

Interested in Apple development, Few questions - Matt33

Hello, I am a 15yr old with a passion for computers &#38; design. Anyways I am interested in developing for the iPhone, as I'll be getting one in a few months. I've never really developed any type of games before, but am in a game design school magnet, and want to begin to learn how to program as I've been meaning to for a while now. I'm interested in developing for the iPhone, and know I need a Mac, Objective-c knowledge as well as XCode knowledge, and a $99 Subscription to be able to sell and test my apps. So here's some questions I've been wanting to ask for awhile...
1 Would you recommend a Mac-Mini ? I see i5 Mac mini's on craigslist going for around $400-$450, and know I could afford that. I switch between my mom/dad's house weekly, and have a Windows based desktop that I built w/ monitor at each house, So I'm thinking i could just bring a small Mac-Mini back and forth with me, as they're pretty small.
2 Could you guy's point me towards some nice Objective-C or XCode tutorials or books? I've just started spring break and want to take advantage of the time off.
3 I'm only 15, so how would I go about selling apps, Ill probably have mostly free apps but would like to incorporate paid versions too, and I know i need to be 18 to sign a contract, would i just get my mom to sign the contract, and if she gets taxed extra I would just pay her the amount she was taxed ? (BTW, I'm in FL)
4 How would I sell apps under a company name, I've heard of people trying to list apps and it saying they're real name instead of a company / made up name. There are obvious reasons I'd like to sell an app under a company name, no one wants to buy an app from a company named, for example "Steve". It pretty much set's your app up for failure. Would I have to register all kinds of legal crap just to make it say a developer name like, for example " FunTide Apps".
5 If there's any advice you'd like to give to me or info that I didnt ask for PLEASE do, it's greatly appreciated.
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hboon
> Hello, I am a 15yr old with a passion for computers & design. Anyways I am
> interested in developing for the iPhone, as I'll be getting one in a few
> months. I've never really developed any type of games before, but am in a
> game design school magnet, and want to begin to learn how to program as I've
> been meaning to for a while now.

Your question would read much better if you break them up into paragraphs like
I did for you below, especialy since you have numbered them. Remember, you
want to help a person help you.

> I'm interested in developing for the iPhone, and know I need a Mac,
> Objective-c knowledge as well as XCode knowledge, and a $99 Subscription to
> be able to sell and test my apps. So here's some questions I've been wanting
> to ask for awhile...

> 1 Would you recommend a Mac-Mini ? I see i5 Mac mini's on craigslist going
> for around $400-$450, and know I could afford that. I switch between my
> mom/dad's house weekly, and have a Windows based desktop that I built w/
> monitor at each house, So I'm thinking i could just bring a small Mac-Mini
> back and forth with me, as they're pretty small.

Since you already have a monitor, a Mac mini is fine. I'm not sure if you need
different keyboards though. Otherwise consider a low end macbook air. The
models in recent years all come with SSDs and they help make compilation
faster.

> 2 Could you guy's point me towards some nice Objective-C or XCode tutorials
> or books? I've just started spring break and want to take advantage of the
> time off.

The Stanford University iOS videos on iTunes are great. Apple's iOS docs are
excellent too, always refer to them.

> 3 I'm only 15, so how would I go about selling apps, Ill probably have
> mostly free apps but would like to incorporate paid versions too, and I know
> i need to be 18 to sign a contract, would i just get my mom to sign the
> contract, and if she gets taxed extra I would just pay her the amount she
> was taxed ? (BTW, I'm in FL)

You'll need local advice for that. But don't let this stop you.

> 4 How would I sell apps under a company name, I've heard of people trying to
> list apps and it saying they're real name instead of a company / made up
> name. There are obvious reasons I'd like to sell an app under a company
> name, no one wants to buy an app from a company named, for example "Steve".
> It pretty much set's your app up for failure. Would I have to register all
> kinds of legal crap just to make it say a developer name like, for example "
> FunTide Apps".

It's typically slower getting a company account approved and in my opinion,
people tend not to notice the company name. But in general, it's best if you
can set up a company for any business ventures.

> 5 If there's any advice you'd like to give to me or info that I didnt ask
> for PLEASE do, it's greatly appreciated.

Think about marketing. How will people know about your app? Making the app is
only 50% of the work. It's a shame to spend 3 months of your life working on
something and not showing it to anyone.

