The General Theory of RIAtivity

[UPDATE 07-07-2009]
The guys at The App Show mentioned GainCast for iPhone  and the absurdity of Apple AppStore reviewers rejecting it twice. Go to mark 24:00 in the episode here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1760924

[Original Post]
For three weeks I’ve been trying to get an application our team has spent nearly six months developing and testing approved by Apple for the AppStore. The application, GainCast for iPhone, is an app which lets users connect to a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server running the open source PodCasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS). Basically, PKS turns your SharePoint server into a YouTube-like server.

The first rejection from Apple had a robotic-like response stating:

GainCast for iPhone cannot be posted to the App Store because it is transferring
excessive volumes of data over the cellular network, which as outlined in the
iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.20, is prohibited:

" If an Application requires or will have access to the cellular network,
then additionally such Application:

-  Must comply with Apple's best practices and other guidelines on how Applications
should access and use the cellular network;

-  Must not in Apple's reasonable judgment excessively use or unduly burden network
capacity or bandwidth;"

I sent two emails back to Apple Developer Support asking for exact clarification because, upon browsing the AppStore, I found other apps which do the same thing our app does — the Consumer Reports app among them, where one can stream video reviews from a browse screen. Both requests for more info resulted in more robotic-like responses asking that I provide details of the support problem, including screenshots. It’s as if no one even reads emails over at Apple — the only technical support issue here is that Apple Developer Support folks don’t actually read emails before shooting off automatic replies asking for information irrelevant to the issue at hand.

So I re-submitted GainCast for iPhone for another review and in this submission I included verbose comments such as “before rejecting our app please note the following list of apps which utilize identical core functionality (e.g. fetching XML and streaming video). Today I learned that, again, the reviewer(s) seemed to have ignored my comments and questions, which included “please explain in detail how Apple perceived our app differs from others with similar functionality already approved and available in the AppStore.” The result: GainCast for iPhone was rejected again for the same reason — too much consumption of cellular bandwidth and, despite my request for a deeper explanation, there was none.

Ths is nonsense. Is there a deeper issue here? Does Apple not want apps in the AppStore that connect to SharePoint? Or am I giving Apple too much credit and is it that, as one could surmise by the multitude of complaints from other developers, that Apple’s app review process is secretive, inconsistent, not at all respectful of the interests of developers (e.g. read and answer my questions), and just plain broken?

If someone from Apple is reading this and has an ounce of compassion please comment with how I can reach you. I just want to have my specific list of questions addressed. Thanks!

COMING NEXT: Side-by-side comparison of the network traffic transferred by the Consumer Reports app vs. GainCast for iPhone.

Now seems the right time to mention two exciting Podcasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS) products the team and I at Sysgain have been working on for several months.

First, in the next few days we’re releasing the PKS Mobile Services Pack. An easy install on top of an existing PKS instance (minimum March 2009 beta required), PKS Mobile Services is an API layer which we hope will become the foundation for the development of mobile apps, extending the value of PKS to an array of mobile devices. PKS Mobile Services will be released open source under Microsoft’s Publice License. A formal announcement will be made on the day of release including download information and documentation.

Soon after the PKS Mobile Services Pack release we’ll announce the availability of the GainCast for iPhone PKS Player in the Apple AppStore. Currently in AppStore review, GainCast for iPhone is the first application enabling  users to connect to one or multiple PKS servers and browse, search, stream, and rate podcasts from the convenience of an iPhone/iPod Touch over Wi-Fi or the cellular network. This is a powerful addition to any enterprise seeking to extend the power of PKS to its mobile workforce. GainCast for iPhone will be available to the public as a reasonably priced download from the AppStore. Organizations looking to economically deploy a PKS Player solution to their workforce also have the option of a custom branded Enterprise version of GainCast PKS Player. In addition to the iPhone version, we’re planning a Windows Mobile 6.5 version of the player for release later in 2009.

For questions about either product contact Mike Brophy, Product Strategist at Sysgain. We’re looking forward to the PKS Community using and providing feedback on these two exciting new additions to the PKS toolset.

Sysgain is an indepedent software vendor with offices in Washington DC, Las Vegas, and Seattle. Sysgain is passionate about helping organizations take the fullest advantage of PKS through its powerful add-ons and comprehensive array of PKS consulting, implementation, hosting, and support services. It’s proudly a Microsoft PKS Partner.

Podcasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS) is an accelerator for social media, using podcasting and social networks to deliver the next generation knowledge management solution to organizations using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and their users/customers using a wide variety of mobile devices.

Below is my response to an interesting article about “Does America Need to Make Things” by Sarah Lacy: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/14/does-america-need-to-make-things/

“I’ve been saying this in conversations with friends for the past 3-4 years; I completely agree. I’ll be the first to admit, working as a developer and tech strategy guy, at the end of the day many American worker push emails and digital bits for a job and there’s nothing of tangible value in the end. I’m not saying “information workers” aren’t necessary, but as in so many other ecosystems DIVERSITY is key – manufacturing, services, medicine, academia, etc. America has gotten services-heavy in its employment profile. At the same time, American companies and consumers have to sacrifice the desire to have everything cheap otherwise manufacturing will never thrive in the US again. We have to understand that paying a bit more is the price we pay for a thirving domestic economy.”

A friend of mine recently dropped off their Gateway Tb120 tablet asking if I could fix the loose lid/hinge — the screen wouldn’t stay up. I have a Gateway M-275 convertible tablet PC which had similar issues which I fixed so I agreed to look at it.

After getting at the hinge assembly I discovered her problem was a broken left hinge arm. The arm itself looked warped, as if it had suffered extreme torque — I’m guessing because of a loss of lubricating action in the hinge pin due to age/environment. The hinge assemblies on Gateway convertible tablets varies by model. If you have a Gateway TB120 and have a loose screen/hinge this might be your problem. Replacement hinges are available, but at $60-$90 for parts and adding getting the assistance of someone patient and careful enough to take apart your tablet to replace it, you could have bought a new netbook and at greater than half the cost of a new, inexpensive laptop.