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Inside Apple's iPhone SDK Gag Order
Posted by
samzenpus
on Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:40 AM
from the the-first-rule-of-iPhone dept.
from the the-first-rule-of-iPhone dept.
snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Tom Yager takes a closer look at Apple's iPhone SDK confidentiality agreement, which restricts developers from discussing the SDK or exchanging ideas with others, thereby leaving no room for forums, newsgroups, open source projects, tutorials, magazine articles, users' groups, or books. But because anyone is free to obtain the iPhone SDK by signing up for it, Apple is essentially branding publicly available information as confidential. This 'puzzling contradiction' is the 'antithesis of the developer-friendly Apple Developer Connection' on which the iPhone SDK program is based, Yager contends. 'You'll see arguments from armchair legal analysts that the iPhone developer Agreements won't stand up in court — but those analysts certainly won't stand up in court on your behalf.' Anyone planning to launch an iPhone forum or open source project should have 'a lawyer draft your request for exemption, and make sure that the Apple staffer granting it personally commits to status as authorized to approve exceptions to the iPhone Registered Developer and iPhone SDK Agreements,' Yager warns."
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Hardware: SDK Shoot Out, Android Vs. IPhone 413 comments
snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister delves into the Android and iPhone SDKs to help sort out which will be the best bet for developers now that technical details of the first Android smartphone have been announced. Whereas the iPhone requires an Intel-based Mac running OS X 10.5.4 or later, ADC membership, and familiarity with proprietary Mac OS X dev tools, the standard IDE for Android is Eclipse. And because most tasks can be performed with command-line tools, you can expert third parties to develop Android SDK plug-ins for other IDEs. Objective-C, used almost nowhere outside Apple, is required for iPhone UI development, while app-level Android programming is done in Java. 'By just about any measure, Google's Android is more open and developer-friendly than the iPhone,' McAllister writes, noting Apple's gag order restrictions on documentation, proprietary software requirements to view training videos, and right to reject your finished app from the sole distribution channel for iPhone. This openness is, of course, essential to Android's prospects. 'Based on raw market share alone, the iPhone seems likely to remain the smartphone developer's platform of choice — especially when ISVs can translate that market share into application sales,' McAllister writes. 'Sound familiar? In this race, Apple is taking a page from Microsoft's book, while Google looks suspiciously like Linux.'"
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no sale, here, then (Score:5, Interesting)
I had no idea about this. I don't follow apple things (...) but given how sue-happy they are, they can certainly live without MY buying any of their gear.
simply because of this, alone; I vow not to buy an iphone. I was not really in the market but now I know for sure that apple is on my blacklist (at least the evil phones).
apple: are you trying to dislodge MS as the most hated computer company around? keep it up, mate....
Re:no sale, here, then (Score:5, Insightful)
They're already there, as far as I'm concerned. Apple's business practices just reeks of some mad power trip in general. They absolutely despise people using their products (be it hardware or software) in ways that they had not intended. Microsoft is FAR their superior in that regard. The main evil with Microsoft is seen by the IT professional, not the consumer. With Apple, it's generally the other way around.
The only explanation I can see for Apple's recent surge in popularity is their marketing, which is absolutely top notch.
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Typical Steve Jobs... (Score:5, Funny)
He'll demand that people conform to his world view, and demand that the people working for him force their customers to conform to his world view.
Now, he's demanding that his workers force his customers to force THEIR customers to conform...
*phew*... I'm so glad I don't work for / with / against / near Apple. I get winded just thinking about them!
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Re:no sale, here, then (Score:5, Funny)
The only explanation I can see for Apple's recent surge in popularity is their marketing, which is absolutely top notch.
Really? That's the only explanation?
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Re:no sale, here, then (Score:5, Insightful)
The only explanation I can see for Apple's recent surge in popularity is their marketing, which is absolutely top notch.
So in the past 10 years, the switch to a unix based operating system with modern object oriented apis, the switch to intel hardware that made an easier transition for windows developers, the acquisition and development of technologies like multi-touch, the negotiating with record labels to break out of the subscription model, the adoption of open source for many parts of the operating system (from Darwin to WebKit) and so on had nothing to do with it?
Yeah, it's silly that they haven't lifted the NDA yet, but it's not like developers have gotten excited about their platform because of brightly colored commercials.
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Re:no sale, here, then (Score:5, Interesting)
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Typical Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
I am a big Apple supporter and member of the apple rumors community... however...
Apple can get away with this because they can outspend almost any web/forum site. If they are in the right or wrong, who cares? They can keep throwing lawyers at you until you give.
They attack Apple rumors site on a routine basis for BS claims of copyright or trade secrets. If I take a picture of somebody else holding a pre-release iPhone, how is that copyright? They are in the public!
Look at the EULA and Apple attacking the company making mac clones. Most lawyers do not think that the EULA would stand; however, no company (other than microsoft or google) could tolerate the time/money that fighting would cost.
