Apple's New Developer Program:
The Tough Questions

By John Martellaro

Published on: April 19, 1998

There has been some major annoyance with Apple's new Developer Program specifics, announced on April 7th. Perhaps some of the annoyance is at odds with the original intent of the Apple Developer Program. Apple may have clarified the situation in their own mind, but the real issue hasn't been resolved in the minds of many current developers. Some questions need to be asked. Here goes.

Traditionally, Apple has dealt with product developers, both large and small. What each developer had to do was write a business plan and demonstrate that they were shipping product or had a specific plan to do so.

But the developer program, whether Apple likes it or not, has evolved into something else. Nowadays, we have:

• Big developers
• Smaller developers
• Shareware authors
• Consultants/evangelists

Apple knows how to recognize developers. They ship shrinkwrap.

Apple knows how to recognize shareware authors. They post.

Apple knows how to recognize customers. They buy.

• Consult/provide customized solutions
• Write for websites and magazines
• Build specialized technical support websites
• Evangelize
• Rock the boat at large corporations and resist Windows-mania
• Provide informal tech support, say, at ISPs or corporate sites
• Do unpaid marketing, guide newbies, write poignant letters
• (previously) Checked in on Sears and Best Buy for faulty Macintosh displays
• Do Value Added Reselling
• Buy discount Macs from the mothership and brag about them to their friends

So Apple blew them off in the new program. Apple told a large group, amounting to an unpaid sales and marketing force, we don't need you in our family any more. That's what has everyone so upset. No more hardware discounts as compensation for all this unpaid devotion and evangelism.

After all, the original intent of the developer hardware discount program was to supply companies that ship Apple software and hardware with the latest system for compatibility testing.

But, come to think of it, I don't know any shareware authors who can afford $3500 per year to get hardware discounts. So all the shareware heros get a slap in the face as well.

So here are the questions to which we'd like to get some answers:

0. How can Apple identify this new class of "developer turned evangelist"?
1. Should Apple be courting these people at all with some kind of official Apple-sponsored program?
2. If so, once identified and enrolled, should they receive hardware discounts?
3. How large should the discount be in relation to the annual fee?

Copyright (©) 1998 John Martellaro