Apples and Nuts

15 days into the tracking, patching, testing, cussing loop from hell. Familiar whining this. It pretty much epitomizes the life of a hacker.

The iPod Touch remains in its original box, untouched, waiting for the next (Palm OS) release of ninerpad (will it? ever?).

But I like to peek. So I waded, again, through the iPhone SDK (hush hush Apple may be listening) docs. Things are becoming clearer.

But then, this very interesting post by Michael Ash. It helped put things back in perspective.

Yes, the iPhone oasis may beckon, but you may want to reconsider drinking from its pool. The process of getting an app on the iTunes store is not as simple as it is for Palm (mobireach, my cart provider, makes the process a google times simpler). But that's not the main issue for me. Learning has its curves, like many good things, so it can't be that bad.

No, my main beef is that Apple will not remit royalties to participating developers until their net reaches 250$. Granted, if your paid app is hugely popular, that may come fast and easy. But if it is not -- and that is the most likely (just do the math) scenario "for the rest of us" -- , it may take months before you see that first payment. Nice? Not.

But I'll try anyway. After all, nobody likes to miss a boat, any boat, no matter how small.

Still, just to keep things on an even keel, I think I'll stick around for a while with the Palm OS and with my friends at mobireach.

And now, back to our regular programming: cussing at Palm OS 5.

Christmas in August

I bought an iPod Touch yesterday. I justified the purchase as a necessary investment in my career as a wannabe independent software developer.

At the same time, though, another voice spoke, much louder this time. It was the kid in me, and he said: "Cool. A new toy!"

The iPod Touch (iTouch) looks like an expensive toy. It's cute, and sleek, and eye candy jumps out at you as soon as you turn it on. How can one resist? And I thought to myself "Ah, Apple design..." And as I did, Venice came to mind; not the city as much as the feel of it; the way I would have said "Ah, Venice..." if I had been there (as I have).

One could say that there's a little bit of Venice in every Apple product.

Later, I skimmed through the developer documentation, trying to get my bearings and preparing the ground for my next -- and first iTouch -- project. By the time I was finished, my inner developer too was feeling the rush: "... so many cool APIs... so many possibilities... so much... nerd candy".

And no wonder today was a special day. Three significant fragments of my personality were in agreement, for once. Pleasure delayer that I am, I still haven't opened that box, though. It sits there in my bag, waiting for that moment when fragment #1 says "okay boys, let's open the presents and start coding".

I can't wait.