Re:Typical Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
So... I guess this kind of mentality puzzles me. There are a lot of apple users out there, who, like you, acknowldge that they're being dicked around mostly even because you take interest.
To me it almost seems like an abusive relationship. You care about them, they beat you up, and you keep coming back. Why?
Note, I don't mean you, per se. But it seems pretty common in the Apple fanboy communities.
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Common Fanboy Behaviour, in general... (Score:5, Insightful)
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So basically, no learning help? (Score:5, Insightful)
So with this NDA issue, I can't buy a book, read a forum, get any assistance at all with writing my iPhone application... So what the hell good is an SDK you can't talk about? Is this cellular fight club or something?
Apple, fix this shit. Really. Fix it now. There's no excuse for not letting the NDA go, no way that it protects you. The phone's been jailbroken, it _will_ be unlocked, so why stifle development?
Re:So basically, no learning help? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this cellular fight club or something?
Not quite. I expect the iPhone SDK NDA bullshit will end with the end of the Android SDK NDA bullshit. Neither wants to show their cards first.
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No, it'll end when... (Score:5, Insightful)
OH wait, this isn't even piracy. It isn't even 'stealing'
I guess they really mean it when they say "Think Different". As in, don't you DARE think what he's thinking. Don't even think about thinking about it...
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I had assumed this would be lifted Real Soon Now. (Score:5, Interesting)
After all, the iPhone SDK cannot remain a "beta" forever, and once it's no longer a beta, I presume the SDK will show up side-by-side with the MacOS X Cocoa SDK from which it was derived.
Most of Apple's beta stuff has the same confidentiality agreement, so I presumed this was just a bug.
This will have to change... (Score:5, Informative)
If this is the computing model of the future (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:If this is the computing model of the future (Score:5, Insightful)
It is, no doubt.
I mean, look at the programmable hardware platforms out there that "the powers that be" won't let you program. Game consoles, smartphones, even APIs for stinking video cards. This is all hardware that WE BUY, yet, we can't find out how to write our own stuff unless we are a big dev house and pay tons of $$. Ridiculous.
Developers, developers, developers, developers.
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Re:If this is the computing model of the future (Score:5, Informative)
I like Nokia's new advertising platform:
http://www.opentoanything.com/ [opentoanything.com]
At a glance it looks like they've identified Apple's closed stance is a big gripe for developers and hardcore tech-types, and they're going after that market.
Obviously they've also got Google on the other side, but I hope they do well out of this. If they stop spamming out a billion different mobile models a year and focus on getting some nice, neat hardware backed by some good open source, get enough developer support, and they could have something going on.
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Sorry I can't talk about this. (Score:5, Funny)
Message Received. (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple doesn't want me to program their hardware. I hear and will obey...
Apple hosts public iPhone discussions (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Apple hosts public iPhone discussions (Score:5, Funny)
The EULA for Safari for windows [theregister.co.uk] also forbids the installing of safari on windows. Again silly. Apple needs to become about 638% less litigious. Yes, I quantified it, wana fight about it?
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The first rule of Apple SDK Developers club is.... (Score:5, Funny)
...you don't talk about Apple SDK Developers club.
That's amazingly stupid! (Score:5, Interesting)
I can't see that happening with iPhone. What a stupid, stupid way to go about things. Palm didn't even have a robust platform, and they kept a huge market dominance way longer than they should have by making it easy to develop for their platform by keeping things out in the open. You had to sign agreements, but it wasn't this fascist Apple crap for sure. I'll take on any Apple fanboy on that point.
No browsers, no API, players or background apps (Score:5, Insightful)
Kaspersky dosen't like that idea [palluxo.com]
Slashdotters [slashdot.org] apparently don't like that you can never write browsers, music/video players or background applications.
I can't think of any other company that has ever done anything like this. I'm really just curious, has any company ever publicised a SDK that has been so very private and restrictive? No other browsers?!?
This story reminds me of the time I tried to hook my Apple cinema display up to my Cable box's DVI port, it's just not worth it, even if you get it to work, you have 5 more lbs of monitor [apple.com] you've got to hide somewhere, just because Apple wanted to squeeze a little dough out of people with more proprietary cable connectors.
Apple has always been about "Show me the money", every action they take reemphasized that they are only interested in more money, not innovation. Here though, they really go out of their way to stifle innovation with literals like "...calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise...". It really says it all, don't bother trying to write this for our hardware, you may compete with us in such a way that we can't fuck you properly.
Re:Try not to choke. (Score:5, Funny)
A secret survey conducted by the Rand Corporation in the 1970s confirmed that any person attracted to white, plastic machines completely without sharp edges is an utter homosexual, subconsciously wishing to insert them into his rectum.
Wow. I gotta watch Wall-E again...
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