More Wally - Wallace B. McClure

Learn iPhone Programming for Free with Wrox, Novell, and McClure

wallym — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:15:00 GMT

Are you a .NET Developer wanting to get into developing on the Apple iPhone and iPad? Learn iPhone Programming for Free with Wrox, Novell, and McClure. Wrox/Wiley has released Wallace McClure’s Wrox Blox on Novell’s MonoTouch for free. The MonoTouch Wrox Blox is available at: http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-406371.html.

For .NET Developers, Novell has produced the Trial Version of MonoTouch. The Trial Version is a free download that allows a developer to write and build applications and test them in the iPhone simulator. The Trial Version is available at: http://monotouch.net/DownloadTrial.

Wallace B. (Wally) McClure, President of Scalable Development, Inc., is the author of the Wrox Blox on Novell’s MonoTouch and the author of the updated Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch recently released. In addition, McClure has produced a downloadable video podcast introducing MonoTouch. The video is available for download from http://aspnetpodcast.com or directly at:http://bit.ly/deMCoJ.

"Want to program the iPhone? Want to share business logic between mobile devices? There's a language for that: MonoTouch."

DevConnections in Las Vegas

wallym — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:30:00 GMT

I'll be at ASP.NET Connections (aka DevConnections) in Las Vegas this November at the Madalay Bay Resort. I'm really excited about this. I'll be speaking on:

ASP.NET 4 WebForms - What's New, Cool, and Hip!
ASP.NET AJAX - UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control ToolKit.
An Introduction to Windows Azure.

Houston TechFest

wallym — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:00:00 GMT

I'm looking forward to the Houston TechFest. I'll be speaking on MonoTouch, ASP.NET WebPages, and MonoDroid (if its been available as beta at that point). I'm excited about this.

VSLive Redmond Coming Up

wallym — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:15:00 GMT

I'm heading out to VSLive next week. I'm really excited about this. I'll be speaking on:

ASP.NET 4 WebForms - What's New, Cool, and Hip!
ASP.NET AJAX - UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control ToolKit.

I'm really excited about this. If you are there, come up and introduce yourself.

Poem to MonoTouch

wallym — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:30:00 GMT

If you missed my poem to MonoTouch this morning on Twitter, here's the full version:

Oh MonoTouch, How do I love thee? Let me reference count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and width and height of the threads I can run
and my battery can reach, when awaiting an event to occur
For the ends of Video and ideal Audio and Capture and Books.
I love thee to the level of getting upto speed without learning ObjC.
Most quiet gc, by getting an app done now and not spending days and days on a new framework.
I love thee freely trial edition, as devs strive to code by day and by night.
I love thee purely, as they turn from desktop and web to mobile with the world in our hands
In my old griefs of html, and with my childhood's faith in all platforms.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose for WebForms, MVC, WCF, and all things religous development zealots argue over
With my lost saints Miguel, and Geoff, and Joseph, and Novell --- I love thee with the breath
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if Steve Jobs choose,
I shall but love thee better after Apple gives in and publically accepts us in the AppStore.

(With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

DevConnections Las Vegas

wallym — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:15:00 GMT

I'm happy to announce that I will be speaking at DevConnections in Las Vegas in November. More info on this is coming.

VSLive Orlando

wallym — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

I'm excited to announce that I am speaking at VSLive Orlando in November. My two sessions are:

What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms.
AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit.

If you plan to attend or do attend, please send me a message. I love to meet people and talk technology with them.

Here's some info on each of my sessions:

Session 1
Title: What’s new in ASP.NET 4 WebForms
Abstract: WebForms has been a feature of ASP.NET since the 1.0 release. Many successful applications have been built based on WebForms. Recently, it seems that all of the excitement in ASP.NET has been on MVC. With Version 4, the ASP.NET team has added a number of new features to WebForms. This session will explore the new features in ASP.NET 4 WebForms with an emphasis on:

Routing. Routing allows an application to accept URLs that are readable to users, are optimized to improve search engine ranking, and do not necessarily map to physical files.
ViewState. ViewState has been a part of ASP.NET since its initial 1.0 release. ViewState allows an ASP.NET WebForm to respond to events during a post back. Unfortunately, ViewState also can increase the size of page beyond what is actually required unless a developer is careful and pays attention to issues with ViewState. With ASP.NET 4 ViewState, we’ll explore improvements in the ability to control ViewState.
Client IDs. Before .NET 4.0, the generated Client IDs in WebForms can be very confusing. With .NET 4.0, the ability to control the generated Client IDs in WebForms has been greatly enhanced. We’ll look at these new features for Client IDs in ASP.NET 4.0 WebForms.
CSS and HTML Improvements. ASP.NET 4 WebForms renders HTML that is compliant with the last HTML standards. We’ll look at how these improvements effect controls and what developers should be aware of.

