clear they had to abandon any ideas of partnering with Google for longer than they absolutely needed to.
argumentum 13y ago
> I guess stabbing a close partner in the back by releasing a clone of their flagship product is not being evil 1. All these companies "stab each other in the back" and engage in cut throat competition for everything, including (notoriously now) employees and customers. 2. Of all the things google has done, or is doing, or might do releasing Android was one of the more benevolent. At least the "victim" was a giant corporation not defenseless employees, factory workers, developers or customers. 3. Evil is what Sergey says is evil. I'm a huge fan of Apple products, but "benevolent" is certainly not a word you might use to describe them as a company. In many cases (not all), the opposite can be said of Google.

by Steko 13y ago

MichaelApproved 13y ago

"I guess stabbing a close partner in the back by releasing a clone of their flagship product is not being evil." What is the product you're referencing?

droopybuns 13y ago
facebook?
e28eta 13y ago
Steve Jobs would say the iPhone
- MichaelApproved 13y ago
  I guess that's what OP was referring to but how is it surprising that a major tech company was getting into the mobile device business? Even Amazon created a tablet.
  - fivethree 13y ago
    Their early versions looked closer to a blackberry. The general Jobs assertion is that Google switched to full touch screen after seeing the prototypes.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

bobbles 13y ago
He is talking about the way that Google released a full touch-screen based phone to directly compete with the iPhone after becoming familiar with the project due to their board connections.
- jcampbell1 13y ago
  I mistakenly read it as Google being pissed because pg funded a competitor to Google. Should probably just delete my comment.
- Steko 13y ago
  There were board connections but primarily Apple partnered closely with Google starting with the iphone because Maps and Search were great services that Apple wanted to build right into the core of the device and really the whiz bangness of the iphone intro to me was when Steve searched for a shop, brought it up on maps, touched the number and the companies phone was ringing. When Eric got onstage at the iphone keynote [1] and joked about Apple and Google being such great partners that they should merge, it got an honest laugh at the time but watching the same moment in retrospect is absolutely jarring. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9hUIxyE2Ns8#t=3021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9h... Here's Steve, who had some experience losing a big market to a close partner, demonstrating the betrayal he felt from Google: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake teams at Google want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them, he says. Someone else asks something on a different topic, but there’s no getting Jobs off this rant. I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing, he says. "Don't be evil is a load of crap" Now Apple is in the Maps business today and is slowly entering corners of the Search business as well but imo they didn't want to be and they aren't particularly good at it and know it. But the battle lines that were drawn in 2009 made it clear they had to abandon any ideas of partnering with Google for longer than they absolutely needed to.

argumentum 13y ago

> I guess stabbing a close partner in the back by releasing a clone of their flagship product is not being evil 1. All these companies "stab each other in the back" and engage in cut throat competition for everything, including (notoriously now) employees and customers. 2. Of all the things google has done, or is doing, or might do releasing Android was one of the more benevolent. At least the "victim" was a giant corporation not defenseless employees, factory workers, developers or customers. 3. Evil is what Sergey says is evil. I'm a huge fan of Apple products, but "benevolent" is certainly not a word you might use to describe them as a company. In many cases (not all), the opposite can be said of Google.