No, developers do not know, and that is precisely the problem with iphone development. As a developer, you can read the SDK agreement, spend months developing your idea in good faith and in compliance with all written rules, and have it rejected at the 11th hour, without being told a how you violated those rules, or, worse, how to fix it. If you are a large company, you can often get around this. If you are a small shop or an independent, you are tapping your savings or a second mortgage, have an unsalable product, and still not know why. How on earth is a developer supposed to “do the same” and weigh their options, when Apple will not tell the developer the rules of the business game they play?

“If it sucks so bad, do something else.”

I love my iphone, so that is precisely my worry — that Apple, in an effort to protect a short-term bottom line, will drive talented developers to the competition. It happened in the PC market, where Apple kept developers at arms length during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Microsoft courted developers, and, as soon as Windows became less than a steaming pile of turds, developers flocked to it, in large part because they could do there what they could not with Apple. Eventually, despite the Mac’s initial superiority, the apps produced by those developers gave Windows such a market edge, and such momentum, that Apple had to throw in the towel and completely reboot their comttuer operations with OSX.

Instead of learning that lesson from their own past, Apple has doubled down on developer restrictions, with arbitrary rules for iphone developers. I agree wholeheartedly with those that say Apple has the right to impose such restrictions, but it seems foolishly short-sighted.

As a developer, I want to know the rules before I spend 4 months of my life and risk several hundred thousand dollars of my money. I will do so for the iphone now only because the alternatives have less appealing technology and small markets for smart applications. But I will long for a business partnership where I can fairly judge my relationship before I sink my time and money into it.

The more developers long for a better partnership, the less the competition has to catch up to Apple for developers to jump ship. Someday, Android, webOS, BlackberryOS, or even WinMo or Symbian will be less than a steaming pile of turds, too — Apple’s competition will not screw up forever. When that day comes, Apple needs to be sure that their best developers want to develop for the iphone first and foremost. Rules are fine — but arbitrary, after-the-fact rules are going to drive developers elsewhere, something that will hurt our phone platform over the long haul.

Some of you sound like you think the App Store is a something like public entity rather than a private business venture. It is not like Apple is standing in a public park censoring what people say or do. It is their show and they can do what they want. If enough people don’t like what is going on, then profits, sales, # of devs, # titles will drop. So far I don’t see that happening. Most customers/devs must be quite happy as evidenced with the kids of growth occuring. Will this 17+ promo code thing affect growth/profits much? I suspect very, very little, if at all.

Just like HBO has the right to put whatever they want on their channel, Apple has the right to enact restrictions. It cuts both ways.

I agree that there is a vocal (blogging) minority that is unhappy. I suspect the vast majority of customers and devs are happy but less vocal.

As a consumer (I am not a dev) I like what I see. I came from the Palm world with $20-$40 apps. Now I pay less. There are 60000+ titles. Good. Apple takes 30% from devs rather than the higher cuts (50-60%?) that were taken in the past by sites like Handango. Good for growth. Nearly 100k devs? Again, good for growth.

I have kids and like them not running into illicit content when young. Some parents might not care. I do. I know I can’t control everything but would not want to. It is nice to have some help as a parent, though. We spend a lot on Apple hardware (6 iphones, Touches, iPods to date, plus Macs, plus many apps) and I will continue to buy Apple as long as I like what is going on.

Some of you are unhappy. This is a business being conducted from the United States. Apple has freedoms and so do you. Voice your frustration and then make a choice. Carry on with Apple or not. Develop for iPhone or not. Vote with your dollars, time and effort. Let’s hear it for free enterprise capitalism.

Comparing this to a mall btw, is baseless… This isn’t a mall with utilities, this is the app store, with it’s own set of rules. If you’d rather sell your software in a mall, try it. I think you’d quickly determine the app store is preferable.

Apple made their bed and they can lie in it. Every other platform in the universe (prior to the advent of the app store) separated app distribution from the sale of the system itself. But Steve had to get his share of the sales… therfore the App Store. It’s time to face up to the fact that the app store model of software distribution is a ****** deal for customers. It inevitably leads to increased prices and decreased choice.

Come on, guy, you HAVE to know thats total nonsense. Anybody can be a board member. Even you if you could find a few million stock holders to vote for you.