Doesn't Apple have enough money to hire some more good engineers?
There is a shortage of really good engineers. It's not just a matter of money. Imaginative types don't grow on trees. If only more business types could get that. Then again what can you say about a world built on Office and similar stuff.
There is a shortage of really good engineers. It's not just a matter of money. Imaginative types don't grow on trees. If only more business types could get that. Then again what can you say about a world built on Office and similar stuff.
I think there's a shortage of young engineers, but especially with all the layoffs the past few years, there are lots of very good, experienced engineers available.
It's just that companies don't like to hire 50 and 60 year olds. Companies call them "over qualified".
Exactly. You might end up with one or two half-decent themes, but the first two theme-able apps I can recall are Firefox and Winamp; I'll bet over 95% of all their themes are just a single giant image that spans the UI. I haven't browsed the iOS jailbreak scene, but does it have any standout themes?
No, Apple could offer them through the App Store and approve of them. I understand that extreme themes are bad...very bad. I shudder when looking at some of those Windows Blinds themes. However, with Apple approved themes one could run with an opaque look, a translucent look, flat icons, marble icons, realistic icons, and whatever, while still being tasteful. I was looking at some themes on Android and some of them look really nice. There is an Oxygen theme, based on KDE Oxygen in Linux, that blew me away. However, they're tied to certain launcher apps and launcher apps, IMO, change the entire UI and are bad for the device.
Another poster posted that themes kill the brand, but I disagree. Us that use KDE in Linux know all about themes and no matter how much you theme KDE, you still know its KDE. It doesn't lose its branding. Themes are not all that heavy on resources, either, since the themes merely replace the resources to build the stock theme with something else. In iOS it would merely be a change in the background, iconset, and maybe a couple elements like the scroll bar or whatever. How many wasted resources could that possibly be?
Everyone is correct that throwing more people at something doesn't help, at least if they're new people. It takes longer to get them integrated into the project than it does for oldtimers to just do the work themselves.
So no, hiring more people now would not help immediately. (It'd be good for the future.)
In the past, when Apple has been asked why they pull people from one major project to work on another, Apple has replied that they like operating like a startup... lean and mean. (Also known as being cheap and overworking people.)
This concept, plus the way that many companies operate these days (as if developers are interchangeable parts) seems to be some kind of mistaken managerial fantasy, if you ask me.
Some intermix of projects is good, but whenever you shift people around from their own projects, things get lost in the shuffle, like deep testing of New Year's Day calendar problems. At least, this is what I've seen in my 30+ years of experience at companies big and small.
The first paragraph implies that Apple management woke up one morning and decided that iOS would need to be refreshed. It then scrambled to find people and none were available. This is obviously not so, OS development is an ongoing project, so why they cannot have manned up (in more ways than one) over the last N years is a bit of a mystery.
The first paragraph implies that Apple management woke up one morning and decided that iOS would need to be refreshed. It then scrambled to find people and none were available. This is obviously not so, OS development is an ongoing project, so why they cannot have manned up (in more ways than one) over the last N years is a bit of a mystery.
True, which is why this sounds like it's more about unexpected work:
The news article claims that "Apple is struggling to implement the changes on time", which would indicate that there's more that has to be done in the allotted time, than they originally thought.
Perhaps they started the changes, then realized that they had to go back and revamp more stock apps than they had expected, so they temporarily shifted other developers over to iOS to help out.
Sure wouldn't be the first time someone miscalculated the impact of a software change!
(A related possibility, and pretty common to the way Jobs used to do things, is that perhaps Jon Ive has made some last minute tweaks that require extra rewrites.)
I hope they change the whole App versioning system.
I mean, it's completely ridiculous that updating an app involves re-downloading the entire program, instead of just patching it. It's a telephone, data's expensive, the only beneficiary of this system is the Telecoms who are paid by the megabyte. Shouldn't a product like a telephone be designed to transfer data as efficiently as possible?
WWDC will come around and people will be disappointed because the change isn't as massive as the media hype was.
If nothing had been said, WWDC would have come around and people would have been disappointed because something that was never even rumored to happen didn't happen. No one can be pleased by any Apple event at any time.
Except the people who don't pay attention to the events and who don't know how stupid analysts are. They just see the new Apple product on shelves and are blown away.
Originally Posted by busybeingborn
I have always hated that kid & candy design.
What design? Nothing needs "correcting".
Originally Posted by bdkennedy1
Ok, I can accept OS X 10.9 being late for this.
I can't! I get that there's only one team anymore and I understand the benefits of it, but really.
Originally Posted by dysamoria
…all that skeuomorphic crap…
You have no clue what you're talking about whatsoever.
Originally Posted by asdasd
The problem with Themes. You lose your brand Ugly themes come to be seen as the norm
Bingo.
Originally Posted by macapptraining
A universal UI needs to be implemented between iOS and OS X. Hopefully sooner than later.
Not in the slightest.
Originally Posted by Superbass
I mean, it's completely ridiculous that updating an app involves re-downloading the entire program, instead of just patching it.
That's what delta updates are for…
It's a telephone, data's expensive…
And this is Apple's fault or problem how? Use Wi-Fi.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by smalM
Doesn't Apple have enough money to hire some more good engineers?
There is a shortage of really good engineers. It's not just a matter of money. Imaginative types don't grow on trees. If only more business types could get that. Then again what can you say about a world built on Office and similar stuff.
philip
Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetCanada
Steve Jobs would have iOS 7 done by next Tuesday with teams working 24/7. Tim Cook is great but he can't crack the whip like SJ could.
