[off] Apple to unify ios/macos apps next year

[Richard Gaskin]

Ben Rubinstein wrote:

> I'm coming to this late, but it looks to me as if the list got into a
> nightmare mode a bit prematurely. What the article actually talks
> about is a way to create apps which can be used across 'desktop' and
> mobile operating systems - specifically *not* about merging those
> operating systems.

What is an operating system without applications?

The OS is the bedrock; apps are the home built on top in which we live. 
Apps define what we do with our devices.

That Apple would join the effort to define multi-device APIs along with 
Microsoft and Linux is inevitable, as many suggested even before the 
iPad premiered.

After all, what's the difference between a tablet with a docking 
keyboard and a laptop with a detachable touch screen?

As device form factors continue to multiply they continue to overlap in 
use-cases. To maintain an entirely different OS for every device type is 
only slightly less cumbersome than if they were to have a different OS 
for every model.  As use-cases overlap, that's effectively the corner a 
vendor would paint themselves into.  Not at all surprising to see this 
next logical evolutionary step.

While it's validating to see OS vendors adopt a more LiveCode Way of 
working, LC will still hold an advantage over OS-provided tools:

Apple and Microsoft act as though nothing else exists outside their 
walls; as long as you buy gear and tools from one OS vendor they work 
well, but neither has any incentive to prioritize about 
interoperability.  Why should they spend money to strengthen their 
competitor's position?

Meanwhile, people have diverse tastes so the world is naturally 
multi-platform.  A tool that plays nice with others will always provide 
access to more people using more platforms more affordably than any 
OS-exclusive option.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com