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www.youtube.com/bestbuy - Musician and Best Buy employee, Keith Parsons, rocks his Best Buy holiday campaign audition.
82 Comments
- twoboxen, on 04/25/2008, -3/+50what a horrible article... ZERO content.
How many different ways can you say "Android is open, Apple is not." Two pages worth, apparently.
Additionally, I develop in several languages, including C++, and have to say that that is a ridiculous assumption--"The best programmers program in C++". I call BS. There are great programmers and sh1tty programmers in EVERY language. Zero respect for PC World for this POS. - acero47, on 04/25/2008, -6/+22As someone who has coded an Android application, I can say it definitely still needs work. It's pretty good for a beta, but it's not complete.
I have no clue about the iPhone SDK. - sjorsvb, on 04/25/2008, -3/+18crap article, two pages and no conclusion...
- inactive, on 04/25/2008, -8/+19Hardly a showdown. Last I checked their aren't any Android phones on the market. When they are out and selling well, then we can talk about a showdown. Until then, its just vaporware.
- r3zonance, on 04/25/2008, -1/+10Last time I checked an SDK was a Software Development Kit. Which allows you to develop software to run via some other software on a piece of hardware (where "piece of hardware" maybe one or more devices).
But you are right an SDK isn't a device, it is a software interface to a device. So your oh so whitty comment about the iPhone is complete crap.
You have no grasp on what an SDK is at all do you, really? - SteveMax, on 04/25/2008, -0/+8They didn't even compare the SDKs in any way other than "this uses Java, that uses ObjC". Terrible article indeed.
- tapeworm77, on 04/25/2008, -2/+8Comment suckage.
- Hamletlere, on 04/25/2008, -2/+8Fortunately, Apple already had the IDE, and as the iPhone API shares a LOT with the Cocoa API, a significant portion of the documentation was already written for them (outside of the UIKit framework).
A agree that it is awesome, though. I've found myself enjoying Objective-C more and more when I code small applications in it. - Spuy767, on 04/25/2008, -0/+6Apple lets the devs determine the price. If a dev sets the price at 10$ apple gets 3$ dev gets 7$. If a dev gives the software away, apple hosts the software for free.
- meatmcguffin, on 04/25/2008, -1/+7Apple has said that free apps would be allowed on the store and at no expense to the developer
- echobucket, on 04/25/2008, -1/+6I think his point is, that an SDK for phones that don't exist is inherently less useful than an SDK for a phone that DOES exist.
- fludgesickles, on 04/25/2008, -1/+6That was the worst story i have ever read!
- Angostura, on 04/25/2008, -1/+5Just as a matter of interest, why do you hate XCode? It's always seemed a good enough IDE, apart perhaps for very very large projects.
- r3zonance, on 04/25/2008, -1/+5"overly simplistic (and it is, I've tried it)."
Where the hell are getting that notion from?
Xcode and it's supporting tools doing a very good job of enforcing the Model View Controller mantra (which Microsoft have suddenly decided is a good thing to start adpoting).
I will say that working to the MVC way is a very different way of thinking, but it helps you write cleaner code. But simplistic it is not.
Can you mix programming language SOURCE CODE in projects in VS? No
Most of the supporting frameworks in Mac OS X don't have anything even close to them on the Windows side.
Xcode does have a pretty robust intellisense system. - leontes, on 04/25/2008, -3/+6::hangs head in shame:: My attempts to edit this post were not successful.
- bigsteve, on 04/25/2008, -4/+7Go back and watch the press release announcing the SDK. Apple provides you access to get your app on the App Store, you choose the price (even free.) Apple gets 30% for hosting it. Think about it, someone can make a decent app, charge maybe $0.50 or $1 (which I'd gladly donate more if it was a freeware app that I used extensively that solicited donations, so what's a dollar really?) And if it gets downloaded just 100 times, you get $70 check from Apple.
