

Apple's cult of secrecy begins to bug its developers - crocus
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/07/30/apples_cult_of_secrecy_begins_to_bug_its_developers.html

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troystribling
Within a couple of years it is likely that many of the user interface features
that currently distinguish the iphone will become a commodity. The first
phones with similar features are just now coming out. It is possible that the
iphone will then follow the path of the apple II and macintosh, which were
just as innovative but failed to give apple the success of competitors who
eventually produced similar products on an open platform. Will andriod be the
open platform that steals success from the iphone as windows and dos did from
the macintosh and apple II?

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unalone
Nope! And it's because Apple provides a better user experience. And Google
can't fight back entirely, because they don't control the hardware, and -
furthermore - because they need to adapt their software so that it can support
whatever hardware wants to use it.

That's not to say that I think Android will be bad - just that the iPhone will
be better. And as a result, despite programmers' gripes, it will have more
potential and - much more importantly - far more users. People won't switch
operating systems just because it's more open than something else, only if it
provides something more. It's not like the Apple II, which lost to Microsoft's
products because Microsoft appealed to a different market. That different
market is already led by Blackberry and Windows Mobile, and Apple's aware of
that.

It's possible that Android becomes wide-spread, if all the cell phone
operators decide to pick it up. But that's a lower market than the one Apple
appeals to. Their market, the "multiphone" for lack of a better word, is one
that they created and they are leading. And I'd guess their goal is to make
that market the dominant cell phone market. Whether or not it succeeds has
nothing to do with Android. It has to do with whether or not the market shifts
with Apple.

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delackner
The article includes a quote suggesting that there are no successful platforms
that NDA bans public developer discussion.

This is only true if you ignore the entire gaming industry, where I can think
of not a single successful platform that allows public discussion.

I hope that Apple eventually realizes that a healthy developer community is
actually in their best interest.

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j2d2
Can you elaborate on why you think Apple does not have a healthy developer
community?

~~~
unalone
I think he misspoke. I think it's a healthy developer community with unhealthy
restrictions. That's what he hopes Apple will realize they don't want.

Although I don't think anybody should think for a moment that Apple would keep
this restriction if it ever seemed it might cost them something.

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cypress-hill
dr. phil should start doing apple cult deprogramming on his show

"now, ya say ya stood in line fer 22 hours to buy a phone? that ain't right"

"ya know other operatin' systems do have web browsers"

