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November 7, 2006

software

The Delicious Generation: old vs. new

Posted Nov. 7, ’06, 5:17 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Software

Disco The showdown has been building. Ever since My Dream App really started gaining steam, the thought has been percolating in the back of my brain. Is the new generation of Mac software developer all flash and no substance? That’s the operative question.

Paul at Rogue Amoeba posed the question with a partial yes, while Jason Harris of Shapeshifter and My Dream App fame thinks it’s a resounding no. Both posts are long, so be prepared.

Naturally, you wonder what my take is. I’m so glad you telepathically asked. I think Paul is more right than wrong. As I see it, the AppZapper/MacZOT/Disco/My Dream App/MacHeist group has been more flash than anything.

  • AppZapper still screws up when being used in a regular user account and it doesn’t tell you that it messes up. It can’t properly do its single task. But those animations look great.
  • MacZOT! has burned me with mediocre and confusing MyzteryZOTs far too many times.
  • Disco isn’t really a Toast competitor. It’s time to stop pretending. It repackages services that are available in a half dozen forms.
  • My Dream App felt extremely dragged out to me and only two of the winners hold any interest from me.
  • MacHeist already looks like it’s full of hype.

I’m sure I sound old. I’m probably being overly harsh. However, I can’t help but think the shameless self promotion being used by all these things is a bit reminiscent of the MadTV sketch with Stewart. You know the one, where guy plays a kid that constantly says “Look at what I can do!” You can’t turn away from it because thirty seconds later, you hear them shouting “Look at what I can do!” again. I miss the days of someone making a very functional application quietly and letting the users promote the product on their own. I don’t remember Brent Simmons constantly self-promoting his excellent NetNewsWire. It found a huge audience by itself.

Further, NNW and other applications of its ilk put functionality and usability before the superfluous effects. They don’t simply put another pretty face on an existing framework. The frameworks simply add value to a core of functionality that could stand alone all by themselves.

So, what do you guys think? Old or new? Am I being too polarized?


9 Comments

Joel said:

Actually, I think people are getting way too worked up over that burning app. If developers want to build highly-complex cd-burning packages, THEY CAN. Nobody is stopping them.

All it proves is that The Mac development environment is easy to use and develop for. The Basic and most-used parts of the OS are very functional in and of themselves and Apple makes these features easy for developers to use.

November 7, 2006 5:53 AM
Rob Olliges said:

Here, here....

I said it before, "My Dream App: applied directly to the forehead!"

November 7, 2006 6:09 AM
Moe said:

I don't really think this is even an issue. I use software that does what I want, the way I want it done. AppZapper does one thing well and it works the way I expect it to. So does Disco. I don't understand why the extra effects both of these programs offer (which can very easily be turned off) somehow make them "more flash than substance".

Sure, there are applications out there that are all flash. There are also applications out there that might be very useful but the user interface is so bad that I'll never in my wildest dreams consider trying to learn them. The truth in this situation I think lies somewhere in the middle of both these extremes, which in my opinion is where Apple has excelled in the past.

November 7, 2006 6:44 AM
matthew said:

I agree with all sides mentioned in your post, Derik.

I would simply add that Phill's concept of promoting SW is an interesting one, despite having a nich audience.

I ran through the process myself, rather reluctantly, simply because I kept seeing references to MDA pop up everywhere. The results, as you said, were thin, watered down. I found it classically anti-clamatic, and nothing there I was interested in.

But I hand it to Phill for conceiving the project and executing it the way he did. Of course the projects were not up to him.

I've already found MacHeist to be stale, but I think that's because I'm not in the niche they're aiming for with the project.

November 7, 2006 7:00 AM
Domenico Bettinelli said:

I think we have two different issues here: marketing and product.

I have no problem with flashy and creative marketing. In a crowded marketplace, something that adds interest and amusement is welcome. And if the product doesn't pan out, it will quickly sink out of sight.

As for the product sizzle v. substance, I think there is a slight tendency to emphasize form over function, but as long as the function is still there, I have no problem. Do we really need smoke effects? No, but it's kind of fun.

But then, we're Mac users, aren't we? Don't we like a little fun form with our function?

Yes, I think it's possible that promising apps without flashy marketing will get overlooked, but whose fault is that really? After all, isn't it the Mac media and bloggers who are giving all the attention to the flashy marketing?

Dan Frakes' MacWorld feature Mac Gems is the perfect antidote because he unearths great apps we might never have seen and he does the sorting through the sizzle to find the substance.

In the end, I don't blame the developers; I blame the media for encouraging them. Sorry Derik. :)

November 7, 2006 11:42 AM
shadownight said:

While I would like to see more "functionnal" apps than fluff as well, I think your cirticism of My Dream App and MacHeist is unfair. You say you're only interested in two of the winners. 2 out of 3 seems a pretty good ratio to me! And it's normal it feels dragged out: they need to develop the apps, which won't happen overnight. I agree there was too many voting rounds, but I don't know if that's what you're referring to. Also, why would the MDA apps be fluff and in the "delicious" category? Atmosphere: yes. Portal: extremely functional, certainly not fluff. Cookbook: again, very functionnal.

As for MacHeist, to say it's already "hyped" is pretty unfair considering nothing has started yet, and you haven't seen the final bundle of apps offered. Again, who says those apps will be fluff? Sure, you can expect AppZapper and Disco, but what about stuff like iClip? Is that useless fluff? Me thinks not.

November 7, 2006 3:27 PM
stef said:

isnt it unfair to have a go at AppZapper for not letting you delete an App from a non-admin account? isnt that the point behind admin accounts? you decide what is on the computer, normal users only get to use it...

Dont knock MacHeist until its started. It could beat all you expectations. And dont sniff at free stuff either. Its free!

if you dont like mystery Zots then dont go in for them. I love them despite the fact I often end up with some complete rubbish which I wont ever use.. thats their main failing, its true, but its also my fault for being a total sucker.

MDA, on the other hand, you only have the general public to blame. Just like with Pop Idol and X Factor, its the public votes that count in the end, so if they vote for flash like Atmosphere which there is hardly any real use for, to my mind, then thats what you get. Hopefully next time, well see better end results with actually useful apps. Hijack 2 and iWhistler 2 anyone?

i know my argument is a bit one sided, but then again... so was yours ;)

November 7, 2006 5:36 PM
Derik Author Profile Page said:

Just so I can respond to a few of the deluge of comments:

Moe, I can appreciate flash, but in a more useful way. I like nuance when it adds something. I think the problem with Disco is that there are many packages that do what it does already, and by some accounts, far more reliably. Toast certainly does much more.

matthew, I agree that Phill has really tapped into something new with big splashy software promotion.

Domenico, I think the problem is that I see the functionality being overwhelmed by form. The functionality should be the motivator when buying and form should be a tie breaker (IMHO).

shadownight, speaking of iClip, the latest preview of version 4 is still a PowerPC app. Get Info is tricked and if you take a look at Activity Monitor, you'll see that it's running in Rosetta. I find that unacceptable. So much so, I switched to shadowClipboard.

stef, there are a couple of acceptable options AppZapper should do when being run from a non-admin account.

1. Inform the user it won't work and don't touch the file it can't properly remove.
2. Invoke the authentication dialog to get admin powers. This is standard, commonly used behavior. I see no excuse to not use the mechanism. That's what it's there for.

If Austin is such a talented coder, he should have thought to use this. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but that's how it really is.

November 7, 2006 6:12 PM

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