Benefit to the Attendee:
By attending this session, ASP.NET Developers currently using WebForms will learn about the new features in ASP.NET 4. Developers will be able to immediately apply these features to their existing WebForms applications that they are upgrading to ASP.NET 4 and to new ASP.NET 4 applications that they are building with WebForms.

Session 2
Title: AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit
Abstract:

AJAX is a technology that provides a significant amount of user interaction within the web browser. With ASP.NET 2 AJAX, Microsoft shipped a set of client side and server side AJAX technologies. Recently, Microsoft announced that they are transitioning their client side AJAX technologies; however, they are keeping and will continue to build on the server side AJAX technology. This session will focus on the server side AJAX technologies in the UpdatePanel. With the UpdatePanel, the ASP.NET team has provided an easy way to integrate AJAX functionality into WebForms applications. This session will focus on:
UpdatePanel.

Introduction. The UpdatePanel will be introduced along with some of the rules that must be followed to use it properly.
History. Users have been trained that clicking on the back button will take the application to the previous state of the application. We’ll explore how to implement support for History, so that when a user clicks the back button they get the action that they expect.
Client side events. The UpdatePanel exposes a set of client side events that are similar to server side events. We’ll look at what these are good for and how to implement them.

WebForms.

We’ll look at some of the improvements in ASP.NET 4 WebForms that make working with AJAX simpler.

AJAX Control Toolkit.

Introduction. We’ll do an introduction to the AJAX Control Toolkit. What is it and how it can help out WebForms developers.
Creating your own control just like the ones in the AJAX Control Toolkit.

Apple Section 3.3.1 and MonoTouch

wallym — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:00:00 GMT

My frustration with Apple has been fairly well known. I've blogged about it numerous times over Section 3.3.1.

Now, I'm frustrated that Apple has Section 3.3.1. I was frustrated yesterday, today, and will probably be frustrated tomorrow. Having said that, up to the time of this writing, I'm not familiar with any apps that have been banned from the Apple iPhone App Store due to their being written in MonoTouch. Why? I'm not sure. Only Apple can answer that. My guess is that because MonoTouch allows devs to build apps that run natively on the device, its viewed as ok.

Will apps written in MonoTouch still be allowed into the App Store? I have no idea. My guess is that if MT becomes really popular, Apple would be concerned that another company is controlling its destiny and might change, but remember, this is only speculation. At the same time, remember, the Apple post on Flash is about Flash, not MonoTouch, PhoneGap, or anything besides Flash.

Maybe the blowup (mine and others) was over nothing. Let's stop and see what happens over the next 6-9 months. Right now, today, MonoTouch apps are being accepted. Let's focus on that

MonoTouch Book is out

wallym — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Our MonoTouch Book is out. It was great working with Chris Hardy, Craig Dunn, Martin Bowling, and Rory Blyth on this book. With this book, you'll be able to use your existing knowledge of .NET to target the Apple iPhone.

What .NET C# developers need to enter the hot field of iPhone apps

iPhone applications offer a hot opportunity for developers. Until the open source MonoTouch project, this field was limited to those familiar with Apple’s programming languages. Now .NET and C# developers can join the party. Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C#is the first book to cover MonoTouch, preparing developers to take advantage of this lucrative opportunity.

This book is for .NET developers that are interested in creating native iPhone applications written in .NET/C#. These developers want to use their existing knowledge. While .NET developers are always interested in learning, they also recognize that learning Objective-C and the specifics of the iPhone can be overwhelming. Those developers interested in MonoTouch will recognize that the cost of MonoTouch is easily made up by the ability to quickly target the iPhone using a language that they are already familiar with.

