[NTLK] Google releases Android Studio, kills off Eclipse ADT plugin

[Matthias Melcher]

> On Dec 10, 2014, at 7:55 AM, Valerio Paris Mitritsakis <valerio at mitritsakis.gr> wrote:
> 
> Technically you are not paying to write code. Xcode is free. You are paying to have your app published on the app store and have the benefits paying (professional) programmers have.

Yes, technically. But actually Einstein will always be rejected by Apple, so de facto I pay 100 Euros to run it for one year on one iPhone. I would be willing to pay that money if at least my friends could run the app for free, but they can't. It is fantastic for most coders to not have to worry about selling their product and earning money. It's definitely one of the great advancements in how individuals can create a revenue stream. 

Apple, AFAIR, cashes in at 30%, plus of course the 100 Euro base fee. That is all well and fine if the developer wants to make a profit, and it makes Apple immensely wealthy. But it leaves absolutely no space for developments that don't fit into the Apple guidelines. Einstein is one of those that fall through the crack. We are put at the same level with malicious software, exploitative apps, and porn.

> There are merits to having a "walled garden” (as people tend to call the iOS App Store distribution model) which you may agree with or not.

There are as many viruses, idiotic, waste of money, scheming, stealing, spying apps on iOS as there are on Android. At least on Android, they tell you beforehand if the "fart" app wants access to you contacts and your phone accounts. On iOS, you have to rely on Apple employees to filter out the crap (or so it was 20012 when my last iPhone met the dumpster).

> Still 100€ per year are not that many.

That is true if your intent is to sell an app through the App Store. If all you want to do is play with Einstein once in a while, it's quite a steep price.

> Think what programmers where (and are) paying to Microsoft  to get Visual Studio and an MSDN subscription.

That is a bad comparison. There has always (after VC6 in the 1900eds) a free version of VisualStudio. More importantly, the apps that are generated with VisualStudio will run on any MS-Windows machine without requiring permission from Microsoft.

But then again, all companies have started licensing and signing systems that will make it soon impossible to create software freely. They probably would have closed the door years ago if it wasn't for Linux.

One last historic remark: one of the main reasons IMHO for the early end of the MessagePad was a lack of apps. Apple was charging 1000 $US for the NewtonOS developer kit alone back then, without offering any means of copy protection or even the hint of help for monetizing development. PalmPilot tried the same thing, but soon a hacked dev kit appeared, and apps sprouted everywhere, making the PalmPilot a huge hit and leaving the MessagePad to die.

Matthias