Linux Solutions

Android made its first appearance last week in the form of the new G1, causing the geeky portion of the general public to get excited, and the developers to get their panties in a twist. Blogs all over the web have been talking about how cool the new platform is, but for a basic user, its just a fancy new phone, however, if you are a developer then you want to know what you can, and perhaps more appropriately, can’t do with this new toy.

Last week Apple began applying nondisclosure agreements to rejection letters sent to those developing for the App store. This means that developers are not allowed to reveal why they were rejected.

Techie bloggers have been condemning the iPhone to a gradual death. One blogger, Thomas Teisberg from Linux Loop, said:

“As of today’s news, it appears that the iPhone development process is like this.”

“Ask Apple for permission to make an application. Sign a non-disclosure agreement. Invest time and money into an iPhone application. Ask Apple for permission to sell or give away your application. If Apple says YES: start making money and hope Apple does not change their minds. If Apple says NO: shut up and deal with it. If you say anything, Apple can sue you, further raising the wasted investment money.”

As a result, “the iPhone is now doomed,” Teisberg claims.

“Apple has not shot itself in the foot — they shot themselves in the leg or heart,” Teisberg added. “If Apple does not loosen up on their NDA policies soon, developers may leave the iPhone for the much more open Android platform or another more open platform.”

If that happens, “Apple has suddenly doomed a potentially promising and incredibly successful platform,” he said. “The only question that remains to be seen is how far iPhone developers are willing to be pushed? My guess: not much more.”

Slashdot editor Timothy Lord shed some light on the debacle.

“I’m optimistic about Android, and the ham-fisted way that Apple’s been handling developers for the iPhone has made me even more optimistic,” he said. “Apple’s not done anything I consider evil by restricting the apps that iPhone users can download, but it shows they’re giving the iPhone the same treatment that makes me unhappy with OS X - deciding that their way is the way a certain thing will be done.”

Others feel that Android’s openness will struggle, in such a closed environment.

“The cell phone market is one of the most closed markets I’ve ever come across - telcos often demand that cell phone makers allow them to disable features to protect their own profit margins,” Montreal consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack said. “I’m honestly not sure what a more open platform can change in the face of such blatantly anti-consumer behaviour.”

Android does have the least the potential to bring new openness to a market known for the reverse.

“I’m not a big fan of cell phones generally, but Android-style openness - if it remains as open as people hope it to be - may change my mind on that,” Lord said. “I certainly hope that it puts an end to the foolishness of people paying dollars for ringtones, or [getting] funneled into awkward and expensive picture-sending systems just to get photos off their phone. Shouldn’t every phone already allow users to drag and drop files?”

T-Mobile needs to “crow about how open the platform is,” Lord added. “It’s 2008, and I still hear people asking the questions that seemed to dog anything ‘open’ 10 or more years ago, like whether something so transparent can be safe from malicious hackers.”