This book is designed for .NET developers that want to target the iPhone. It is designed to help you get up to speed with the iPhone, not to really teach you about the .NET Framework or C# language, which we assume you already know.

This book is designed with introductory material in Chapters 1 thru 4. You should read Chapters 1 thru 4 sequentially. These chapters introduce the MonoTouch product, the basics of developing with MonoTouch and MonoDevelop, and finally, the basics of presenting data to a user with screen and data controls and how to develop a user interface for the iPhone. Once you are comfortable with these concepts, you can typically move from one chapter to another and not necessarily have to read the chapters sequentially.

Chapter 1 "Introduction to iPhone Development with MonoTouch for C# Developers"This chapter looks at how the largest segment of developers can target the smartphone with the highest mindshare, and that the smartphone is growing faster in marketshare than any other device.
Chapter 2 "Introduction to MonoTouch"gives you a firm foundation in MonoTouch, MonoDevelop, Interface Builder, debugging, and deploying.
Chapter 3 "Planning Your App's UI: Exploring the Screen Controls"teaches you about creating your application's UI and specifically how the UI on the iPhone can differ from UIs that you might have created before. You also explore the Input & Value objects from the Interface Builder Objects Library.
Chapter 4 "Data Controls" shows the Interface Builder Objects Library Cocoa Touch classes for Controllers, Data Views, and Windows, Views, & Bars.
Chapter 5 "Working with Data on the iPhone"looks at the SQLite database engine as well as strategies to store data off the device on a central server through SOAP and REST (using XML and JSON) without tying up the user interface.
Chapter 6 "Displaying Data Using Tables"looks at displaying information in a table, using tables for navigation, taking advantage of UITableView's built-in editing features, and adding a search bar to a table.
Chapter 7 "Mapping"covers CoreLocation and MapKit, using Location Services, and adding maps and geocoding to your application.
Chapter 8 "Application Settings"focuses on application settings, and looks at two aspects of settings for your MonoTouch app: the Info.plist and your settings bundle. It covers what settings you might want to set in your Info.plist and why, and then looks at what code it takes to read and use the settings that you save in the settings bundle. And it also takes you through the building of the settings that you might have in a social media-type application. Going through each step, you will examine the Root.plist inside the Property List Editor and see the settings dialog that will result from it.
Chapter 9 "Programming with Device Hardware" covers accelerometer device orientation, and proximity detection support, networking, and developing with battery life in mind.
Chapter 10 "Programming with Multimedia" discussing integrating images and the image picker, watching and recording videos, playing and recording audio, and using animation
Chapter 11 "Talking to Other Applications"discusses the ways you can use MonoTouch to talk to other applications on the iPhone, both Apple-built applications and those downloaded from the App Store. It also provides helpful ways of accessing the iPhone's Address Book and the iPod music library.
Chapter 12 "Localizing for an International Audience" first defines internationalization and localization, then shows displaying translated text and images, formatting dates, times, and numbers, then extracting text for translation.
Chapter 13 "Programming the iPad" the capabilities of the iPad are, what new APIs and controls have been introduced that you can use in iPad-specific applications, and how to build applications that can work on both iPad and iPhone devices.
Chapter 14 "Just Enough Objective-C" provides you with a reference and introduction to Objective-C that will help you acquire an ability to comprehend Objective-C which is something that will come in very handy.
Chapter 15 "The App Store: Submitting and Marketing Your App"discusses all things App Store. First, it talks about the process that you need to go through before you are ready to submit - this includes final testing with Ad-Hoc builds and a presubmission checklist. Next it addresses actually submitting to the App Store, and then finally what to do with your app after it's in the App Store. This chapter also touches on alternative monetization strategies such as ads or in app purchases.

A Word About Apple SDK License #3.3.1

There has been a lot of discussion about Apple's SDK licensing restrictions and how they effect MonoTouch. As of the time of this writing, Apple has not rejected any apps that are written in MonoTouch for inclusion in the Apple App Store.

VSLive Redmond

wallym — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:20:00 GMT

I'm excited to announce that I am speaking at VSLive Redmond in August. My two sessions are:

What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms.
AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit.

If you plan to attend or do attend, please send me a message. I love to meet people and talk technology with them.

