Apple clarifies iPhone SDK beta state

...that Apple has to clarify the obvious to the usual bundle of trolls that kept tossing bs about ripe for the tinfoil brigade.

Folks like Erica Sadun over at TUAW are particularly grating, as she never misses a beat to unleash her typical passive agressive bs on Apple - apparently she never got over it that her pet iPhone Dev Team group was responsible or bricking thousands of iPhones, not Apple, and since then she's not been missing a single opportunity. She's not alone, there's a group of about a handful of similar trolls, calling themselves 'developers' for who apparently nothing Apple ever does is ever enough, but who also are quick to run away as fast as they can from any sort of actually taking responsibility for their actions.

Overall, I'm glad Apple stepped forward and clarified this, but I have no doubt that sane heads within Apple rolled their eyes as they were releasing these 'news'

While I might agree that some feel a sense of entitlement from Apple, believing that anything short of a completely open platform on which they can do what they will is completely unacceptable, there are plenty of others who are legit developers who were left out of the first round of the beta.

It stands to reason that Apple might want to severely limit the number of developers it takes on, but some of the most respected developers in the Mac world were left out and seemed to deserve a more clarified position from Apple.

Not all those with questions about their apparent exclusion from the SDK beta are the likes of Sadun (although I wouldn't completely agree with your assessment and openly admit that some of the work she has done - and facilitated - has been of a great help to those of us who don't like to be told what we can do with our own possessions, I will agree that she can be "aggressive" in her positions), and deserve a legitimate explanation as to what their status is in the program.

This SDK is very exciting for developers in the Mac world who would like to have every extra second they can get so that they can come to market with a good product from the word "go" in June. Being a bit jittery when trying to give away 99 of their hard-earned dollars only to be told "you're not good enough" is likely quite frustrating, especially when you're one of the developers who has been around the Mac for quite some time, helping to make the platform the system that it is.

"Not all those with questions about their apparent exclusion from the SDK beta are the likes of Sadun (although I wouldn't completely agree with your assessment and openly admit that some of the work she has done - and facilitated - has been of a great help to those of us who don't like to be told what we can do with our own possessions, I will agree that she can be "aggressive" in her positions), and deserve a legitimate explanation as to what their status is in the program. "

You can do anything you like with your iPhone including driving over it with a car and it might still work but you can't blame Apple when the next free update doesn't work.

...that Apple has to clarify the obvious to the usual bundle of trolls that kept tossing bs about ripe for the tinfoil brigade

No, what is unfortunate is that Apple seems to have no clue on how to easily handle situations with developers or users. If they just made the initial developer program 'closed', and added a 'sign-in' sheet to be contacted when they would expand, no one would complain. But Apple does the normal. Shouts from the rooftops about how they've got this great SDK, great program, etc, then seems startled that more than 4 people want to sign up for it, and then shocked that people getting letters that basically say "We don't want you" and take it the wrong way.

Maybe at some point in the future, Apple could think these things out beforehand.

The amazing thing out of all of this is that Apple even said anything. Their normal MO is to stay quiet and just let people burn.

And.... While I might agree that some feel a sense of entitlement from Apple, believing that anything short of a completely open platform on which they can do what they will is completely unacceptable

No, what is unacceptable to a lot of people is the forced "You may have bought it, but we are going to control everything about it, down to what you can put on it" attitude.

It's plain and simple.

Apple wanted the marketing buzz of an open developer program but didn't care to think of the onslaught. Mind this, the buzz got out to huge media sources but the downside is only being discussed in forums and websites like MacNN. Apple still wins.

I've been a Mac developer for 20 years, I did expect a little better from Jobs and Co. But, hey, it's Apple's loss. I had an order in for a 16Gb iPhone (anticipating an onslaught of apps on day 1 of iPhone Update 2.0). But, I canceled it because I have my doubts about how much software is really going to be available on day 1. I'll let the bigs guys release their software and look for a niche to fill after the dust settles.

I too think Apple wanted the buzz of an open beta program, but I also think they also expected this. It's not doing them any damage by having it over flow. On the contrary, now they also get the buzz of having more developers than they can handle for the time being. This also probably allowed them to cherry pick who got to be in, getting a wide variety of programs going, or maybe the ones they think will need the most work, or even just the ones they think will make for a great WWDC keynote. Either way, Apple is still benefiting from all of this.

Controlled Spin.

When its Christmas time and millions of people are buying iPhones with 3rd party apps all over the place....

Sounds like some of you [testudo] do not understand the concept_ Most - if not ALL beta programs are limited access_ And they do this so they can control the environment - it's called controlled testing_ They do this on purpose_

The only thing they did mess up on during Steve's rant 2 weeks ago at the Townhall meeting was that they failed to say it was in Limited Beta at the moment_

Other than that - folks can still download the damned SDK and play with it_ And anyone that does download the SDK and actually knows what they are doing - will be able to keep up in the long run when Apple does open it up later on_