Sprouted ~ Software that grows with you...

I’ve been mulling a commentary on Apple’s recent Leopard announcement. At first I wasn’t sure if this was the appropriate forum. While the announcement does have bearing on Journler, a post about the delay would not limit itself to Journler. Do I really want to get into commentary? You bet I do.

If you aren’t already in the know, Apple recently said that it would delay Leopard’s release until October (look for the Apple Statement on that page). I’d like first to talk about the relevance of this delay for Journler’s users. Next I’d like to say what I think of the delay itself. Finally I’d like to take a hopeful look at the future.

Leopard and Journler
The delay affects Journler users in three specific ways: Syncing, iCal integration and Audio/Video recording. Syncing and iCal integration are two of Journler’s most requested features. I wholeheartedly support the requests and plan to add both features to a future release. I was, however, explicitly waiting for Leopard to implement them. Leopard makes it considerably easier to integrate with iCal, and the OS introduces significant changes to the syncing architecture. Users hoping for these features will have to wait an extra four months.

A/V input is also an issue. Journler’s A/V capabilities are buggy on some Macintosh hardware, mostly because I wrote the code myself without knowing much about the subject. A/V programming is hard and Leopard makes it easier, a fact I was hoping to take advantage of. Users on those machines will benefit from the changes, but again, they’ll have to wait an extra four months.

The Delay Itself
Turning to the announcement itself, the delay doesn’t trouble me in any great way. So it’ll be an additional four months until the OS is released. I’m ok with that, mostly because it doesn’t affect me too radically. To be fair, I’m not holding off on a hardware purchase, and other than planned features which I’m going to get to one way or another, I’m not shaking in my pants waiting for OX 10.5 to come out. 10.4.9 has problems, and Journler has problems because of it, but I can deal with them and I can deal with helping users deal with them. We’ll get through it.

In fact, the delay is something of a benefit for me. I’m still very busy ensuring Journler works as best it can on the currently available system. Those four months give me more time to focus on getting the most out of Tiger, and when I do finally turn to Leopard development, they give me more time to ensure my code works and works well. In the end, while I do understand why the delay annoys many users, I am less moved by it.

The iPhone
The reason for the delay just steams me though. According to the statement released by Apple, the company “had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team” in order to ensure the iPhone shipped on time. You mean to tell me that a company announced a product before it was ready to be demonstrated, gave it a premature release date, and is now taking resources from what was its core business to ensure that date is met. And for what? For what is, as far as I can tell, an expensive cell phone.

Others, the editors at Macworld for example, regard this approach in a much more positive light than I do. “The iPhone is the point,” they say, if Apple is to become the consumer electronics company it now aspires to be. In principle I think that goal is a fine one. Unify the digital life and the digital lifestyle with high quality products and a designer attitude, absolutely. The iPhone just strikes me as the wrong direction.

The iPhone is an expensive product with a limited, potential user base. A purchase locks you into a contract with a network that doesn’t even cover Europe and is slower than what is already available on less classy devices. 3rd party developers will not be allowed to take advantage of the platform and some key, expected functionality such as Voice over IP (Skype) will be missing because of contractual necessities. Let Leopard be delayed, no problem, but for that?

Hope for the Future
I don’t want to be a naysayer. Any of those limitations are liable to change, and Apple is known for its surprises. What is more, the iPhone could be a revolutionary device, not for being a phone but for its interface.

I remember the first time I really got my hands on an iPod, one of the 4th generation models with the click wheel. The feeling that came with using this thing was incredible! I immediately knew what to do and how to do it, although I had never played with an iPod before. And using the click wheel was such a joy! I purchased that model a little while later and it is still the iPod I have and love.

I imagine the iPhone will offer that same “Wow! This is awesome!” experience whenever a user first gets a chance to play with it. There is the potential here to introduce a device which radically changes the way individuals interact with computers. The keyboard and mouse have been around a long time and served the industry well, but perhaps it is time to reconsider that paradigm and offer a serious alternative to it.

It is in this possibility that my hope lies. The iPhone will be running MacOS, which means the kind of user interface available to the iPhone should, in theory, be available anywhere the OS is installed, as long as the hardware supports it. The fact that Apple borrowed MacOS engineers to ensure completion of the iPhone further supports that notion. Anything that makes the iPhone a revolutionary devices could also make the Macintosh operating system a revolutionary OS.

What I envision is not a phone sized mobile device but a tablet pc, the mythical Mac Tablet that is about the size of my MacBook monitor and just as thin. The entire thing is a mouse, responding to the gestures I make with my hand just as the iPhone does. When necessary I can use a virtual keyboard, one that appears and disappears from the display as needed. Put something like that in my hands and I promise you I’ll be awake endless nights developing some of the coolest software you’ve ever seen. And I won’t be the only Mac developer doing it.

In summary, Leopard’s delay doesn’t move me one way or another. Products are delayed and that is acceptable, even if it does impact Journler’s development and user needs. It is the reason for Leopard’s delay that troubles me. The iPhone in itself seems like a bad idea. At the same time, I’m hoping that the iPhone is a stepping stone to a product with a more universal appeal and an even greater revolutionary aspect. If there’s a company that can pull something like that off, it’s Apple, even if I do think that Apple Inc. is making a mistake this time around.