Also, the fact that I think everyone is missing is that it's more than just having a "simple" language that drives adoption.

Java is not going to die when it has such fantastic libraries like Spring and Hibernate. I shudder to think of the implications of writing a real web application in Go. It should maybe be called, Go Reinvent the Fucking Wheel.

This key difference -- the massive Java "ecosystems" as it were -- is why I put more stock in Groovy/Grails and Scala than I do in languages like Ruby and Go.

My company develops software for the iPhone simply because it is profitable - orders of magnitude more profitable than apps for any other mobile platform.

Strategically, you don't want to be tied to one platform, but that's no different with iPhone than it is with Mac, Windows, Blackberry, et al.

The fact that it has a restrictive developer agreement and it's one-sided means that there is additional risk developing software for the platform, that's all. Risks are part of doing business, and lots of people have chosen to accept the relatively low risk of developing for the iPhone platform.

If you want to develop open-source software for Android that has no inherent risk of being rejected by the sole supplier, go ahead. Nobody is stopping you. Meanwhile, we're quite happy developing software for Apple's platform and dealing with the inherent risks of doing so.

Excellent point. You forgot some other things to remind the Netbook users to do:

1. Backup all data automatically
2. Figure out how to sync/share iTunes libraries
3. Figure out how to sync photos and contacts
4. Figure out Windows Update so your computer is not vulnerable to viruses
5. Figure out the right firewall settings
6. Organize all of my documents
7. Figure out how to buy application licenses (you mean I have to find the vendor's site, register for an account, and type in my credit card info for each app? How do I know they will protect my credit card data? Also, I have to PAY for an upgrade?)
8. Figure out how to keep all of their applications up to date
9. Figure out how to make Firefox zoom in and out to accommodate the small screen (good luck seeing the whole page)

I'm a software developer/architect, and even to me, all of the above things are really annoying. I can put up with them on my laptop and desktop PCs... the computers that are designed for power usage and long use cases (word processing, software development, graphic design).

But, for reading an e-book, playing a few games, and browsing the web? I really should not have to put up with that crap on a device that I use for 30 minutes at a time.

The "netbook experience" is basically just like using a shitty laptop. I can think of maybe one scenario where a netbook is superior to a laptop -- when you are travelling and you don't want the extra weight.

99% of the time, why would I not just use my good laptop (something with a decent screen size, graphics card, processor, and memory) instead?

The bottom line is, unlike a netbook, the iPad has many use cases where it is superior to a laptop.

SQL injection attacks are very easy to avoid, yes, if you know about them.

In my time, I have seen several instances of SQL injection-vulnerable code, and 99% of the time it comes from junior level developers, who obviously have had no security training.

Should the developer be liable, or the company that let them code without being trained?

It's also funny reading it on a MacBook Pro.

Funny response, but unfortunately, iPhones and iPads are capable of other things, so your argument loses most of its luster.

Did you have the following sentiment when Microsoft Word for Windows was announced in 1989?

"So, for only $2000 (for the computer) + $500 (for the printer) + $500 (for the software) , you can use a typewriter electronically! You get a delete key, and you don't have to worry about where to put that $3000 in cash you would still have!"

I agree wholeheartedly. Substitute "laptop" for "iPad" and I think people would find their statements stupid.

"Why would anyone ever want to play Scrabble on a laptop? After all, that laptop costs over $1000, but I can get scrabble for $20!"

And yet, Scrabble on Facebook is one of the most popular games on the internet.

If you already have an iPhone and an iPad, the additional cost of Scrabble is very low. And Trivial Pursuit. And Risk. And Texas Hold 'Em. And Monopoly. And Fieldrunners. And the other 140,000 apps available.

Personally, I'm extremely excited about the possibilities here, and discounting them because of the cost of the iPad/iPhone is definitely missing the point.

The high price tag is probably the primary reason that he's not selling many of these things; I know plenty of devs that successfully sell simple games at the $1 level, and they are able to sell tons of them as long as the product is good (20 or 30 thousand is not unheard of, even if you're not a huge success). A couple hundred purchases means that you made some serious mistakes either in pricing or promotion.

I disagree. Now, I haven't released any games on the store, but I've released three different applications. On one of our apps, we raised the price to $6.99 from $0.99 since it was a niche product. We now are selling 1/2 as many as we were before, but the 7x increase in price more than makes up for the difference.

The key phrase you have is "as long as the product is good." The problem is that the App Store itself is no longer a viable marketing channel, since there is so much competition. You have to be in the top 50 of a category to get any traction. The indie devs are having difficulty getting noticed in all the clutter, and a "few hundred downloads" is about on par with what I am expecting for each app we release.

Maybe eventually we will release an app that catches fire, but I'm holding expectations at the few hundred mark for now.

Technical debt builds up, and having a bunch of ActiveX apps around means you are accruing a shitload of that debt each day. 5 years ago, when 95% of the world used Windows and IE, it was still a dumb idea to build an app that used ActiveX.

Kill it, MS. Please!

You actually want Best Buy to go out of business? You want thousands of teenagers, not to mention thousands of really smart people that work at HQ, out of work? Wow. It's not like they are forcing you to shop there or somehow lowering your quality of life. Some people actually enjoy shopping there. (I'm not a huge fan, personally, but I really don't enjoy watching American businesses crumble and thousands of normal people losing their jobs.)

4 gig cards are not that expensive and they hold an amazing amount of stuff. Probably 8 gig cards will be pretty standard in a year or two. So just get the largest cards you can afford and you won't need to have lots of extra ones lying around.

The downside to doing this is that you put all of your eggs in one basket. If that card is lost or fails before you back up the images, you will lose way too many photos. For a pro photographer, that is probably unacceptable risk.

For casual photographers, though, buying the biggest card you can does make sense.

Noone demanded something like the iPhone.

That's not entirely true. I recall many blogs and other places asking for iPod functionality in a cellular phone, so they only needed one device.

The problem is, Motorola listened, and we ended up with the P.O.S. that was called 'ROKR'.

Apple knew the right way to execute on that promise, and delivered the iPhone.

Freedom isn't free.

Yes, you're absolutely right. Freedom costs $1.05.

Yeah, but that's the gift that keeps on giving all year!

You think that's cool? I think it's frightening and would be a ridiculous invasion of privacy.

Do you really want George W. Bush having access to your thoughts, even if it was just visual data? I can personally think of few worse things than that.