Apple Anti-Trust (was Apples actual response to the Flash issue)

[Marty Knapp]

Well put, Richard. Let's hope that Apple has a change of mind on this one.

Marty Knapp
> Kay C Lan wrote:
>
>> To that I say, let it happen, let market forces play out, let 
>> capitalism do
>> it's thing.
>
> Amen.  I can't help but wonder if underlying all of this may be that 
> Steve Jobs doesn't have faith in Apple's ability to deliver an 
> unquestionably superior experience.
>
> He writes about how multi-platforms apps -- such as the ones we Rev 
> folks make for the desktop -- lower the quality of the user experience.
>
> If that were the case to any degree that mattered, people simply 
> wouldn't buy our apps, and would instead choose a truly native 
> alternative.
>
> But in practice I see two factors that support using a "middleware" 
> engine like Rev:
>
>
> 1. The quality difference is not significant enough to matter to users.
>
>    My Rev-based app got a 4.5-out-of-5 review at not just any mag,
>    but MacWorld, where the reviewer, editorial director Jason Snell,
>    knows a thing or two about Mac UI conventions.  His review
>    never mentioned that the text in my tab controls is one pixel
>    lower than spec.  Instead, he lauded its efficiency and ease
>    of use.
>
>    The language doesn't make the software, the developers does.
>    You can make sloppy apps in Objective-C, and you can be
>    diligent with Rev.
>
>
> 2. In many cases, our is the only Mac offering available.
>
>    Many of the apps I make for my clients do not have Mac-native
>    competitors.  Instead, our competitors tell their Mac customers
>    to run their Windows apps under Parallels or Bootcamp.  Few
>    Windows developers bother to port to Mac -- why double
>    development costs only to gain an extra 10% market potential?
>
>    If we weren't able to keep our costs down by using a single code
>    base to deliver to all three platforms, we probably wouldn't
>    deliver for OS X at all, since we make four to eight times as
>    much money from our Windows customers.
>
>    But thanks to cross-platform tools like Rev, it's affordable
>    to deliver for the Mac audience, and even on our worst day our
>    UX better conforms to the Mac HIG that running a Win app under
>    emulation. :)
>
>    If we were prevented from using Rev for OS X, OS X simply wouldn't
>    have some software categories addressed at all.
>
>    Today this may not seem relevant on the iPhone OS with its
>    200,000 apps, but over time I think it'll start to become
>    noticeable, esp. in vertical categories such as those most
>    Rev developers make.
>
>
> If Steve Jobs believes that Apple can deliver an unquestionably 
> superior user experience, one that matters enough to drive sales, why 
> not let cross-platform tools continue to address vertical needs for 
> iPhone OS as they do for OS X?
>
> Is he afraid that he'll see on the iPhone what we've all been seeing 
> on the desktop for years, that it really doesn't matter to end-users 
> what language is used to make an app as long as it enhances their 
> workflow?
>
> Is he afraid that Apple won't be able to offer sufficiently compelling 
> differentiation unless he locks developers into making apps for iPhone 
> OS exclusively by arbitrarily raising their development costs to the 
> point that they have to choose between iPhone or the rest of the world?
>
>
> I agree with your statement:
>
> Let the market decide if Rev apps are worthwhile.
>
>
>
> One significant irony in all of this is that Apple already allows one 
> universal scripting language to be used to make app bundles for iPhone 
> OS, with access to the accelerometer, GPS, multitouch, and other 
> features common among modern mobile devices:  JavaScript, via WebKit.
>
> With JavaScript you can use a single code base to deliver apps to 
> multiple mobile OSes, and you could even make them as ugly as you 
> like, and they'll be fully compliant with the new license terms.
>
> If they allow that scripting language, why not also Rev?
>
> -- 
>  Richard Gaskin
>  Fourth World
>  Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
>  Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
>  revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv
> _______________________________________________
> use-revolution mailing list
> use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your 
> subscription preferences:
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
>