Nathan CrauseMusings of a Software Developer

According to industry research firm NPD, Android phones have begin to outsell iPhones. To be honest, this is super news. As a developer looking into mobile app work, having the freedom to develop and run my custom applications as I see fit, which both Android and Blackberry allow, is of paramount importance.

I've seen a fair amount of criticism about people who have my position on the iPhone. Arguments such as "freedom to use any language isn't a right". What a load of rubbish.

Here's the real issue for me - all the clients I deal with require small, custom, once-off applications which they (and their staff) want to install on their mobile devices, and off they go. How does this play out in the AppStore? It can't, because it's not an application which is intended for mass distribution, and Apple won't let me put my damned app onto their device any other way other than the AppStore.

I'm not "jealous that I can't afford one", nor is it an issue of programming language (though I'll admit I wasn't happy when they refused to allow Java to run on it). This is purely a case of the above scenario, and I do wish people would think beyond their own little mindset usage before spouting off about why I think Steve Jobs is a twat.