It is obvious to the outsider that Apple is accepting a limited number of developers into its iPhone Developer program so it can focus on working out the bugs/workflow in AppStore and the whole, integrated surround.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been super transparent on that process nor has it set expectations with developers in terms of when they might get their pass.
Add to the mix Apple’s overly secretive culture, and that puts developers in a pickle.
On the one hand they are being courted and counted as a part of a growing number of iPhone SDK 'developer downloads.' On the other, they are told to wait their turn, or more accurately, being told nothing.
This understandably makes some of them feel like they are being jerked around.
Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba talks about this conundrum in 'A Broken System.' Here's an excerpt (thanks to Daring Fireball for the link to this story):
Ultimately, the problem here is with communications, or lack thereof, from Apple. When Apple first announced the SDK, thousands of developers rushed to apply for the development program, a flood for which Apple may not have been prepared. However, since then, Apple has bungled the processing these requests. Confusing emails and a lack of useful correspondence have left us waiting to hear the status of our application for a full three months and counting. Will we eventually be accepted to the program, or will we ultimately be rejected, and barred from providing software for the platform at all? At the moment, we simply have no way of knowing.
I talk a lot about the good side of Apple, but I have also talked equally about their poor history with developer relations (see links below).
Good will once lost is not so easily replenished, a truism that will only pick up velocity as the RIMs/Blackberry and Googles/Android of the world respond to the iPhone challenge.
Meanwhile, an AppStore starts to take shape.
Related Links:
- The Scorpion, the Frog and the iPhone SDK: on Apple's somewhat tortured history with third-party developers.
- Upward Mobility, Land Grabs and the iPhone Universe: red flag warnings on Apple's patent portfolio strategy wrt iPhone?
- iPhone SDK - mobile reasons for optimism: why the iPhone Universe is a big deal.
- iPhone 2.0 - swinging for the fences: an analysis of the WWDC Keynote by Steve Jobs.