Here's some info on each of my sessions:

Routing. Routing allows an application to accept URLs that are readable to users, are optimized to improve search engine ranking, and do not necessarily map to physical files.
ViewState. ViewState has been a part of ASP.NET since its initial 1.0 release. ViewState allows an ASP.NET WebForm to respond to events during a post back. Unfortunately, ViewState also can increase the size of page beyond what is actually required unless a developer is careful and pays attention to issues with ViewState. With ASP.NET 4 ViewState, we’ll explore improvements in the ability to control ViewState.
Client IDs. Before .NET 4.0, the generated Client IDs in WebForms can be very confusing. With .NET 4.0, the ability to control the generated Client IDs in WebForms has been greatly enhanced. We’ll look at these new features for Client IDs in ASP.NET 4.0 WebForms.
CSS and HTML Improvements. ASP.NET 4 WebForms renders HTML that is compliant with the last HTML standards. We’ll look at how these improvements effect controls and what developers should be aware of.

Introduction. The UpdatePanel will be introduced along with some of the rules that must be followed to use it properly.
History. Users have been trained that clicking on the back button will take the application to the previous state of the application. We’ll explore how to implement support for History, so that when a user clicks the back button they get the action that they expect.
Client side events. The UpdatePanel exposes a set of client side events that are similar to server side events. We’ll look at what these are good for and how to implement them.

WebForms.

We’ll look at some of the improvements in ASP.NET 4 WebForms that make working with AJAX simpler.

AJAX Control Toolkit.

Introduction. We’ll do an introduction to the AJAX Control Toolkit. What is it and how it can help out WebForms developers.
Creating your own control just like the ones in the AJAX Control Toolkit.

ASP.NET DevConnections and VSLive - 2010

wallym — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:00:00 GMT

I'm excited to announce that I'll be speaking at ASP.NET Connections / DevConnections in November, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV. I'll be speaking on:

What's New in ASP.NET 4 WebForms.
ASP.NET AJAX with the UpdatePanel, WebForms, and the AJAX Control Toolkit.
Introduction to Windows Azure.

I'm really excited about this. Many thanks to Paul Litwin and Dan Wahlin.

This is in addition to my speaking at VSLive Redmond in August.

ASP.NET Podcast Show #142 - MonoTouch - iPhone Development with .NET/C# - Video & Audio

wallym — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Link to original post.

Subscribe to Everything.

Show Notes:

Apple, Developers, and Licensing.
Why Develop on the iPhone.
What is Mono and MonoTouch.
Getting started with a Hello World style application.
UITableView with a custom table cell.
Acceleration. Note: There is a shake event, this is done to show acceleration.
MonoTouch ebook.
Professional iPhone Development wit MonoTouch and .NET/C#.

PS. This show is a little different than the others. It was originally recorded for a user group that I am not able to travel to.

Why I Doubt Apple Will Change Section 3.3.1

wallym — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:30:00 GMT

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.

And Now We Know.........

wallym — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:30:00 GMT

It looks like we now know the cause of the iPhone SDK Licensing change is. According to AppleInsider, in a email discussion suppossedly with Steve Jobs, the quote is:

.....,and said he believes there are a number of applications written with cross-platform frameworks that are "amazing," such as Mozilla Firefox. Jobs, Slepak said, responded to his second note in about three minutes.

"We've been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform," he wrote.

There you go. It appears that Apple doesn't want cross platform frameworks because they produce substandard apps and hinder progress. My response:

Bad developers/management produce bad applications. Development systems, management styles, and the man-in-the-moon do not create good apps. You have to have good developers. "You know what makes a good coach? Good players."
Intermediate layers/cross platform tools hinder progress of the platform.

Layers/Frameworks bring more developers to a platform, increasing its value.
The statement implies that these frameworks use private APIs. Apps that use private APIs should not be accepted in the first place. Can't Apple police their own AppStore?
If the framework/layer uses public APIs, what is the technical problem? Is Apple not smart enough to keep their public APIs compatible between releases of the iPhone OS?
At one time, there was a complaint about java running on the Mac that java apps didn't look like Mac apps. That's because the apps weren't designed to be. The market figured this out. That's why java on the desktop hasn't really made it. Why do we need Apple to make decisions that the marketplace would come to in and of itself.
Honestly, this seems like nothing more than an ideological response. It makes Apple sound like that are "saving" the iPhone ecosystem and users from evil App Store developers. You can't argue with ideology. Its like saying "My god is stronger than your god." There is no winner, only more speculation and yelling. The fanboys will scream how "See its great, Apple is protecting us from those evil developers." Its Apple's world, and we are just playing in it, so guess who wins in this argument?