That's just crazy. You can't just put out beta stuff all the time. If something isn't finished then don't release it.
philip
Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetCanada
Steve Jobs would have iOS 7 done by next Tuesday with teams working 24/7. Tim Cook is great but he can't crack the whip like SJ could.
And that's how you retain talent? By working them 24/7?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmcd
There is a shortage of really good engineers. It's not just a matter of money. Imaginative types don't grow on trees. If only more business types could get that. Then again what can you say about a world built on Office and similar stuff.
I think there's a shortage of young engineers, but especially with all the layoffs the past few years, there are lots of very good, experienced engineers available.
It's just that companies don't like to hire 50 and 60 year olds. Companies call them "over qualified".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vorsos
Exactly. You might end up with one or two half-decent themes, but the first two theme-able apps I can recall are Firefox and Winamp; I'll bet over 95% of all their themes are just a single giant image that spans the UI. I haven't browsed the iOS jailbreak scene, but does it have any standout themes?
No, Apple could offer them through the App Store and approve of them. I understand that extreme themes are bad...very bad. I shudder when looking at some of those Windows Blinds themes. However, with Apple approved themes one could run with an opaque look, a translucent look, flat icons, marble icons, realistic icons, and whatever, while still being tasteful. I was looking at some themes on Android and some of them look really nice. There is an Oxygen theme, based on KDE Oxygen in Linux, that blew me away. However, they're tied to certain launcher apps and launcher apps, IMO, change the entire UI and are bad for the device.
Another poster posted that themes kill the brand, but I disagree. Us that use KDE in Linux know all about themes and no matter how much you theme KDE, you still know its KDE. It doesn't lose its branding. Themes are not all that heavy on resources, either, since the themes merely replace the resources to build the stock theme with something else. In iOS it would merely be a change in the background, iconset, and maybe a couple elements like the scroll bar or whatever. How many wasted resources could that possibly be?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Which doesn't help with getting that one baby (iOS 7) out the door sooner.
But you could do iOS 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 at the same time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDarling
Everyone is correct that throwing more people at something doesn't help, at least if they're new people. It takes longer to get them integrated into the project than it does for oldtimers to just do the work themselves.
So no, hiring more people now would not help immediately. (It'd be good for the future.)
In the past, when Apple has been asked why they pull people from one major project to work on another, Apple has replied that they like operating like a startup... lean and mean. (Also known as being cheap and overworking people.)
This concept, plus the way that many companies operate these days (as if developers are interchangeable parts) seems to be some kind of mistaken managerial fantasy, if you ask me.
Some intermix of projects is good, but whenever you shift people around from their own projects, things get lost in the shuffle, like deep testing of New Year's Day calendar problems. At least, this is what I've seen in my 30+ years of experience at companies big and small.
The first paragraph implies that Apple management woke up one morning and decided that iOS would need to be refreshed. It then scrambled to find people and none were available. This is obviously not so, OS development is an ongoing project, so why they cannot have manned up (in more ways than one) over the last N years is a bit of a mystery.
Quote:
Originally Posted by igriv
The first paragraph implies that Apple management woke up one morning and decided that iOS would need to be refreshed. It then scrambled to find people and none were available. This is obviously not so, OS development is an ongoing project, so why they cannot have manned up (in more ways than one) over the last N years is a bit of a mystery.
True, which is why this sounds like it's more about unexpected work:
The news article claims that "Apple is struggling to implement the changes on time", which would indicate that there's more that has to be done in the allotted time, than they originally thought.
Perhaps they started the changes, then realized that they had to go back and revamp more stock apps than they had expected, so they temporarily shifted other developers over to iOS to help out.
Sure wouldn't be the first time someone miscalculated the impact of a software change!
(A related possibility, and pretty common to the way Jobs used to do things, is that perhaps Jon Ive has made some last minute tweaks that require extra rewrites.)
I hope they change the whole App versioning system.
I mean, it's completely ridiculous that updating an app involves re-downloading the entire program, instead of just patching it. It's a telephone, data's expensive, the only beneficiary of this system is the Telecoms who are paid by the megabyte. Shouldn't a product like a telephone be designed to transfer data as efficiently as possible?
Originally Posted by gwmac
…Maps fiasco.
Still on that pathetic schtick, huh?
Originally Posted by Rogifan
WWDC will come around and people will be disappointed because the change isn't as massive as the media hype was.
If nothing had been said, WWDC would have come around and people would have been disappointed because something that was never even rumored to happen didn't happen. No one can be pleased by any Apple event at any time.
Except the people who don't pay attention to the events and who don't know how stupid analysts are. They just see the new Apple product on shelves and are blown away.
Originally Posted by busybeingborn
I have always hated that kid & candy design.
What design? Nothing needs "correcting".
Originally Posted by bdkennedy1
Ok, I can accept OS X 10.9 being late for this.
I can't! I get that there's only one team anymore and I understand the benefits of it, but really.
Originally Posted by dysamoria
…all that skeuomorphic crap…
You have no clue what you're talking about whatsoever.
Originally Posted by asdasd
The problem with Themes. You lose your brand Ugly themes come to be seen as the norm
Bingo.
Originally Posted by macapptraining
A universal UI needs to be implemented between iOS and OS X. Hopefully sooner than later.
Not in the slightest.
Originally Posted by Superbass
I mean, it's completely ridiculous that updating an app involves re-downloading the entire program, instead of just patching it.
That's what delta updates are for…
It's a telephone, data's expensive…
And this is Apple's fault or problem how? Use Wi-Fi.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Which doesn't help with getting that one baby (iOS 7) out the door sooner.
But, iOS 7, like any complex software project, requires birthing hundreds of babies.