General

The Apple Difference

September 21, 2009 by Ellen

I recently found some notes and tasks from March 2008 - 18 months ago - and it really brought home to me how Apple has changed the mobile software world.

Our biggest problem at that time was that people didn’t know they could buy programs for their smartphone or PDA. Apple’s fixed that one - even people who don’t own a mobile device know “there’s an app for that”.

Availablility of apps is a huge factor in how new mobile devices or operating systems are judged. When the Pre was released, the sparse app catalog was mentioned in nearly every review. Same for the Zune HD. Imagine - if you can - a review mentioning “not many apps” in a review for a new device two years ago. It just wouldn’t have happened.

New mobile platforms and devices are big news. And any changes to the iPhone, iPod Touch or iTunes are huge news.

Mobile app developers are now a market by themselves. There are literally dozens of sites with iTunes App Store ranking tracking, tools and stats plug-ins. There are several providers of paid, in-app, mobile ads. Mobile developers’ blogs - at least some of them - get attention from major sites. There’s even a book coming out called Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies. (Don’t believe me? Here it is).

I used to spend about 20 minutes each morning reading enough mobile sites to keep up with any news and changes. Now it’s more like 90 minutes, and I’m sure I’m not reading half of what I should be.

We’re selling software for prices that we wouldn’t have even considered 18 months ago. While desktop app prices haven’t changed, the “99 Cent” pricing model of the App Store places mobile app prices at about 5% of what they used to be.

I am inundated with calls and emails from people who want us to put our apps in their stores, outsource our development to them, or buy ads on their sites. (Guys, here’s a hint. If you send me an email and I say I don’t want a phone call, I mean it. If you leave me alone, I’ll keep your info on file. If you call anyway, I’ll toss it.)

Mobile developers’ expectations of software distribution have completely changed as well. While we used to accept a distributor taking a commission of 60% of an app’s price (not happily, but we did accept that, having no good alternatives), 30% is now a de facto standard. And audience numbers that would have made us pretty excited in the past now seem pretty minor.

New mobile operating system and hardware releases are coming - and expected - at a much faster pace than ever before. What used to be considered a reasonable amount of time between hardware and OS upgrades is no longer acceptable.

Did all these changes happen because of Apple, and the success of the iTunes App Store? I think so. I can’t prove it, but we’ve been doing mobile software development - successfully - for over 12 years. The changes in the mobile world over last 14 months are nothing like anything that happened in the past.

Am I fan of every change? Of course not. But overall, I know that we as mobile developers have many more options than we ever have before. There’s a lot more potential for success, though I know that means that there’s also a lot more potential for failure.

What Apple’s changes have put in motion isn’t going to go away. I fully expect the next year will bring more and more demands on mobile developers, and more and more changes - big ones - in the mobile market. I expect we’ll see some of the established big companies fail, and some new ones succeed. Being smart and lucky won’t be nearly enough.

I predict interesting times.

Leftovers

September 17, 2009 by Ellen

One thing about developing software for mobile devices ….

… you end up with a lot of old stuff.

Before I donate anything I can and responsibly dispose of the rest, does anyone want any of it? We’ve got docks and chargers, old PDAs and phones, cases and sleeves, folding keyboards, and a few other odd items. I don’t know what works and what doesn’t, but if anyone’s interested in any of this for some reason (maybe trying to make some interesting art out of old electronics), send me a reply here or on Twitter. I think it’s all pretty useless, but maybe someone else won’t.

The Myth of "Not My Problem"

September 2, 2009 by Marc

I’ve read some really interesting comments regarding the problems in the AppStore. One thing that came up a few times, however, is something like this: “Who cares? This sort of stuff has no impact on the consumer.” I’m posting today to explain why this is a myth - problems with the AppStore that developers are having directly and negatively impact the consumer.

If you’d like to hear why a silly icon rejection is a big deal to you, read on…

I’m not going to frame this with a lot of color text - let’s get right to the point.

1. No Features For You! Apple is preventing you, as a consumer, from getting upgrades and features you deserve. Right now, users of eWallet can’t use Copy & Paste because Apple delayed our update over an icon.

2. New Features OR AppStore Compliance Updates: You Choose This sort of stuff eats up developer time which in turn cheats you out of better products. Instead of focusing on things that will actually benefit our customers, we’re messing around playing AppStore acceptance games.

3. Diminishing Returns No matter how good a platform or outlet is, developers will only take so much. At some point the system become onerous enough that it makes more sense to focus on other markets. This is the long term cost of this sort of thing – and at some point there WILL be a powerful competitor.

4. Too Risky for Good Products Illogical, petty, and ever changing acceptance requirements will cause developers to think twice before making a major investment in an iPhone application. If you don’t know whether your app will even get in, you reduce your initial investment to protect yourself. That means you, as a consumer, end up with apps that don’t hold a candle to what a developer might have risked in a more stable environment.

None of these are speculation – in every case I’ve seen it happen in the AppStore already, or in the case of #3, I’ve seen it happen on other platforms. And remember, the problem they are talking about isn’t just about us – this is affecting numerous developers.

