I think a lot of the backlash is because this feels like something Penny Arcade would never do.
Sure there are jobs that are this demanding or don't pay much, but as a company PA has always seemed to stand a little above the rest. They are charitable and straight forward and generally try to treat people in a decent (or atleast honest) way.
This posting seems to go against much of what I think makes Penny Arcade, Penny Arcade.
I don't think that is what it shows at all. People follow the projects they find interesting or will need to use in the future. This doesn't make it "The most popular thing on the internet", but it does show that people find it useful and fills a need they had.
I think the part that bothers me is that this is going into place after many people, including myself, have started buying most apps in the App Store. It is insanely convenient to have all my apps and licenses in one place. New computer? Open the App Store and you're done.
If I had known that Apple would move towards a sandbox model that breaks tools I use everyday, like Transmit and Coda (Viewing file tree etc.), I would have kept my license with Panic. What happens when a Transmit bug fix comes out and it no longer appears in the App Store? A whole new purchase most likely.
Steve himself had called Macs our "trucks", with iOS device being cars. Not everyone needs a truck, but for those of us who do I am getting a little worried about the direction they're moving.
Ridiculous? Based on your reply here you are suggesting completely revamping your home's heating and cooling.
Maybe a $250 thermostat won't be as game changing as your suggestions, but if it saves someone money over time, or quickly reduces their energy use with a simple install I don't see how it is ridiculous.
Linked to from the Vimeo page:
"FaceTracker is available for download (for research purposes only). The library includes the C/C++ API, example code for interfacing with the API, a pre-trained model and documentation. To download it, please send an email to Jason Saragih"
http://web.mac.com/jsaragih/FaceTracker/FaceTracker.html
The thing that made me delete last month was when they reverted the email notification settings to default.It struck me that they were going to change things whenever they wanted and I had no power over my information whatsoever.
I can't say this sort of thing caused 6 million others to delete as well, but as someone who has had a Facebook account since 2004 this was the thing to finally push me over the edge.
Sure there are jobs that are this demanding or don't pay much, but as a company PA has always seemed to stand a little above the rest. They are charitable and straight forward and generally try to treat people in a decent (or atleast honest) way.
This posting seems to go against much of what I think makes Penny Arcade, Penny Arcade.