My new computer is at the Apple Store having some warranty service done on it (fans are being replaced). As a result, I'm essentially computerless at the moment. I've got my iPhone, and my wife has a MacBook I can use sometimes, but it doesn't have most of the software I need installed on it, so I'm falling behind on a lot of things, and I'm also not being very responsive to e-mails. I apologize to anyone who has contacted me over the last three or four days and hasn't received a response. It looks like there's a good chance that my computer will be done today (fingers crossed everyone), so hopefully I will start catching up in the A.M. with everybody.
Also, part 2 of my OpenGL for Beginners blog series is almost done. It just needs some editing and a couple of tweaks, so I should be able to post it tomorrow. But, then, I need to buckle down and focus on a a bunch of other things I've fallen behind on, so don't expect part 3 any earlier than this weekend.
Showing posts with label Apple Store. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple Store. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Another Apple Store Sighting
This one was taken by yours truly at the Apple Store in Crossgates Mall, in Albany, New York.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Guess Where These Were Taken…
Mark Johnson very kindly sent Dave and me the following two pictures. I won't tell you exactly where they were taken, but they come from a store that begins with "A" and ends with "pple Store".
And not just any one, but the big flagship one in downtown San Francisco. I can't tell you how cool it is to see this. I just got back from the Syracuse Apple Store, but it's one of the smaller ones that's not carrying our book.
Thanks Mark!
And not just any one, but the big flagship one in downtown San Francisco. I can't tell you how cool it is to see this. I just got back from the Syracuse Apple Store, but it's one of the smaller ones that's not carrying our book.
Thanks Mark!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Review Silliness
I wish I had some visibility into the process used for the App Store reviews at Apple. I'm sure those reviewers are in a tough job and all. Probably a lot of pressure, too much work, etc. I know. But, there have just been so many examples of silly rejections lately, I have to do a quick post on it.
Most recent: Loren Bichter, author of the great iPhone Twitter client Tweetie, just had an update to his application rejected because of a hashtag it found in the Twitter timeline.
By this measure, they should be pulling Mobile Safari off of the phone because it lets you see all sort of nasty words and pictures that Ms. Grundy certainly would not want us to see. Sheesh.
NOTE: Loren re-submitted Tweetie and was promptly approved. To their credit, Apple does often move promptly to fix individual problems when they become aware of them. Now if they can just fix the system that allowed the problem in the first place. I'm starting to hear bits and pieces of why this is the way it is.
Chris Stewart, who runs iPhone Dev SDK had his app rejected because it "provided information that is in violation of the iPhone SDK". His app? An RSS reader that pulled feeds from his site's forums, which are about programming using the iPhone SDK - the official SDK. I've hung out there a fair bit, and I can't recall ever seeing anybody promoting anything illegal. In fact, people looking for Jailbreak info are usually referred to other sites because his site is about programming the iPhone SDK, specifically people who want to get apps up on the App Store (isn't that meta?).
Before that, I heard from several developers whose apps were rejected for having "too little content", or for "not providing enough functionality". First of all, there is nothing in the SDK agreement that says you have to have a certain baseline amount of functionality, and second of all, all of these rejected applications did as much or more than hundreds of applications already on the App Store. In at least two cases, the authors re-submitted their apps without any changes, and they were accepted! How can that not be arbitrary? It's not deterministic. If you do the same exact thing twice, you should get the same exact results, unless there's some kind of randomness in the system. Obviously, Apple's review process has some amount of randomness to it or, in other words, is arbitrary.
Making arbitrary decisions, or those that aren't arbitrary, but are perceived that way, is bad for the platform. It's going to sour developers on the process and on Apple. Many iPhone developers (me included) are among the most fervent fans of Apple and their products. We buy a lot of their products, and we recommend them. We also develop the applications that make the platform exciting and constantly improving. In terms of long term strategies, constantly annoying your biggest fans and most stalwart customers is not a great one.
I understand that Apple is trying to maintain a certain level of quality and content on the App Store, and that they have to pay for the infrastructure to distribute the free applications, so they understandably don't want to pay money to deliver useless but free programs to thousands of users. Yes, it's their house, and we've all agreed to play there, but if they keep changing the rules, some people might start picking up their balls and going home.
