Re: Jobs

FROM : Alex Rice
DATE : Sat Nov 16 23:15:36 2002

On Saturday, November 16, 2002, at 12:04  PM, Steven W. Schuldt wrote:

>
> Sounds like a great strategy, except it is very unlikely to work and I
> speak from experience.  Here's why:  Take a look at VersionTracker and
> notice how much stuff is released/revved for Mac OS X on a daily
> basis.  Some of it sucks, some of it is good, some of it is great -
> doesn't really matter because there's just too much of it.  The noise
> level is deafening - as a small ISV you simply cannot be heard above
> the din no matter what you've got.  If Watson were introduced today
> (imagine Sherlock 3 didn't exist) it would sink without a trace.  Ask
> Dan Wood and he'll tell you the same thing.  Not to take anything away
> from Karelia, but Dan's like a lottery winner that got in at the right
> place/right time.  You are welcome to buy a ticket and play the game
> but don't say I didn't warn you.

Fair warning, but I don't believe it's all as bad as you are saying.
The web was the best thing that ever happened to shareware developers,
and that hasn't changed. I don't think there is anything wrong with OS
X or it's user base. OS X shareware developers have a tremendous
advantage over Windows shareware developers right now.

1) the OS X market is smaller, so there is less competition for any
particular product type.
2) Mac users historically are more shareware savvy and spend more on
software. (Not sure if that's actually true or just my wishful thinking)
3) Cocoa is a superb application framework, and it's free.
4) OS X has attracted attention from Unix and Windows users alike.
5) Lots of old Mac users are poking around to see what new apps there
are for OS X.

My experience has been: I learned Cocoa beginning with the OS X public
Beta. Andrew Stone turned me on to AppKit way before then, but I didn't
get around to learning it until the public Beta. Last year I released
my first shareware app, Slacker Todo Lists. It was not a phenomenal
success, however I wasn't planning on supporting my family with
shareware profits. I have a day job for that. I learned a lot in the
process and the shareware revenues are enough to pay for my Internet
connectivity, purchase of some new software, and a little supplementary
income. Slacker 2.0 should be finished later this month and I am
optimistic. And a lot of users are eagerly looking forward to it.

So my friends, burn that midnight oil!

Now it does concern me that you are suggesting the Objective-C runtime
is going to be turned into some bastardized thing which is actually a
Java VM. Shudder.

Alex Rice <<email_removed>>
Mindlube Software
http://mindlube.com/
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