The more I read about this, the more it reads like Apple is just trying to get back at Adobe. I would hope that a direct statement from Apple would clear this issue up. I'm not holding my breathe on this.

And now I have heard that you are not allowed to use a third party to get application analytics on the iPhone.

So Apple has now become the Big Brother from their own 1984 Commercial.

Hey Novell, when is MonoDroid going to get here?

Why I feel so strongly about the Apple SDK issue

wallym — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:30:00 GMT

If you follow my Twitter stream,you know that I feel rather strongly about Apple's recent licensing changes in their iPhone 4.0 SDK. I'm going to do my best to explain why.

History

I used to work at The Coca-Cola Company. While there, I was a part of the Apple Cider Project. It was a project to get rid of the purchase of new Apple Macintoshs due to the fact that they didn't integrate with the computing infrastructure very well. I remember a private meeting at Apple's Atlanta office where we told the Apple representatives about the issues we had. They did not seem that they understood or even cared. It was due to that meeting that we officially started the Apple Cider Project. I've long remembered that meeting when I thought of Apple.They've often thought that everyone should do as they say instead of trying to work with others. At one time, Microsoft used to think this. Thankfully, even their attitude has changed.

Innovate vs. Legal

When Apple has innovated, they have done well. When Apple has attempted to compete with legalese, it has not done well. Apple sued Microsoft in the late 1980s over the look and feel of Windows being a violation of copyright. That started Apple's downturn and they lost anyway. Apple went out in the mid-1990s and licensed their technology in attempt to create a clone marketplace. Then, out of the blue, they killed it. This left a bad taste in the mouth of many people. This was probably Apple at its lowest point ever. Competing with legalese tends to drive the marketplace away. Apple has alienated developers with their recent SDK licensing changes. Some will never come back. Why should they come back to a platform when the company that they are adding value to keeps slapping them across the face?

After watching Apple the past 10 years, I honestly had felt that they had changed. I'm hoping that this recent issue is resolved quickly, though, I am not hopeful.

What's the issue?

Apple recently announced changes in their SDK licensing. The key thing in this is that applications have to be written in ObjectiveC, C, C++, or JavaScript. Why should it matter to Apple what language an application is developed in? They should want quality applications running on their device. Good developers can build good applications using bad tools. Bad developers just create bad applications.

Apple Products:

I've watched Apple switch CPUs from 680x0 to the PowerPC. My thinking back then was that it was technically interesting but not significant due to neither being high volume. When Apple switched to Intel processors, It got my attention and in a positive way. The ability to have a single machine that runs Mac, windows, and other operating systems was interesting. Choice had come to the macs and I was impressed.

The apple iPod was introduced about 10 years ago. It's been successful. The video iPod was interesting. As someone that runs a video podcast, supporting it has been a major pain. Supporting iTunes has been a problem. The video format support is a major pain, but I eventually worked it out. Honestly, video is a pain everywhere.

During this time, apple made a financial recovery. I was impressed by it. These improvements are noticed in corporate America.

Now we get to the iPhone and it's child devices. Originally, Apple initially said that developers should write web apps to target the device. They relented and shipped the ability to run apps natively on the device. I was impressed with their ability to listen to the developer marketplace. Now, let's be honest that writing apps that natively run on the device is in Apple's best interest. Any app running natively on a device results in some form of vendor locking, so it's good business for them. Whatever the reason, it was goodness for everyone.

Development

Like I have said, I'm a developer. There are a facts that you have to be aware of.

Developers like to write for platforms that have acceptance in the marketplace. Even if a customer is paying for the work, writing applications for platforms that are unpopular is hard due to a lack of documentation. If a developer is writing the application on their own, well, you have to make money somewhere.
Frameworks. If there are a number of frameworks for a device, it gives developers choices in how to write applications. The more choices a developer has to build applications, the better. It brings more developers to the platform. The more developers, the more some will create frameworks for the device. It makes the platform more valuable.
Developers do not like to be dictated to. They want to write apps using the languages that they already know and not spend lots of time learning foreign languages. These things take time, and time is money.