There's got to be way for Apple to do what they need to do without annoying developers and without making it look like apps that get rejected did so because somebody was in a bad mood.
Most recent: Loren Bichter, author of the great iPhone Twitter client Tweetie, just had an update to his application rejected because of a hashtag it found in the Twitter timeline.
By this measure, they should be pulling Mobile Safari off of the phone because it lets you see all sort of nasty words and pictures that Ms. Grundy certainly would not want us to see. Sheesh.
NOTE: Loren re-submitted Tweetie and was promptly approved. To their credit, Apple does often move promptly to fix individual problems when they become aware of them. Now if they can just fix the system that allowed the problem in the first place. I'm starting to hear bits and pieces of why this is the way it is.
Chris Stewart, who runs iPhone Dev SDK had his app rejected because it "provided information that is in violation of the iPhone SDK". His app? An RSS reader that pulled feeds from his site's forums, which are about programming using the iPhone SDK - the official SDK. I've hung out there a fair bit, and I can't recall ever seeing anybody promoting anything illegal. In fact, people looking for Jailbreak info are usually referred to other sites because his site is about programming the iPhone SDK, specifically people who want to get apps up on the App Store (isn't that meta?).
Before that, I heard from several developers whose apps were rejected for having "too little content", or for "not providing enough functionality". First of all, there is nothing in the SDK agreement that says you have to have a certain baseline amount of functionality, and second of all, all of these rejected applications did as much or more than hundreds of applications already on the App Store. In at least two cases, the authors re-submitted their apps without any changes, and they were accepted! How can that not be arbitrary? It's not deterministic. If you do the same exact thing twice, you should get the same exact results, unless there's some kind of randomness in the system. Obviously, Apple's review process has some amount of randomness to it or, in other words, is arbitrary.
Making arbitrary decisions, or those that aren't arbitrary, but are perceived that way, is bad for the platform. It's going to sour developers on the process and on Apple. Many iPhone developers (me included) are among the most fervent fans of Apple and their products. We buy a lot of their products, and we recommend them. We also develop the applications that make the platform exciting and constantly improving. In terms of long term strategies, constantly annoying your biggest fans and most stalwart customers is not a great one.
I understand that Apple is trying to maintain a certain level of quality and content on the App Store, and that they have to pay for the infrastructure to distribute the free applications, so they understandably don't want to pay money to deliver useless but free programs to thousands of users. Yes, it's their house, and we've all agreed to play there, but if they keep changing the rules, some people might start picking up their balls and going home.
There's got to be way for Apple to do what they need to do without annoying developers and without making it look like apps that get rejected did so because somebody was in a bad mood.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Geeking Out (including my Trip to the Mothership)
The last couple of weeks have been extraordinarily good, and I wanted to share a few things. Maybe if I write these things down, I will come down a bit and can get some sleep. Some of the news is making me feel like a kid at Christmas.
The first piece of news I want to share (which you may have heard if you follow me on Twitter is that by the end of our month, Beginning iPhone Development will be for sale in 50 of the Apple Stores. They're going to start with the 50 highest-grossing stores, primarily the larger stores in more urban areas. If it sells well, it's possible that they will expand it out to the rest of the stores.
I have never personally seen a programing book in an Apple Store. I don't know whether they've carried one before, but I've never see one on the shelves, so this is unexpected and pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, I don't live near a "Top 50" Apple Store, so if anyone sees my book on the shelves at an Apple Store, please snap a picture for me!
On a related note, our book is already available in Apple's Company Store, which is the store at Apple Headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop (the coolest address in techdom, by the way). I wanted to get a picture of the book on the shelves there, but they were sold out the day I went. In a way, that fact is almost better than a picture. I did get a picture of Dave's Learn C on the Mac bok on the shelves, but Learn Objective-C was also sold out.
Speaking of pictures, here's one that was sent to Dave Mark by someone inside Apple. If I recall the story correctly (I may not), it was taken by one of the evangelists who work at Apple. He saw one of the engineers walking down the hall with the book and asked if he could take a picture of it, then sent that picture to Dave. As someone who has owned and programmed Apple computers continuously since 1980, and as someone who's earliest realistic ambition (starting in about sixth grade) was to work as a programmer at Apple, this picture just sent me over the moon:
For me to know that there are people inside Apple who know my name and who feel that something I've written (or co-written, at least) is worth underlining, highlighting, and sticking post-it notes in is just... I can't even explain it. It makes me giddy.
