As the last post said, iPhone users Love there phones and Hate their carrier. But what about application developers?I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I love the iPhone as an application platform. In over 15 years of software development, the iPhone is - bar none- the best software platform I have ever developed code for. Here's why:
1. It works. No doubt about it the iPhone works really well. Compared to every other multi-touch phone, not to mention multi-touch device, the iPhone provides the most reliable and accurate touch interface available today. Part of this is due to the fact that the coupling between the hardware and SDK is tight- making the discovery and documentation of anomalies (bugs) that much better.
2. It's fun. Work has to be fun or its just ... well ... work. Developing code for the iPhone is a blast. I've been at it for six months full time and I'm still really excited about the possibilities.
3. The Developer Ecosystem is HUGE! Nothing is more frustrating than hitting a dead end while coding. That happened a lot to me with the Surface - there just wasn't that much documentation or that many people developing code for the platform. Compare that to the iPhone where I can Google just about any issue I have and find the solution instantly in the top of the search results. In addition, the documenation available through Apple is pretty decent and the number of books you can choose from on iPhone SDK is mind boggling.
4. The Market is HUGE! What is there - 30 million iPhone users today? Probably more. With ease of access provided by the App Store its an incredible level of exposure.
Of course, the iPhone is not without its problems but lets face it - nobody does it better when it comes to a kick butt mobile phone experience. Not everyone loves the iPhone SDK, but in my opinion its excellent.
3 comments:
Yes it seems there is more than 30 million iPhones and more than 20 million iPod Touches. So in total it's 50 million+ devices market.
http://moconews.net/article/419-apple-says-theres-50-million-iphones-and-ipod-touch-devices/
To be honest I find iPhone SDK and Mac OS X developer platforms to be the best ones I've ever programmed for too.
This coming from a guy who wrote the best book on java jee stuff, I kinda feel like cheated. But we are happy for you Richard!
The only thing that you can be certain in life, is "Change" !
Kalpesh,
Thanks for the well wishes. I'm sorry you feel a little cheated. I start working in Java in 1995 and wrote the first edition of the EJB book in 1999 - over 10 years ago.
LIke most people my interests change over time and so while I loved working in Java - and still do from time to time - I've simply moved on to a new platform and pretty much a new career.
I hope you understand that. Java is still cool, its just not my first love these days.
All the best!
Richard
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