O NO I'M a MAC

Lazybones · December 27, 2008, 02:19:14 AM

I have been itching to develop for the iPhone since I got one, however you need Mac OSX 10.5 in order to use the official SDK.

With the MacBook Aluminum on sale I decided to take switch and get a Mac.

I must say it has been a long time since I have used MacOS as a primary OS but over all I am liking it so far.

It is also nice to have two computers at home again, I have been taking my work laptop home but it is a pain to lug back and forth more often than the weekends.

I am hoping to apply for the developer program and publish some apps to the app store, I mean if iFart can move 1 to 5 THOUSAND units a day I figure there is a reasonable chance to at least get back my investment in the MackBook.

Melbosa · December 27, 2008, 11:38:31 AM

And another falls to the darkside.

Darren Dirt · December 27, 2008, 02:17:41 PM

+1!

Oh, sorry, I have to go, it's been 3 days so Apple is again telling me to download the latest updated version of Quicktime and Safari even though I never use them...

Mr. Analog · December 27, 2008, 03:33:21 PM

Well, last I looked iPhone developers were making about $200 an hour US so ... it might be a worthy avenue to explore.

Lazybones · December 27, 2008, 03:46:38 PM

Well apparently iFart was netting 10,000 a day during its launch week.. Other iPhone apps have earned 200,000 in their first two months.

So , if I keep it simple my expectation is for me to be able to pay off the investment in the MacBook and $99 dev fee in a short period of time. Beyond that will depend on making something people really want and isn't already free.

At any rate I have been itching to do some programming again, so this is going to start as a hobby project.

Thorin · December 27, 2008, 03:54:08 PM

Really depends on how good the app is, how quickly you get it out, and whether or not your app gets in the Top Picks or whatever they call it. Here's a good read:

Cruel Economy of the App Store

Lazybones · December 27, 2008, 05:23:24 PM

O very true.

My expectations are not very high, but the potential is there.

The app store it self is still maturing, for example apple made the smart move of only allowing those that have purchased/installed an app to rate the app. The app price cap does not concern me yet as my initial apps are likely to be minor anyway.

Melbosa · December 27, 2008, 08:26:03 PM

Good luck with it Lazy. Unlike Cova, I'm not against Macs... I just don't prefer to use one. My choice. But I think you might have a good time with it.

Lazybones · December 27, 2008, 09:55:53 PM

One think I am really digging from a laptop point of view is the new multi-touch track pad.

- It's BIG, most trackpads I find are too small to move the pointer around the screen precisely.
- Most of the multi-touch gestures are very easy to use, use two fingers and drag down to scroll
- Need to right click, use two fingers and press down
- there are 3 and 4 finger gestures as well but they are less intuitive.

Still running a windows desktop at home and I might dual boot the laptop.

Thorin · December 28, 2008, 01:04:26 PM

Yeah, the multi-touch track pad is an awesome idea! Strangely, very opposite to that long-running single-button mouse concept

I've heard that you can also zoom in on programs with two fingers moving in a spreading motion?

Lazybones · December 28, 2008, 03:31:59 PM

Yes there is a zoom gesture just like the iPhone.

The whole touchpad is one physical button btw, so it is still kind of a one button mouse.

Mr. Analog · December 28, 2008, 03:55:01 PM

Actually a coworker of mine just bought a brand new Macbook Pro and the touch pad is the same size as the iPhone interface.

I was reading that Apple (and ASUS I believe) may be releasing multi-touch tablet/laptops in 2009.

That has some interesting possibilities, especially for someone like myself.

Tom · December 28, 2008, 09:28:18 PM

Sounds fun

I managed to get OSX86 installed on my desktop. I have a couple apps I want to work on..

Lazybones · December 28, 2008, 10:21:09 PM

Quote from: Tom on December 28, 2008, 09:28:18 PM
Sounds fun

I managed to get OSX86 installed on my desktop. I have a couple apps I want to work on..

Hmm, I tried setting up a VM to test drive it however I couldn't get OSX 10.5 to work, only 10.3. You need 10.5 to run the latest official SDK.

Tom · December 28, 2008, 10:38:36 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on December 28, 2008, 10:21:09 PM
Quote from: Tom on December 28, 2008, 09:28:18 PM
Sounds fun

I managed to get OSX86 installed on my desktop. I have a couple apps I want to work on..

Hmm, I tried setting up a VM to test drive it however I couldn't get OSX 10.5 to work, only 10.3. You need 10.5 to run the latest official SDK.

I didnt get it working in Vmware server or VirtualBox, so I just made some room and a new partition for OSX. It runs fine but I dislike the lack of real virtual desktops, and proper mutimonitor support. While it did a good job of detecting and setting modes, I still had to resize them, and I still can't use the same workflow as I'm used to, theres no way to tell what windows are maximized on any given screen without cycling through them manually, its irritating when I'm used to a separate task bar on each screen only showing whats relevant.