I went to San Jose for the 360 iDev Conference (a subject for a different blog posting) this past week. Since we were only a few miles from Cupertino, Scott Knaster very kindly invited me to two meals away from the conference. The first was an informal meal with a group of his friends comprised of people who have some connection with Apple - mostly employees and ex-employees, who meet once a month. Apparently, Woz attends sometime but, alas, not that week. It was still a pretty neat experience for me. Scott's just a great guy, and it was a very fun evening hanging out with him and his cool Apple friends.
Two days later, Scott offered to drive me over to Apple headquarters so I could geek out and buy stuff at Apple's Company Store, y'know, do the whole "tourist thing". That, alone, would have been cool, but he made the trip so much better by calling a friend who still works at Apple and had him hook us up with visitor's passes so we could eat at the cafeteria and walk around the campus. I got sushi (several types of nigiri), meaning I got to have one of my favorite foods at a place that's seemed almost mythical to me for several years. My "Geek Mecca", in a way.
For lunch, we were accompanied by three of Scott's friends who still work there, all great guys, and I got to "talk shop" a little at the Mothership while we ate.
Interestingly enough, a few years ago, Scott took me on a similar lunch-time tour of Google, and it was an interesting contrast to see them both in the same way. Both places are known for being very selective and for hiring really bright people, but there is a completely different vibe to the two campuses. Once I got over a little of my awe at being at Apple Headquarters, I found the environment of the Apple campus to be extraordinarily comfortable and surprisingly normal. Google, on the other hand, always felt a little disjointed and tense. Not in a bad way - it wasn't that people there were unfriendly, just they they all seemed a bit distracted and not completely in the moment. I know it's not exactly a scientific survey, but there was definitely a different feel to the two places, and yes, I know that's probably just my own personal biases talking.
After we were done, we headed over to Company Store, but with visitor's passes, we were able to cut across campus. On the walk across, someone came over to say "Hi" to Scott. I thought I knew who it was, but didn't want to embarrass myself, so had to wait for introductions to be sure, but sure enough, it was Chris Espinosa. Now, if you've been involved with the Mac development community in any way, I don't have to tell you who he is, but for those of you who don't know, I'll explain. Chris's bio on Twitter says, simply, "#8".
That number that makes up his bio is his employee number at Apple. Chris is like the Cal Ripken of Apple employees, having been there since the very early days continuously. I'm not sure of his exact title now, but he's head of the Xcode team, or perhaps the whole Dev Tools team. If you are an iPhone coder or use Xcode regularly, you should absolutely follow Chris on Twitter, if for nothing else than to read his Xcode Tips of the Day (hash tag:#XCTODT #XCTOTD). Today's tip of the day pointed to an invaluable Tech Note.
Anyway, I had never met Chris, but I knew his name and have known him by reputation for years. He's somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for, and about whom I've only heard great things. And when I was introduced to him, he recognized my name and mentioned the book. Chris Espinosa knew who I was and knew the book I had co-written. For me, that was heady. We only talked with Chris for a couple of minutes, but that exchange was the highlight of my trip and really meant a lot to me (thanks, Scott!).
After that, we went over to the store and I got my "I Visited the Mothership" t-shirt, along with a couple of books, an Apple pen and something else I can't remember, and went back to the conference in a bit of a haze.
It's nice to be reminded once in a while that I'm not as cynical or jaded as I think I am. It's nice to get news that makes you feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, and it seems like this past week has been a lot of that.
The first piece of news I want to share (which you may have heard if you follow me on Twitter is that by the end of our month, Beginning iPhone Development will be for sale in 50 of the Apple Stores. They're going to start with the 50 highest-grossing stores, primarily the larger stores in more urban areas. If it sells well, it's possible that they will expand it out to the rest of the stores.
I have never personally seen a programing book in an Apple Store. I don't know whether they've carried one before, but I've never see one on the shelves, so this is unexpected and pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, I don't live near a "Top 50" Apple Store, so if anyone sees my book on the shelves at an Apple Store, please snap a picture for me!
