Filed under: iPod Family, Developer, iPhone
First iPhone Developer acceptances confirmed
TUAW has finally been able to confirm actual acceptances into the $99 iPhone developer program. This is what we have been able to learn:
The accepted developers were apparently among the first to apply. Rather than wait for the SDK to download, many of the developers applied as soon as they saw the application page.
The accepted developers previously received the rejection letter (aka what Mike beautifully calls the "limbogram"). While the acceptance letter arrived this morning, developers reportedly received their initial rejections as early as the first Friday after applying.
The program is firewalled. Unless you are authorized, you will not get access to Apple's documentation and support site.
Five iPhone limit. For anyone hoping to find a back door way to distribute software, tough luck. You may develop for up to five iPhones and that's it. So no distribution sans Apple.
Test devices are iBricks -- so to speak. Adding the pre-release iPhone OS to your iPhone seems to kill actual phone functionality. Update: We have unconfirmed reports that some developer phones continue to work as expected; as soon as we can clarify this we will.
TUAW congratulates the lucky developers who got into the program. If you got your happy note this morning and have more to add, let us know in the comments or use our tip line for confidentiality. Update: Unless you submit a working email address with your tip, we cannot get back to you. (Hint hint, T.W.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
bravedeer said 10:46AM on 3-19-2008
Erica continues her terrible journalism by referring to the emails as "rejection" emails when they actually weren't. The follow-up email is proof of that. Case closed.
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Michael Rose said 10:49AM on 3-19-2008
What would you call them? We'llgetbacktoya letters?
ars_workerbee said 10:57AM on 3-19-2008
@michael: yes, that's exactly what they were, and that's exactly what's happened. zomg could it be that apple's not teh evil?
g_erhart said 12:22PM on 3-19-2008
I don't think Erica claims to be a journalist ... certainly not in the traditional sense. Rejection is the opposite of acceptance. Since the letter is not a statement of acceptance, it is reasonable to label it as a rejection ... a rejection of your entrance into the Beta program at this time. Of course ... you can accept that you have been rejected at this time ... blah, blah, blah ...
tim said 12:49PM on 3-19-2008
@g_erhart -
well they weren't letters of rejection, and acceptance is the opposite of rejection, so you could say they WERE letters of acceptance according to your statement.
all erica does is look for something to talk about, and often just to garner comments and ad views. we all need to see the horribly animated dancing loan officer aliens.
smilespray said 2:48PM on 3-19-2008
Yeah yeah yeah.
Cut Erica some slack here.
She is an active iPhone developer and has given lots back to the community.
If we were talking about your run-of-the mill click whore (absolutely no sexist pun intended) like John C. Dvorak I would be differently dispositioned.
Jim of D said 4:06PM on 3-19-2008
I agree with bravedeer. There's clearly a conflict of interest here.
Erica will always bitch and moan every little thing about the iPhone SDK but will shout in triumph every little thing the hackers will do.
VanillaSpice said 10:25PM on 3-19-2008
They *were* rejection letters - they rejected the applicant, whether permanently or "for the time being" is irrelevant. Don't try and be a grammar nazi without a clear understanding of language - just because these were not permanent rejections does not mean they weren't rejections of some kind. Clearly, they were rejections of some kind - they were rejections for the time being, if you like.
This latest crap about "not a rejection letter" is just an excuse to rehash all the ridiculous Erica-bashing that I thought had gone away. Here we go again. The same commentors saying the same crap and promoting the same misrepresentations as before.
Bob S. said 10:50AM on 3-19-2008
For the LOVE of GOD you MORON there were NO REJECTION LETTERS. PLEASE stop DROOLING on our INTERNET.
Why are you still writing about this when both ZiPhone and iJailbreak have received substantial upgrades in the last few days? I don't think TUAW's editors (heh!) should be letting the bloggers cover subjects they have a personal financial stake in.
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bravedeer said 10:58AM on 3-19-2008
Bob, I don't like the name calling but I agree that pehaps there's a conflict of interest in Erica covering this subject, whether there's a financial stake or not.
I'm sure she's a very smart person, but the conflict of interests has caused her to ignore the facts.
Bob S. said 11:31AM on 3-19-2008
I don't like the name-calling either, but she had three chances to get it right and chose to get it wrong in the most inflammatory way all three times.
I've been a journalist for 30 years. Blogs are by no means journalism, of course, but if she's going to choose repeatedly to violate ethical norms and her coworkers and managers aren't going to call her on it, someone should.
nate said 2:55PM on 3-19-2008
What do you mean by "personal financial stake"? (I'm asking honestly, here.)
George said 3:04PM on 3-19-2008
The word reject nor the word accept appear in either of the two e-mails I received from Apple prior to being admitted to the program. Being thanked for applying does not == acceptance into the program. You can argue (as you do) that this is not a rejection. In the absence of any real information, a vacuum of fear and uncertainty will form.
I would put this experience down as an issue of poor communication. I can think of much better ways of telling people that some will have to wait. I was much more disturbed by the lack of any clear statement that all who apply will eventually be admitted.
Cheers ... Geo
Bob S. said 4:24PM on 3-19-2008
Nate, developers stand to gain income from the sale of the software they've created. It's a conflict of interest when a developer writes for a site that covers the platform the developer is targeting for income.
Back in the late '80s, for example, I was senior editor for a monthly Macintosh magazine (which no longer exists). We had strict rules about what investments, for instance, we could make in computer and software companies (like buying stock), because the potential existed to abuse our position to influence our financial outlook. Similarly, certain staffers couldn't review software from certain companies because of real or implicit conflicts of interest (someone who had a friend who worked for Microsoft wasn't allowed to review Microsoft products).
And smilespray, you describe the problem but not the solution.
Michael Rose said 10:50AM on 3-19-2008
I kinda like "limbogram."
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David said 10:59AM on 3-19-2008
@Mike: Limbograms is perfect! :-)
ars_workerbee said 11:19AM on 3-19-2008
+1 for limbogram
Frank said 12:32PM on 3-19-2008
"limbogram" FTW.
Colin said 4:55PM on 3-20-2008
I don't get it. But, I did google limbogram and your name is next to the word every time.
bravedeer said 10:54AM on 3-19-2008
Michael Rose, you nailed it. We'll get back to you letters is correct; and if you read the entire post, you'll find out that the people who were accepted received a follow-up to the "We'll get back to you letter".
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