I've come to the conclusion that Apple won't change Section 3.3.1 of their new license. How can I come to that conclusion? There are several reasons for this. I think the reasons below are the major ones:
- Apple wants to keep their platform from becoming a commodity so that they can keep their prices up. If they allow java, c#, cs5, unity, or other language that exists on another platform, they are fearful they will fall into the commodity area. Unfortunately, when you make it too hard on developers, they'll just decide not to build apps for your platform, the iPhone.
Added late: According to Twitter.com Tweets, Apple has said that apps written in PhoneGap are acceptable. Either they are saying:
- Because we said that Javascript was ok, PhoneGap is ok.
- They are going to examine frameworks individually.
- They are adding in PhoneGap in an attempt to take the heat off of themselves. "See, we are allowing cross platform frameworks."
- Apple has a score to settle with Adobe. This is their chance. Technology companies, not just Apple, can be vindictive. I know it, so I see that this can be a part of the problem. I prefer to keep my eye on the prize and make money, but what do I know. I don't run a multi-billion dollar company either.
- Apple believes that end users are it's future. They do not care about developers. (I didn't realize this until I watched the CNBC show on Apple and Guy Kawasaki talked about how developers were not Apple's future but that end users were.) They tell the end user that they are most important thing to them. The end user believes it because Apple has produced what they have claimed. In this situation, Apple is twisting their message to get the user to believe that they will be better off with this new license when reason 1 & 2 are the real reasons.
Don't believe me? I've found several references on Twitter from Apple Fanboys about stating "Frameworks result in crappy apps." "Umm, excuse me, how do you know this when your bio says you are photographer?" Remember what PT Barnum said about some of the people all of the time.........
In no way, am I saying that this is a conspiracy theory or anything hidden. Its being played out in the open for all of us to see, and some of us to get dragged into. Apple has forced developers to take sides. As you can guess by now, I am not on Apple's side in this. I'm trying to analyze, as a developer, what I see in the marketplace. I would hope that Apple would see their way clear to supporting MonoTouch/C#, Unity, Flash CS5, and Java on their platform.
Honestly, I have never seen Microsoft do anything remotely this bad in the past 10 years. Say what you want to about J++, its hard to say that client side java didn't take off because of VJ++. Apple has done its best to destroy a significant amount of developer interest in the past week.