I'll have to admit, that's exactly why I don't find the idea of developing for iOS/webOS/Android very appealing: the necessity of buying corresponding hardware. Maybe even client-side application development in its entirety.
I can work on platform-agnostic web applications from wherever I want - Linux, Mac OS X, even Windows. Sure, there's a testing phase, and I need to deploy on a specific system. But other than that, I don't have to worry about new and expensive hardware revisions et cetera.
If your goal is to make money, then a few hundred dollars to buy into the platform is meaningless. If your goal isn't to make money then why would you develop for a platform that you don't have access to?
Honestly, I don't find appealing the development of cross-platform web sites. In those cases you have to target the lowest common denominator better known as IE6 and you'll be doing practically the same that you've been doing the last 6+ years.
Besides being a good business opportunity, developing for PadPressed was incredibly fun and challenging in a way that no other website ever was. I got to use the latest technologies that a browser has to offer, like CSS3's transitions and animations and HTML5's new webSQL API (or whatever it's called).
You know? just the opportunity to completely ignore Internet Explorer makes it worthwhile. And the iPad is a very nice device even for non-development related stuff.
I do think this is a valid. I am doing this in my spare time, so I develop for the things that give me the best return and are what I want. I started with iPhone and then moved to iPad. I don't really want to buy another phone to develop with or another tablet, so I won't. I would be better served I think to build another app for iOS than to port an app to a store in an ecosystem that I'm not personally active in.
My experience with Windows Mobile (not Windows Phone 7) emulators is that because of the huge variety of devices, they only give you an idea of whether the software will work on the OS. The issue is, of course, that each family of hardware is different, and Microsoft often allows the vendor to tweak the OS a bit.
It strikes me as an advantage to developers, at least regarding hardware, that Apple controls the whole package. You can develop in an emulator and know how your software will behave on the device.
It's me also. Honestly, I thought it was some terribly advertisement playing in the background. I missed the first half of your video because I was searching for the source of this over-dramatic music. IMO, the music gives the listener a feeling of urgency and dramatic tension that is 180 degrees from the feeling I want when I'm looking at elegant, minimalist software like PadPressed.
I think your software is incredible, and kudos to you for developing it without even having the iPad hardware in hand, but I closed the web page as soon as I discovered where the music was coming from. It was too much of a disconnect for me.
Good story. I had an app out on release day for the iPad and had to do all development without seeing it on a device. Of course so did everyone else, so the users were understanding for a while. Impressive to pull this off now.
I can work on platform-agnostic web applications from wherever I want - Linux, Mac OS X, even Windows. Sure, there's a testing phase, and I need to deploy on a specific system. But other than that, I don't have to worry about new and expensive hardware revisions et cetera.