Or you can charge nothing... you win because you get your app and name out there. Apple wins because quality apps are showing up for their device just a few clicks away from the userbase. - MacParrot, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3"When Android is finally fully completed, and phones start coming out with it installed, the iPhone will return to it's little niche corner"
Until it actually does come out we have no way to measure how successful it will be. A supercomputer would be required to count the number of Digg front page stories proclaiming device "X" to be an iPod killer only to see it fade away after so few people bought it.
"The iPhone, while successful, can really only contribute most of it's success to being the only phone on the market that functions like the iPhone."
Its success is because there's nothing else (currently) like the iPhone. Apple is already starting to see other phones come out that function in a similar way for less money. That's a good thing for everyone.
"Apple's pseudo "openness" will be shadowed by Androids total openness and the ability to install any application you want."
Apple DOES control things a little tightly (no argument from me), but that has also led to some really great and stable apps that have come from third-parties. While there certainly have been some great apps for other platforms in the phone market, there has also been a lot of crap. We'll have to wait and see which ends up as the better experience for the consumer. Being able to install whatever you want can be a two-edged sword if you're not careful and as earlier versions of Windows has shown, the average consumer sees a link for a new set of email smileys and bam! They got trouble.
As far as the Apple fanboys comment, why not just let it go? There are fanboys for every platform and they are universally annoying. And no, I don't own, currently want, or need an iPhone - danc4498, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3I was kind of hoping for more of a "features" of the sdk comparison. I guess we can assume for now the only difference is the accessibility and the language.
- JQP123, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3"Apple's pseudo "openness" will be shadowed by Androids total openness ..."
Like Windows openess is overshadowed by Linux openness?
"Openness" can be both good and bad. If Android is really and truly "totally open", how long before incompatible variants start popping up --- AT&T Android, Verizon Android, T-Mobile Android, etc.? In which case, is it really any different than Apple? - AndrewWiggin, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3I thought they would at least talk about the differences in the languages chosen by the respective companies with regard to battery life. I thought Apple was avoiding Java because it was bad on power consumption. Can anyone confirm or deny this, and does this mean that Android won't be as good on batteries? Please don't digg me down, it's an honest question I'm sure a lot of people want answered.
- Jerk, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Wrong. The iPhone SDK is available to anyone with a free ADC membership.
- r3zonance, on 04/25/2008, -1/+4"Google will win with the low barrier to entry, good support (judging from the quality of the docs so far) and the open mindset."
It's only a low barrier to entry if you know Java, which I don't, so it's just as high as iPhone SDK in that respect. - ahawks, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3I honestly don't see how this is a situation to "win"
The Apple SDK will never be offered to or adopted by other companies.
Apple will never adopt the Android platform.
The question comes down to what phone consumers want, do you want an iPhone, or some other handset? And frankly, there's a lot more to love about the iPhone than its SDK. - inactive, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3This is like comparing computer from last year to computers from today - it's pointless as Android still has a fair amount of development to go; so it's all speculative.
- system7, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Typical VB "programmer".
- Rhendal, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3How can they write an article that doesn't say anything other than "there's an iPhone and there's Android" and "hey 3rd party apps are on there!"?
- r3zonance, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Yeah the article basically said the iPhone SDK has some good advantages, but it's not as good as Android because it isn't Android.
- franksands, on 04/25/2008, -2/+5Can we please stop putting ads in the header image? For the love of Pete...
- bigsteve, on 04/25/2008, -1/+3I still knew what you were trying to say. Android hasn't been released yet but it's SDK has, which is a slightly different approach to Apple's "establish the base then release the SDK." iPhone 2.0 is a software update for now... it'd not be in Apple's best interest to change much at all with the next iPhone hardware revision (most likely just including a different cell network module; 3G instead of GSM... at the manufacturing level, these pieces are separate pieces from the iPhone mainboard so this shouldn't be too difficult so long as the power consumption, heat, and size footprints remain reasonably the same.)
