I'm not professional developer, but I'm a passionate computer hobbyist. I make a good income with my day job - I'm a medical doctor - so I have no financial motivations when it comes to programming, it's just something I like to do.
When I became interested in web development I spent some time learning Django. As a result, I put together Instant Django, a no-installation-required Django development environment for Windows, and I also wrote an introductory tutorial. Over the last few years I've had a couple hundred thousand downloads. I don't make any money from it, but a couple times a week someone emails me a thank you note, which gives me a little thrill.
Last year I decided to learn to program the iPhone, because it seemed interesting, and my 3 year old daughter loved to play with my phone. It looked like a great way to share my hobby with her. I've spent the last few months writing an introductory tutorial for iPhone game programmers, based on the Cocos2d framework.
I've been unhappy with Apple's policies up to now, I especially thought it sucked eggs that I had to pay $100 a year to run software on my own phone, but I tolerated it. With this latest move, I've decided to drop the whole thing.
I purchased an AT&T Nexus One, and I've begun learning how to program for Android. I've also started to rewrite my tutorial.
Will Apple miss me? Nope. But I'm a passionate user, and they've lost me for good.
I read Daring Fireball, and I think the writing is excellent, but I've always thought it was a close cousin of astroturfing.
Here's how it works in my head:
1) Gruber writes stuff Apple likes
2) Apple feeds Gruber exclusive information
3) More people read Gruber for exclusive information, seeing a message that Apple likes
4) Gruber profits from increased traffic, and tries to continue to please Apple
Maybe I'm way off base, but Apple is so damn secretive that the information he gets must somehow be approved. It's like Apple doesn't allow their employees to blog, except Gruber.
I'm using Weave (just for bookmarks), and couldn't be happier. On any given day I might use a Windows PC at work, my Macbook Pro at work or at home, my wife's Windows laptop at home, or my main desktop at home which dual boots Vista and Leopard. Weave just works, and I have all my bookmarks synced on all of these computers.
Hey, Jacob Kaplan-Moss, you don't have time to post replies on HN. Django 1.1 is two months late, and I still see 20 open tickets. And would a status update on the Django blog kill you? Also, while you're at it, I've been hearing a lot about the GIL on reddit and HN lately, can you fix that? Thanks.
It includes a portable Django development environment for Windows, no installation required, and it even runs from a USB thumb drive. The tutorial walks you through creating a simple website, and explains what is happening each step of the way.
The website is overdue for some updates, and I really need to finish writing the second chapter, but you might find it an interesting way to spend 45 minutes.