So yes, these little and seemingly silly issues have a VERY REAL COST to the consumer. It’s easy to think “Meh, not my problem.” but in the end (as always) the consumer is the one who pays the price.

And the Power Returns

August 31, 2009 by Ellen

Our electricity came back late Friday afternoon. We’ll try hard to return all the emails and phone messages today. Apologies to everyone who was inconvenienced.

No Electricity Today

August 28, 2009 by Ellen

Our office lost power about noon today (Friday), and it looked very much like it was going to be down for a while, so if you’re trying to reach us, please try again Monday. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience.

Public VS. Private in the Virtual World

August 28, 2009 by Marc

It’s Friday, Apple still hasn’t approved the new version of eWallet, and I want to post something new on the blog, so I’m going to drag out the soapbox and talk about privacy issues. As I said in my Pinchgate post, I’m very sensitive to electronic privacy issues. I’m perfectly happy to share information, but I want to be part of the process. I want an application to ask before it starts sending my secrets off to some distant server for compilation and analysis. At the same time, tracking web usage is a universal aspect of the internet, so where does that fall in the privacy debate?

If you’re interested in this sort of thing, read on after the jump to hear me toss out some ideas!

The Internet = A Public Space

If you don’t already know it, websites track a ton of information about the people that visit them. Unique visitors, how long they linger on individual pages, what files they download, how they got to the site, or even where they go when they are finished. And it isn’t necessarily the person who owns the site that is doing this - these are all things a typical internet provider will track for the people who use them to host a website.

In general, folks aren’t too worried about this. My theory on why, is that people view the internet as “public space.” It’s like a park, a grocery store, or a government building. When you “walk around” the web, you have an expectation that someone might be watching you. Do you care? Most people don’t. So what if I appear on WalMart’s security tapes? What do I care if a traffic camera picks up my car driving down the street.

The internet is the same way. I have no greater expectation of privacy browsing books on Amazon than I do hanging out and thumbing through books in Borders. I’m out in public - someone is probably watching. Even on “secure” sites like banks, there is a real world analogy. Although I expect the transactions I make at the bank to remain secret, at a real bank I’m driving up to the bank out in the open, walking down the sidewalk and in the door in full view, and talking to a teller out loud (others might hear). There is a limit to privacy at a real world bank, and a bank website is much the same.

Software and My Computers = Private Space

On the other hand there is software (and the computers it runs on). People have an expectation of privacy here. I would no sooner expect a game I purchased to send personal information about me back to the developer than I would expect my refrigerator to send information about what food I eat, how much beer I drink, or what non-food items I store in my fridge back to Whirlpool. If my fridge actually DID this, I’d be pretty freaked out and probably get a new fridge.

The same with my computer. Although I access the internet through a browser from my computer, the space of my computer itself is my personal space. I’ll accept a CC camera at a grocery store, but I won’t accept one in my living room.

There are, however, real world exceptions. I might allow a Nielsen ratings box to be installed on my television, or fill out a survey for a marketing company about my buying habits.  But there is a difference…

Real World Permitted Spying vs Virtual Permitted Spying

The first key difference between the sort of private life spying that goes on in the real world (Nielsen box/survey) is that in the real world, retailers and marketers ALWAYS ask permission first. A handy fact about the real world is that they pretty much have to - I’m not going to accidentally fill out a survey. Also, there are laws that punish people that spy on us without our explicit permission.

A second difference is that real world retailers and marketers almost always give me something back for my effort. A freebie, coupons, or some other compensation for sharing my information. Take those stupid grocery store cards as an example. If you use one, they track your buying habits, but in exchange you get lower prices and targeted coupons at checkout. It’s worth it to me.

An Unfortunate Confusion

The problem is that software developers are getting confused. Now to be fair, some folks just don’t care, but I know a lot of software developers and I really believe that it is more an issue of confusion than purposeful wrongdoing.

First, they’re mixing up private space and public space. Just because we will accept a traffic camera, doesn’t mean we’ll let the government put a camera in our living room. The same is true for the internet. Just because we’ll accept data tracking on a website, doesn’t mean we’re okay with it in our favorite piece of software. And just like real life, although the technology is the same (a CC camera is a CC camera no matter where you put it) whether you are tracking web access or software use, this doesn’t mean we will accept that technology in all places.

Second, they are taking without giving. Traditionally, in our market based economy, we get when we give. If you want me to fill out a survey about my laundry habits, you’d better send me a little box of detergent. Or if the information is being given with no direct compensation, it had better be optional. I don’t mind volunteering, but if it isn’t a choice I’m no longer a volunteer.

Third, just because you can do something (and do it easily in many cases), doesn’t mean it’s okay to do it. I can sneak over to my neighbors house in the morning and peek in the window while they are getting ready for work. This doesn’t mean its okay. Software is powerful - we can do a LOT of things with it, but as Ben Parker once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Wrapping It Up

If you managed to read this whole post, thanks! I’ll take that as a compliment. :) In the meantime, encourage your favorite software developer to ask before they spy. I’m sure many of us are happy to chip in with information that might make our favorite products better, but there is a very clear line between our private space and our private space and developers need to make sure that they don’t cross it.