Is Apple becoming too exclusive for Developers?
Well, with all the applications for Mac OS X these days that Apple is still giving away free, there is little room for small shareware developers to squeeze in.
\tWith Watson, even, Apple (even if they claim to have come up with it first, they are still releasing it later) is basically stealing the idea of getting information from websites and delivering it in a App Bases format.
\tIs OS X becoming an OS where first you have to try Apple's stuff and if you do not like it, go try and find other things. Most people are going to use Apple's stuff because it IS better AND it came with their computer....unlike a certain Software Developer who bundled software that was inferior and could not be changed...this leads to my next point:
\tCould Apple someday wind up in the same place as Microsoft is? Could they be trying to make a monopoly on their OS and making it hard for developers to come in? Just wundrun
\tWith Watson, even, Apple (even if they claim to have come up with it first, they are still releasing it later) is basically stealing the idea of getting information from websites and delivering it in a App Bases format.
\tIs OS X becoming an OS where first you have to try Apple's stuff and if you do not like it, go try and find other things. Most people are going to use Apple's stuff because it IS better AND it came with their computer....unlike a certain Software Developer who bundled software that was inferior and could not be changed...this leads to my next point:
\tCould Apple someday wind up in the same place as Microsoft is? Could they be trying to make a monopoly on their OS and making it hard for developers to come in? Just wundrun
Comments
<strong>\tCould Apple someday wind up in the same place as Microsoft is? Could they be trying to make a monopoly on their OS and making it hard for developers to come in? Just wundrun</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apples' already "as bad" as Microsoft, just on a different scale. If a developer creates some os-centric app (like watson, etc) that becomes widely accepted and enjoyed, then its somewhat difficult for apple not to move in that direction and either buy it or take on similar features (if it can be done for acceptable costs).
Developers need Apple to ship as many boxes as they can to increase the total market in which they can promote their products.
Apple must continue to further the Mac OS making it enticing to end users.
Apple has done everything right. Premiere was going nowhere on the Mac and FCP has made Desktop DV plausible for the "average" user. iTunes and iPhoto will increase customer awareness of Music and Photos on their computers.
Only the laziest of Developers will have difficulty in offering more functionality than Apples iApps.
Apple stole nothing from Watson. Watson is the almalgamation of various online utilities. It's Sherlock on steroids...they know it...Apple knows it. Had they actually had any "real" Intellectual Prop they would be able to patent their product. Watson is the Service Equivalent of a page of Hyperlinks. A Portal of sorts.
Shareware has always exceeded where the big companies did not want to go. The market will be vibrant as it has ever been.
I don't see why people continue to compare Apple and Microsoft. Bundling is one thing but when has Apple ever integrated a software component into the system that you couldn't remove?
When has Apple ever announced a product(vaporware), killed the competition and then shipped a buggy version.
The differences are major in reality. Microsoft wants to dominate EVERYTHING Apple wants to further their platform. Night and Day.
[ 06-11-2002: Message edited by: hmurchison ]</p>
<strong>
Apples' already "as bad" as Microsoft, just on a different scale. If a developer creates some os-centric app (like watson, etc) that becomes widely accepted and enjoyed, then its somewhat difficult for apple not to move in that direction and either buy it or take on similar features (if it can be done for acceptable costs).</strong><hr></blockquote>
There's nothing wrong with that. Even Apple has been on the losing side of this battle( Apple vs Microsoft in the "look and feel" trial).
If your product is not patentable then there should be no complaints.