iOS Lifted NDA - flooded market?

[JonnyThunder]

I was kindof hoping that the iPhone development NDA would be in place till i'd finished learning Cocoa / iPhone SDK but it looks like it happened already.

Is this likely to allow the market to become flooded with (mostly useless) applications and games for the iPhone?

 

[Fontano]

I was kindof hoping that the iPhone development NDA would be in place till i'd finished learning Cocoa / iPhone SDK but it looks like it happened already.

Is this likely to allow the market to become flooded with (mostly useless) applications and games for the iPhone?

Not anymore so then already has been.

This may actually lead to more QUALITY apps, since books can now be published. CBT courses can be developed, instructor led courses can be offered. And online sources for solid, credible quality information will not have to worry about NDA violations.

 

[mccannmarc]

how is allowing people to discuss the sdk going to increase the amount of rubbish apps on the appstore?

Apple will still be checking every app that gets submitted

 

[robbieduncan]

Why would lifting the NDA make any difference: the challenges in learning Objective-C/Cocoa Touch are the same now as they were before. Sure some books/tutorials will get published but if you can't get your head around programming that won't make any difference, and if you could the resources were already there to enable you to learn. The challenge of getting an app accepted is the same as it ever was.

Anyway why are you worried about market for useless applications getting flooded? You weren't intending on writing a useless app surely?

 

[mccannmarc]

I get the feeling that a lot of people actually think that by lifting the NDA Apple have allowed developers free reign over the system. This isn't the case, the platform is just as closed and restricted as it was before its just that now you are allowed to discuss development and seek help without breaking the NDA.

 

[JonnyThunder]

Yeah, don't get me wrong. Having the NDA lifted will of course provide people with invaluable resources from communities. But I think it will also open a gate for lots of people to pick up the basics of iPhone programming from books etc, and start churning out junk.

Will be interesting to see what happens with the App Store. My money is on a huge surge in rubbish apps. We'll soon see i guess!

 

[mccannmarc]

Yeah, don't get me wrong. Having the NDA lifted will of course provide people with invaluable resources from communities. But I think it will also open a gate for lots of people to pick up the basics of iPhone programming from books etc, and start churning out junk.

Will be interesting to see what happens with the App Store. My money is on a huge surge in rubbish apps. We'll soon see i guess!

Don't forget the people planning to release these rubbish apps still have to pay the $99 fee to release them which is a deterrant for most anyway. It will stay the same, its just as easy to write a crap app now as it was before the NDA was lifted. Not to mention that the Apple documentation is far more comprehensive than any book I expect to see soon and thats been there from day 1

 

[grimjim]

... I think it will also open a gate for lots of people to pick up the basics of iPhone programming from books etc, and start churning out junk.

Will be interesting to see what happens with the App Store. My money is on a huge surge in rubbish apps. We'll soon see i guess!

Some of us are quite capable of churning out junk without the use of books, thank you very much.

Seriously though, nope, it won't make things worse. Why would it? The idea that people will make worse products with more knowledge seems counter-intuitive at best. If you mean that it might induce more people to try their hand at writing apps, then you probably have a point. Why that would have an adverse effect on quality any more than the presence of relevant programming books would on any other platform, I can't understand. All it will really mean is that it will be easier to learn good practices, and to understand the scope of the SDK. More people with the ability to write good apps will drive quality up, not down.

 

[JonnyThunder]

Lol... all good points and I hope you're right with regards to quality. Mind you, I will always be available at the other end of the scale to churn out dodgy apps with no future.... ...I'm kidding (I hope)

 

[firewood]

The $99 fee isn't much more than the price of 2 or 3 new programming books, some of which can now be published due to the lifting of the NDA. So the $99 won't be a major hurdle itself. If the upcoming iPhone programming books sell well and to people who aren't currently developers, there will probably be an moderate increase in the number of people submitting apps just because they read the books and learned how.

But the market is already in the process of being flooded in my opinion.

.

 

[cpatch]

The first beta draft of an iPhone development book is already available (I have nothing to do with it, just pointing it out):

http://www.pragprog.com

I'm sure more will follow.

 

[fat phil]

I was kindof hoping that the iPhone development NDA would be in place till i'd finished learning Cocoa / iPhone SDK but it looks like it happened already.

Is this likely to allow the market to become flooded with (mostly useless) applications and games for the iPhone?

The only way to stop people making crap, is for ignorant people to stop paying for it.

I'm not saying everyone is ignorant of course. Just enough to stand out.

 

[JonnyThunder]

Problem is, you may buy an app in good faith before you find out it's crap. And at least the first half dozen will be duped! Take for example, the various "ping" and "connection speed" applications. The majority of them are total junk. But you can't be sure until people start posting reviews.

 

[fat phil]

Problem is, you may buy an app in good faith before you find out it's crap. And at least the first half dozen will be duped! Take for example, the various "ping" and "connection speed" applications. The majority of them are total junk. But you can't be sure until people start posting reviews.

Well, babies had to starting dying and falling sick en massé before they stopped selling dodgy milk in China, so I guess it's just a function of daily life that we have to live with. That devil, Trust.

Of course, if we went the way of Gattaca, big brother could at least sign each application with "Warning: Software Created by an In-Valid", and we could all look like Jude Law.

 

[JonnyThunder]

...and we could all look like Jude Law.

Errr, no thanks. I'd rather have a flood of dodgy software from the App Store.

 

[fat phil]

Errr, no thanks. I'd rather have a flood of dodgy software from the App Store.

Well, can't blame me for trying. I'm fat, remember...