Better Elevation

The best app demo video I’ve ever seen.

So how did I go about deciding I wanted to make iPhone apps, getting acquired, and becoming an executive at an award-winning iPhone development company?

I went out drinking with Brent Simmons. Everything after that is kind of a blur.

About a year ago, I happened to be flying in to San Jose on business. As the plane touched down, I did what I always do: take my iPhone out of airplane mode. At some point over eastern California, my friend Alex sent an email to myself and Brent Simmons; he had noticed we were both going to be in the area and suggested we meet up. To be honest, I felt terrible that night. I just wanted to go to my hotel and get some sleep.

I had met Brent once before at Ignite Denver, but only briefly. The opportunity to buy the developer of one of my favorite applications a drink was too good to ignore. So I sucked it up and went out.

It just so happened that Brent was in town for 360|iDev, an event organized by a guy named John Wilker, who I sort of knew in passing and — again, by sheer coincidence — had just become my neighbor. Nobody could have said it better than Wilker himself when he walked up to me outside of the eBay Town Hall that night. “Dave? What the hell are you doing here?”

When Brent and I went out, we were joined by Dan Burcaw and Joe Pezzillo — iPhone developers and friends of Brent’s from, of all places, Denver. Jay and I had just launched Coathangr, the social network for fashion, and I asked Dan how much it would cost us to build an iPhone app for it.

He told me that the conversation couldn’t even start for less than twenty grand, and that we’d be better off doing it ourselves. So we did. And we fell in love with iPhone development. And a year later, Dan’s company acquired us. I guess he was right.

Of course, I’m leaving out an entire year’s worth of blood, sweat, education, experience, and perhaps most importantly, failure. I’ll save those for later posts. So part of it was luck, part of it was the truly awesome iPhone developer community, and a lot of it is owed to my generous and patient mentors. But if I had to trace it back to a single decision that changed everything, it would be going to grab that drink.

The lesson here is that when Brent Simmons invites you out, you say yes.

News broke today that my company, Massively Overrated, has been acquired by Double Encore. This is nothing but good news; Jay and I still maintain creative control of internal projects, and now we get to shape applications for huge, international brands. They acquired us, but it feels more like we acquired their team of rock start developers.

TechCrunch’s coverage is remarkably insightful:

With so many app developers around the Apple ecosystem, it makes sense for smaller iPhone app developers to pool their resources and talent and consolidate. I suspect we may be seeing more acquisitions and mergers in the near future.

Ding.

Paul Carr on the iPad as a reader:

The iPad is emphatically not a serious readers’ device: the only people who would genuinely consider it a Kindle killer are those for whom the idea of reading for pleasure died years ago; if it was ever alive. The people who will spout bullshit like “I read on screen all day” when what they really mean is “I read the first three paragraphs of the New York Times article I saw linked on Twitter before retweeting it; and then I repeat that process for the next eight hours while pretending to work.” That’s reading in the way that rubbing against women on the subway is sex.

Carr’s point might be better served if he didn’t sound like he was trying so hard to prove that he was smarter than everyone else.

I’m thrilled for Loren, I really am. Tweetie 2 for the iPhone is one of my favorite pieces of software ever. But the awkwardness of this text gave me pause:

Careful analysis of the Twitter user experience in the iTunes AppStore revealed massive room for improvement. People are looking for an app from Twitter, and they’re not finding one. So, they get confused and give up.

I would love to know how they came up with that.

I can’t believe Plants versus Zombies isn’t on here.

Over 90 minutes worth of review. And worth it.

Scott Kurtz on the iPad:

Early adopters aren’t stupid. People who buy an iPad are not stupid. People who think the iPad is a waste of money are not stupid. Buying or not buying an iPad because of what people say is pretty stupid though. We’re all adults. If you can afford it and you want to buy one, get it.

They’re really neat.

Mike Berg of WeHeartGames is supposed to speak at 360iDev this month. But things fell through and he can’t cover travel expenses. This would merely be a bit of a bummer if Mike wasn’t scheduled to speak. But as a contributor, his absence has an impact on the event itself.

As an experiment, I suggested that he accept donations. My theory is that the Apple developer community’s no man left behind attitude will inspire a flood of donations and support. Prove me right.

Link for donations.

John Wilker, in defiance of today’s shenanigans and tomfoolery, has created a one-day discount code good for %22 off registration for 360|iDev.

Go here and use the code april1

This is an excellent deal. If you haven’t registered already, do so today.

Glowfish is a finalist in this year’s content. Even better, ReadWriteWeb calls Glowfish an “early standout.”

We’re thrilled.

A great design tool for the iPad.

(Via John Ellenich)

It will happen. Expect the rumor mill to start churning a little faster as we approach June.

Not safe for work. But still somehow less offensive than the original video.

(Via Wooster)

Rod Hilton at The Editing Room has summed up my feelings on Burton’s Alice, right down to the comparison to Hook. Not as bad as what he did to Willy Wonka, but very close.