How I learned to stop worrying and love Ldraw. (Subtitle: questions for programmers)

[Paul Griffin]

Apple has made it impossible for anyone to produce pure hobby software for iOS. A developer for Apple devices must either commit to funding the hobby out-of-pocket indefinitely (which, at $100/year, is a substantial outlay), or must worry about how to monetize it.

Even worse is that Apple, at any point and for any contrived "reason," may vaporize your hobby project with no forewarning or recourse on your part. After that, your work is completely wasted, as its is technically impossible to distribute it without Apple's dispensation. And of course, there's no remuneration for your lost work.

Due to these considerations, I haven't been able to justify any iOS hobby development. One might also take these factors into account when shopping for a mobile device. There's at least one platform that doesn't work like this.

Allen

I agree with what you said, but only for as long as you ignore jailbreaking. I already am an iOS developer (albeit in jailbreak circles only so far) and for me it did start as a hobby. Nowdays, the $100/year cost is just considered a maintenance cost. Good grief, I pay more than that a year on site hosting.