Musings from The Software Underground

Paul over at Rogue Amoeba has a great write up on something that I'm sure has been on a lot of people's minds lately, the battle between flash and substance in Mac apps, something we've been seeing a lot of, even coining the phrase "The Delicious Generation" to describe it:

...after developing on Mac OS X for just a few years, we felt like not just part of the old school of Mac developers, but the crotchety old men of the Mac software industry. In the past year or so, Mac development had shifted from applications providing new functionality that appeared at the dawn of OS X to applications (and ideas) built around flash and sizzle, with plenty of marketing hype to fuel the fire. This had created something of a toxic atmosphere in the Mac development world. A rift between the old school, with its plain but functional apps, and the new school of flashy but frivolous apps, has developed.

I have to disagree with one of his small points though when he says:

Given the choice between two identical applications, one that's beautiful and one that's plain, the beautiful one doesn't just look better, it's more usable. Adding some flash to a solid application is certain to be a good thing.

I think it should say that the extra flash COULD make the application more usable, not that it will. My problem has been with flash that not only doesn't add anything, but might even get in the way of usability.

One other point of note is his comment on negativity that seems to be starting to creep into the Mac community:

I had a little theme going here, so I'll take the opportunity to point out one ugly bit. There's been at least some public negativity used in promoting these applications. Potshots at market leaders might be seen as scrappy by some, but ultimately, it comes across as callow.

It has to be remembered that ultimately we're peers in the Mac community. We see each other at Macworld and at WWDC. We're individuals or small companies here, for the most part. Negativity used to promote your product over someone else's just isn't ultimately a good way to do business.

Oh and just for the record, I don't think those of us in the "old school" should be considered "crotchety old men" just because we like clean, simple, usable design. Sure, that supped up "Fast and the Furious" Honda Civic may be cool, but honestly wouldn't you ultimately want to drive a Porsche 911 instead at some point?

At any rate, it's a great read on the "state of Mac" right now. And worth checking out: The Delicious Generation