On Jun 28, 2008, at 4:00 PM, Jesper wrote:
Hello Steve,
My name is Jesper Redacted and I’m a developer. I’ve released four applications and utilities for free on Mac OS X and I love Cocoa. I imported an iPhone to Sweden, and I’m planning to buy the iPhone 3G when it gets here for real in two weeks.
I am a bit distraught with a few things regarding the iPhone SDK. I can see how the code signing with Apple as central authority makes the iPhone credible for use in the enterprise, and how an entrance fee might raise the bar to entry a little higher and cut out some of the crap.
But Apple has to me always meant great development tools and an open platform. I can’t easily test an application on the phone, and if I’m making a quick app for myself, I’ll need to sign up for a $99 development membership in order to be able to distribute the app to myself, even using the Ad Hoc model. I’d be paying for development support that, while I’d appreciate being there, I wouldn’t really need, and I’d be using code signing and DRM that I wouldn’t need either. This also makes development using the open source model unnecessarily hard, and I know that Apple’s trying to be a good citizen in that world with WebKit, Darwin and the iCal server.
Improving these things wouldn’t necessarily mean abandoning the App Store model or breaking security, and I think Apple knows this. If you consider the engineering resources already invested in the iPhone, the OS X version running inside it and the iPhone SDK, it wouldn’t be hard to leave the decision up to the user and let her decide if she can trust or be able to run her own apps on her own phone. It’d even be a partial decision where you would trust your own apps, but require the signing security for every other app. Solving this would also put Apple in a better light than some other mobile phone vendors.
I love the iPhone and its SDK, just as I love how Cocoa has been adapted for the device. It’s precisely because of this that it pains me that I’ll have to go a long detour route simply in order to be able to write some personal apps for my own phone. I think Apple has shown that it is a great innovator, and I’d love to see you guys hit it out of the park by going the extra mile beyond Ad Hoc distribution and really make iPhone development something that’s both secure and for everyone.
Thanks and good luck,
/Jesper
Message-id: <C3D7ECFB-E57F-43D9-830E-EBB3082A7C0D@apple.com>
Subject: Re: The iPhone SDK and openness
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:55:51 -0700
On Jun 28, 2008, at 4:56 PM, Steve Jobs wrote:
Sorry, but we like it just the way it is.
Steve
I may not agree, but at least he’s honest with me.