On a related note, our book is already available in Apple's Company Store, which is the store at Apple Headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop (the coolest address in techdom, by the way). I wanted to get a picture of the book on the shelves there, but they were sold out the day I went. In a way, that fact is almost better than a picture. I did get a picture of Dave's Learn C on the Mac bok on the shelves, but Learn Objective-C was also sold out.
Speaking of pictures, here's one that was sent to Dave Mark by someone inside Apple. If I recall the story correctly (I may not), it was taken by one of the evangelists who work at Apple. He saw one of the engineers walking down the hall with the book and asked if he could take a picture of it, then sent that picture to Dave. As someone who has owned and programmed Apple computers continuously since 1980, and as someone who's earliest realistic ambition (starting in about sixth grade) was to work as a programmer at Apple, this picture just sent me over the moon:
For me to know that there are people inside Apple who know my name and who feel that something I've written (or co-written, at least) is worth underlining, highlighting, and sticking post-it notes in is just... I can't even explain it. It makes me giddy.
I went to San Jose for the 360 iDev Conference (a subject for a different blog posting) this past week. Since we were only a few miles from Cupertino, Scott Knaster very kindly invited me to two meals away from the conference. The first was an informal meal with a group of his friends comprised of people who have some connection with Apple - mostly employees and ex-employees, who meet once a month. Apparently, Woz attends sometime but, alas, not that week. It was still a pretty neat experience for me. Scott's just a great guy, and it was a very fun evening hanging out with him and his cool Apple friends.
Two days later, Scott offered to drive me over to Apple headquarters so I could geek out and buy stuff at Apple's Company Store, y'know, do the whole "tourist thing". That, alone, would have been cool, but he made the trip so much better by calling a friend who still works at Apple and had him hook us up with visitor's passes so we could eat at the cafeteria and walk around the campus. I got sushi (several types of nigiri), meaning I got to have one of my favorite foods at a place that's seemed almost mythical to me for several years. My "Geek Mecca", in a way.
For lunch, we were accompanied by three of Scott's friends who still work there, all great guys, and I got to "talk shop" a little at the Mothership while we ate.
Interestingly enough, a few years ago, Scott took me on a similar lunch-time tour of Google, and it was an interesting contrast to see them both in the same way. Both places are known for being very selective and for hiring really bright people, but there is a completely different vibe to the two campuses. Once I got over a little of my awe at being at Apple Headquarters, I found the environment of the Apple campus to be extraordinarily comfortable and surprisingly normal. Google, on the other hand, always felt a little disjointed and tense. Not in a bad way - it wasn't that people there were unfriendly, just they they all seemed a bit distracted and not completely in the moment. I know it's not exactly a scientific survey, but there was definitely a different feel to the two places, and yes, I know that's probably just my own personal biases talking.
After we were done, we headed over to Company Store, but with visitor's passes, we were able to cut across campus. On the walk across, someone came over to say "Hi" to Scott. I thought I knew who it was, but didn't want to embarrass myself, so had to wait for introductions to be sure, but sure enough, it was Chris Espinosa. Now, if you've been involved with the Mac development community in any way, I don't have to tell you who he is, but for those of you who don't know, I'll explain. Chris's bio on Twitter says, simply, "#8".
That number that makes up his bio is his employee number at Apple. Chris is like the Cal Ripken of Apple employees, having been there since the very early days continuously. I'm not sure of his exact title now, but he's head of the Xcode team, or perhaps the whole Dev Tools team. If you are an iPhone coder or use Xcode regularly, you should absolutely follow Chris on Twitter, if for nothing else than to read his Xcode Tips of the Day (hash tag:
Anyway, I had never met Chris, but I knew his name and have known him by reputation for years. He's somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for, and about whom I've only heard great things. And when I was introduced to him, he recognized my name and mentioned the book. Chris Espinosa knew who I was and knew the book I had co-written. For me, that was heady. We only talked with Chris for a couple of minutes, but that exchange was the highlight of my trip and really meant a lot to me (thanks, Scott!).
After that, we went over to the store and I got my "I Visited the Mothership" t-shirt, along with a couple of books, an Apple pen and something else I can't remember, and went back to the conference in a bit of a haze.
It's nice to be reminded once in a while that I'm not as cynical or jaded as I think I am. It's nice to get news that makes you feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, and it seems like this past week has been a lot of that.
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