

An open letter to Cupertino about the App Store - st3fan
http://infinite-labs.net/openletter/

======
patio11
An Open Letter To iPhone Developers:

1) Apple doesn't care about you, personally. No one knows you exist. They
don't need you to sell iPhones. Even if they needed third-party apps (which is
debatable), if you left the platform, there would be a hundred thousand more
people scrambling to take your place.

2) You are presumably developing for the iPhone instead of doing, oh,
Enterprise Sales because you don't want to do Enterprise Sales or you are not
good at doing Enterprise Sales. _You are doing Enterprise Sales._ The
Enterprise doesn't care about the product you're selling enough to devote more
than 5 minutes a week from a call center in India to the deal. If you have
doubts as to whether this is a good sign, consult with your local Enterprise
Sales engineer and ask what stage in the pipeline he thinks you are probably
in.

3) If you stopped developing for the iPhone and started developing web
applications or desktop applications or, indeed, almost any other type of
software, you wouldn't have to ask anyone's permission to sell your software
or improve your software.

4) It seems that you're spending an awful lot of engineering time trying to
get permission to market your software to people who think it is worth $2, on
the outside. Here's a thought: how about spending that time actually marketing
software itself, and charge anywhere from 15 to 500,000 times as much.

~~~
antonovka
_If you stopped developing for the iPhone and started developing web
applications or desktop applications or, indeed, almost any other type of
software, you wouldn't have to ask anyone's permission to sell your software
or improve your software._

Not everyone wants to write desktop or web applications.

My choice to work with the iPhone is a technical decision -- the hacker in me
will stick with the platform because I love writing code for it -- at least
until it's clear that it makes no sense for my business.

I'll continue to voice my concerns because I see the technical value of what
Apple has created and the potential for Apple to improve.

If I were writing desktop applications, I would be writing them for the Mac,
as well. I don't want to see Apple turn to the darkside, on the iPhone or
otherwise.

[Edit] The downvoting to -0 on this comment and others in this thread is, in
my opinion, entirely inappropriate. My argument is cogent, and if it doesn't
match your worldview I might suggest that you attempt a cogent reply in
return, rather than downvoting opinions you disagree into the negatives.

------
wvenable
These postings get sadder and sadder every day. It's like this developer is
dating a girl who's just not that into him and he doesn't get that yet: You
left her 10 messages but she didn't call you back tonight. I'm sure she'll
call you tomorrow. She was just busy.

~~~
anigbrowl
Seriously (though I do think many developers raise valid criticisms and that
the gatekeeper model of app development is unsustainable). "Open letter to
Apple" yields >25,000 results in Google...I'm tempted to collect a bunch of
them into a book, I figure they'd all buy a copy to see if theirs was
included.

~~~
eam
Good idea. Send it to Steve Jobs, though I doubt he would read it.

~~~
thwarted
He'd respond with something like

    
    
      Your app was rejected, it's not that big a deal.
    
      Steve
    
      Sent from my iPhone.

~~~
anigbrowl
I think we've found a new economic _perpetuum mobile_...I'll just monetize it
with adwords and I'll never have to work again.

------
eam
I'm not even an iPhone developer (though I have been wanting to invest my time
and learn). After reading this and the other articles, I'm discouraged, badly.
I feel Emenuele's frustration without actually even having gone through the
process.

~~~
ciupicri
I'm wondering why are people still developing for the iPhone when there are so
many horror stories.

~~~
c1sc0
The answer is in the letter: "I prefer to be a coder — a maker — a builder of
things." ... it's a great feeling to build things and know that thousands of
people will use it.

The iPhone is a cool platform to develop for & the AppStore is where the
audience is ... not to mention that making a little money on the side is
always nice.

People are upset because Apple is taking a good chunk of their money and
providing a piss-poor service in return. With the current state of said
service relying on it as a professional is a bit of a gamble, but as a
hobbyist I can live with it.

~~~
ciupicri
iPhone isn't the only smart phone. Before iPhone there were tons of Java games
and applications for other mobile phones.

~~~
c1sc0
Yes, but Apple solved the "I'm too stupid to install apps on my phone"
problem. Long-term bets are on Android I guess. I'm an iPhone developer but
don't own an iPhone & my main phone is Android-based.

~~~
ciupicri
Are you working for someone else's company? I'm trying to figure how can you
develop for the iPhone if you don't own one. Even if Bill Gates and Paul Allen
managed to write a Basic interpreter (IIRC) without having access to the
machine, most people prefer testing their application before offering it :-)

~~~
kirubakaran
SDK

~~~
ciupicri
Yes, you can write the application with the SDK, but _proper_ testing requires
a _real_ phone.

------
jrockway
An open letter to iPhone developers: everyone is tired of your fucking sob
stories.

~~~
antonovka
Then don't read them. I'm tired of the vagaries of Linux on my desktop, but I
solve that by not using it.

~~~
jrockway
_I'm tired of the vagaries of Linux on my desktop, but I solve that by not
using it._

Yeah, because this is definitely the argument this article is about...

~~~
antonovka
_Yeah, because this is definitely the argument this article is about..._

You're saying that your solution isn't to develop for Free Software platforms?

I apologize for making assumptions based on your comment history. If that's
not your solution, then how do you propose we developers resolve our issues
instead of voicing our complaints?

------
cpr
Just be sure to send a copy to Steve himself; he read all his personal email
(probably answers very little), and his address is no secret.

~~~
rms
I believe it, but has he commented publicly that he reads all of his email?

Edit: Apple employee kind of confirming:
<http://slevit1.blogspot.com/2007/12/apple-called-me.html>

------
lvecsey
You have to hand it to Jobs, he knows how to market his stuff. Basically the
more pressure he places on developers the easier it is for him to posture with
"this has never been done before, iPhone is a first, these apps are a first"
and it's only going to get better.

With the next product, the next innovation, the next introduction of course.

------
petsos
What's the meaning of "open letter" in this context?

~~~
gcheong
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_letter>

------
rlf
Germany made this mistake before World War 1. In an effort to enhance their
security, they put a lot of effort into developing their military. This
frightened all of their neighbors who banded together against Germany and went
to war with with. So, in trying to enhance their security, Germany actually
made themselves less secure. Apple is doing the same thing today with the App
store. Steve, developers, not the customers, are the heart of the App store.
Lose them and you'll end up losing it all. Don't be stupid, fix the App store
and fix it soon. Our patience is almost gone.

------
indranil
An Open letter is still a letter. At least format it right, then sound whiny!

