No one here is doubting that it's a lot of work and the timeframe to release it to the mass developers. The disappointment arises when Steve Jobs claims publicly that it would be released at the end of Feb 2008. These are his claims and no one was forcing him to announce the release date, even though it's highly anticipated. It's his judgement of when products or services will be releasing or released. He is forgiven for the entire G5 3GHz in the PowerMac as its understandable that IBM also had a key-role in the development. However with software development even depending on beta testers Steve Jobs should better gage the release of a product(s).
Steve Jobs should have announced that it was due for release when the SDK was 98% completed, even though he is being optimistic. I much rather have him have knowledge that the SDK is 98% completed and give a March or April release then have it 80% completed and state an end of Feb release.
As the CEO of Apple his statements mean a lot to developers and consumers and to some extent the technology market, his release statements for products and services makes him lose credibility in so many eye. This delay does not bother me as I am not ready to invest in an iPhone or iPod Touch until its offered in Canada (iPhone) or WPA enterprise is incorporated. Though I have had an iPod Touch for a month as a test product.
After reading seven pages of this nonsense I picked this post as an example to just scream: STOP IT! (no personal pun at the poster)
If he said 'In the hands of developers by the end of Feb', then so be it. Little reality check here: Mac OS X bulds are usually literally HANDED OUT TO DEVELOPERS at WWDC. These builds are far away from the final product. These builds still see major changes, and though I am not aware of the business as not being a dev, I guess every seed note comprises a nice overview on what changed in which APIs and how to take advantage of it.
The SDK currently IS in the hand of developers (remember the claim on this site here accompanied with the 1.1.4 rumor)! So the deadline was met.
Actually I guess there are some high interest companies currently, that use this 'beta SDK' to deliver Apps on time. Maybe it's not Apple's fault. Maybe it's just, that Microsoft didn't get their Office reader ready, or Google didn't manage to fully compile some of their stuff. Problem is, we will never know, as all people, having the 'beta SDK' IN HANDS and working with it currently, are under heavy NDA.
So my impression of this roadmap event:
- Presentation of the iPhone 2.0
- Talk about iPhone Software 1.2 or maybe 2.0, that takes full advantage of the SDK
- Showcasing some major Apps, like Office document editing, PDF-viewing
- Maybe showcasing a 'Remote App' for using the iPhone on presentations
Short point: This event will be just like the 'Let me introduce 10.x to you'-events on WWDC. You will see, what the future will bring. You will get some 'Beta'-software for testing the ecosystem (like we got iChat AV, Safari 3, Boot Camp). Some high ranked officials will give their 5 minute speech, why they love the SDK and the iPhone so much. Nothing more, nothing less.
There won't be any REAL SHIPPING PRODUCT after the announcement, but you will know, what the future will bring. And now get over it, will you?
