Episode 17 -- Atebits

MJCP · #1 9th October 2009, 04:15 AM

MJCP chats with Loren Richter, developer of Twitter client Tweetie. Tweetie is at the centre of a storm over the revised version, Tweetie 2, being full price in the App Store. That gets discussed, along with Richter's views on the App Store in general and his history as a developer and Apple engineer. Also, Apple vs Woolworths and the imminent release of Kindle internationally.

Bonus interview: Keith Robinson of FileMaker discusses the release of Bento 3 and the relationship between FileMaker and Apple.

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clinton1550 · #2 11th October 2009, 12:33 PM

Matthew J C Powell you've solved one of life's great mysteries!

Now I know why Americans call Aluminium Aluminum, it's a brand name. It's just like how some people call tissues Klenexes, they've mistaken the brand for the product itself.

John Chidgey · #3 11th October 2009, 08:09 PM

Another interesting one is "Biro" and "Bic" instead of ball-point pen. Anyway - good interview and podcast. Good also to see Matthew press the Filemaker / Bento issues. Bento is a good product, but it still has some odd limitations.

clinton1550 · #4 11th October 2009, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleConvert

Another interesting one is "Biro" and "Bic" instead of ball-point pen. Anyway - good interview and podcast. Good also to see Matthew press the Filemaker / Bento issues. Bento is a good product, but it still has some odd limitations.

I never knew about Biro but I never called a pen a biro because I thought it was a stupid name.

It was also good to hear MJCP declare at the start of the segment that no advertising dollars were influencing the interview. There are too many journalists out there that don't declare a commercial interest.

golfer · #5 12th October 2009, 07:54 AM

Another excellent informative podcast and I have been happy to pay $3.99 to buy Tweetie 2 so that the developer can keep doing what he does. I also agree in regard to the sponsorship. Had Filemaker been sponsoring this podcast I do not think Matthew could have been as "to the point" as he was and it was a good honest interview as a result of not having to "pay the piper".

MJCP · #6 12th October 2009, 11:15 AM

Actually the interview was done before the decision to go without the FileMaker branding, and that decision was made independently of FileMaker. Had FileMaker been sponsoring this episode, the content of the interview would have been exactly the same.

The reason for dropping the sponsorship was so there would be no perception that the reason for the interview was because FileMaker is a sponsor. The interview was done purely because I felt Bento 3 is of interest to a significant chunk of the readership, and I didn't want there to be any sense of "he's giving them 20 minutes to plug their new thing because they pay him".

They know me over at FileMaker, they know I'm a fierce defender of editorial independence, even now that I'm the owner of this thing, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

clinton1550 · #7 12th October 2009, 06:08 PM

Might I add that Loren's reaction to the Apple Woolworths nonsense was very funny. You could hear him looking up "Queensland Blue Pumpkin" on Google.

MJCP · #8 12th October 2009, 06:18 PM

Yeah, I thought that was great. I heard the clicking and thought "he's actually looking it up, right now"! Had to leave it in, of course. In the enhanced version of the podcast an image of a Queensland blue pumpkin should appear on screen just as he completes the search -- did that work?

clinton1550 · #9 12th October 2009, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJCP

Yeah, I thought that was great. I heard the clicking and thought "he's actually looking it up, right now"! Had to leave it in, of course. In the enhanced version of the podcast an image of a Queensland blue pumpkin should appear on screen just as he completes the search -- did that work?

Hang on, I'll check.

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So that's why Chapter 7 has no name.

If I had the screen turned on while listening that would have been twice as funny, hearing him looking up the pumpkin and then having it appear on my screen. I missed out on the full impact. You should warn us when you put easter eggs in.

Bgrant · #10 12th October 2009, 11:57 PM

What an interveiw. App developer. Worked on Original iPhone at Apple.

I'd love to know - he said he worked on lower-level stuff than Apps at Apple - could you have gotten more detail there without breaking the NDA? Seems like you could have. And I'm sure it would have been an interesting answer.

Plus in-deep with Bento! Also a mine of information. MJCP, you've done it again. Another one for the archives. Great podcast.

Although, for what my 50¢ is worth, a little too much agonising about the sponsorship. Bento was pick of the week all around the world when it was released. Don't think anyone would mind an interview and an ad. It's not like Filemaker isn't Mac news.

If Filemaker were to keep making an editorial-side appearance week after week… well frankly, I wouldn't mind & I'd assume it was an ad anyway. I'd expect you to say so, of course, but I guess I'm in the Laporte school on this one - we like it, we use it, we don't take a sponsor we don't use ourselves - just state it clearly. Everything old is new again.