Arguments

So far, I've heard several arguments about the SDK licensing issue. Here are my thoughts on them at this point:

This is a byproduct of the Apple/Adobe Flash issue. I don't care much for Flash based video. I do think its crap. If this is the issue, then go solve this a different way. Have you ever thought of going to Adobe and working with them on resolve the issue?
Multi-tasking. Apps not written in ObjectiveC won't multi-task properly. WTF?!? I've written a number of multi-threaded apps in Mono/.NET. Why do you think I can't write multi-threaded stuff? Why do you think that .NET/Mono doesn't thread properly?
Cross-platform frameworks don't expose the features of the underlying device. Ok, there is some truth to this. The problem with a cross-platform framework is that it it can only use the features common to the various platforms. FYI, MonoTouch is not a crossplatform framework. MonoTouch is a .NET/C# layer that runs on top of CocaTouch. It allows developers with a background in .NET/c# to natively target the iPhone. It doesn't somehow allow winforms, wpf, silverlight, or anything else to magically run on the iPhone.
The iPhone AppStore is full of crap. I've heard the argument that this change is an attempt by Apple to clean up the apps included in the AppStore. Okay, I can buy this reason. How many fart, beer guzzling, and other stupid apps are in the AppStore? But, I'm confused, didn't Apple approve these apps? If the AppStore is full of crap, why is Apple approving these apps to go in the AppStore?
Cross-platform frameworks result in crappy software. WTF? Bad developers/management result in crappy software.
Adobe-Apple past history. I read a post about how Adobe/Apple have a negative past history dating back to Adobe's lack of support for Apple's platform and OS X. Well, Adobe has to make money and they have to follow the marketplace. It seems that right now Adobe is attempting to feature their support for OS X with their new CS5 product that launched today. And now Apple is telling them to f*** off. Wow, what a way to support the companies that make products that make your platform more valuable. Now, I am not privy to the specifics of this relationship over the past 15 years. I do know that two wrongs do not make a right. If this is true, it makes me question Apple's support of the development community even more. Heck, I get frustrated all the time, but my suggestion would be that Apple keep its eye on the prize, not on being vindictive.

Now, I'm a .net guy, so I'm interested in how I can leverage that knowledge to run other places, such as the Mac, mobile devices, tablets, and all other kinds of places. I've watched the number of iPhones shipped dramatically increase. Now With all of this background, I got really excited when Novell announced Monotouch. I invested significant time, and time is money, in Monotouch. I spent years trying to convince wrox into doing mobile development books to no avail. In the summer of 2009, they agreed that a book on monotouch would be a good idea. And, I was off..............

Now, my first ebook is in limbo. Our second book is completely in limbo.

I've been out trying to convince customers to accept the iPhone. It also means money for Apple in that customers buy more of their product. It means money for my company and me as well. Apple, you are costing a lot of developers a lot of money by making this move. If I switch to another platform, and I am contemplating this, it will cost you money as well.

Thoughts for Apple

There are a few things that Apple needs to be aware of.

If you chase away developers, they are not likely to come back. Developers have a long memory when they feel screwed. Why should I write an application for your device when you can pull the rug out from under me at any time?
I really doubt that a change to your licensing rules will effect you in the near term. In the long term, will developers target your platform? Will there be an "App for That" on your platform in a couple of years? How will a lack of new apps effect the growth of the iPhone?
You do have competition in the marketplace. Google Android is growing. RIM has the #1 marketshare. Microsoft has an interesting story with Windows Phone 7, though admittedly, its largely an unknown at this point in time.
Why don't you change the AppStore such that crappy applications are removed? Put in a rating system, or something that will allow you to remove crappy apps quickly and easily if they cause problems in the marketplace.

What am I going to do?

I'm not sure. I'm going to continue to look at the marketplace. I'll probably take a look at MonoDroid for the Android as well as Windows Phone 7. I'm not convinced that Apple will relent on this issue. They seem to have dug their heels in based on what they are doing with Adobe Flash. If there is going to be resolution on this issue, it needs to be fairly quick. Developers won't wait and twist in the wind. They will vote with their keyboards, and they will vote on another platform with their favorite tool.

PS. I'm hearing rumors that their might be a solution for this problem coming. Stay tuned.