- jo21, on 04/25/2008, -0/+2who cares about that look at symbian SDK and windows mobile (even is the OS itself it slow the SDK is good)
and cry. - intellimouse, on 04/25/2008, -2/+4"but it's going to attract quality developers and applications"
Riiight. You mean the kind of developers that make programs that have really limited keyboard acceleration? Or programs where you can cut and paste text but you can't cut and paste files? Or maybe those really great programs that only let you do things the "Apple way" and Apple doesn't give a ***** about flexibility because they're control freaks and nobody could possibly do anything better than them? Yeah. - Aitese, on 04/25/2008, -2/+4They do this now with Symbian s60 phones like Nokia's N and E series devices (N95 etc)
You CAN install IM and VOIP apps like Fring ans TruPhone, but every now and again they will block the needed ports on their network...but they can't stop use over WiFi. - Theli, on 04/25/2008, -0/+2They did call it an "SDK showdown". I would think that it suggests more than what is given in the article.
- ucg1, on 04/25/2008, -1/+3XCode is primitive crap when you're used to using Eclipse. Eclipse is of course especially amazing for coding Java.
Now I don't hate XCode like simusid said he does, but I certainly am completely unimpressed by it. - mrsteveman1, on 04/25/2008, -0/+2Thats exactly what they do...inside the itunes store
- WarezAppz, on 04/25/2008, -8/+10Yes illiteracy is a terrible - terrible thing. Remedial English class for you I fear . . . . .
- MacParrot, on 04/25/2008, -2/+4How can they come to a serious conclusion when neither has been released in its final form? Its just a comparison of current features
- r3zonance, on 04/25/2008, -0/+2But being an open "platform" is way different from open "software". Windows Mobile is an open "platform", so was "PlaysForSure", neither of which were able to move very quickly as they had all these compatibility concerns that had to be addressed with hundreds of different hardware configurations.
Admittedly they aren't quite the same, but I don't see Android being able to adapt too quickly. - mrsteveman1, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1Android isn't challenging iPhone, its an attempt to hand microsoft their ass with windows mobile. They are likely different market segments too, iPhone is expensive, but some of the things Android can be used on won't be.
Same basic platform strategy, build an OS, let hardware makers use it. - inactive, on 04/25/2008, -5/+6I think it is worth bearing in mind that the Android platform will still have to contend with the telcos, who will definitely want to restrict what can run on devices that are connected to their networks. In particular, they are bound to try to protect their revenue streams by limiting instant messaging and VOIP applications.
- PlancksCnst, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1>There are great programmers and sh1tty programmers in EVERY language. Zero respect for PC World for this POS.
You forgot about BASIC. - ucg1, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1Near-final product. The iPhone SDK is still beta, though pretty close to final. True, its not a fair comparison, but Android does look to be a good iPhone challenger. At least there's some things we know about the two that we can compare them on.
- Lemon, on 04/27/2008, -0/+1Dugg down for the first sentence... please...
- mal1964, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1How many have a comment ready for me when it hits 500? LOL
- Darkhacker, on 04/25/2008, -3/+4I know I'm going to get dugg down. It's inevitable when you criticize Apple, but damn it, I have to! They closed off the iPhone and only now that someone else is having an open platform, do they open up and act like they care about developers all of a sudden. When the iPhone first came out, they gave third-party developers the middle finger. Then they finally open up and act like they're doing us some great favor when it's something they should have done in the first place. That's no way to treat your customers and people trying to enhance your platform.
- timpoke8, on 04/25/2008, -3/+3Hmm. I have a hard time describing something written by GOOGLE as a "scrappy challenger."
- hillbillyboy07, on 04/25/2008, -1/+1Buried for who gives a *****.
- twoboxen, on 04/25/2008, -7/+7Last time I checked an SDK wasn't a particular device--wait, unless you are just talking about the iPhone....
- playgue, on 04/25/2008, -0/+0It seems kind of unfair since I bet far more programmers can program in Java than in Objective-C. I see this as another limitation to the iPhone SDK since if you haven't programmed for apple before you're pretty much screwed...
- simusid, on 04/25/2008, -5/+5I've written BREW apps, Blackberry apps, and android apps (in the eclipse sdk/emulator).
I've tried the iPhone sdk but oh my jesus christ monkey balls do I hate XCode :(
Google will win with the low barrier to entry, good support (judging from the quality of the docs so far) and the open mindset. -
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