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Originally Posted by Chuckit
Ditto for the ones that wanted to be successful software shops of any kind. It's not as though the phenomenon of developers failing is somehow special to the Mac.
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ok. What follows is an oversimplification... But I think you can extend this out in a number of ways and come to essentially the same conclusion.
(# of PC users in the genera of your application) * (% of PC users who BUY in the genera of your application) = (Total potential PC market)
(# of Mac users in the genera of your application) * (% of Mac users who BUY in the genera of your application) = (Total potential Mac market)
If you choose a genera with a Mac user base that is nearly as large as its PC counterpart, then you can make the argument that Mac users tend to buy more. But if your application has a very broad genera, then you can start approximating your userbase based on platform sales.
In my case, I do have a broad genera. So I start looking at target markets and conclude that my PC market is more than 10x as large as my Mac market.
One must also consider competition too. If you have 1/10th the market to yourself, that may be better than competing with 10 others for 9/10ths the market. This is especially true if you are attempting to penetrate a market with established players.
So if you want to make this discussion about a particular genera, then we will discuss the merits of a Mac-only product. But if we are discussing REALISTIC, generalized development strategies, then I think its very difficult to argue a case for developing Mac-only products.
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Originally Posted by Chuckit
There are pros and cons to both approaches. With Mac software, you could only reach about a sixth of the total PC user base. With Windows software, most of the users are much less likely to ever find and buy your app. With generic, cross-platform software, you have the advantages of both platforms, but a decent, native-feeling Mac app could probably annihilate you on that front. I'm just saying, the set of sacrifices you chose isn't the only reasonable one. I don't want to scare people away because of it.
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You are right. One always must consider their market when determining what tools to use. I have been writing my application for several months, and I haven't yet written one line of GUI code. I will do everything within my ability as a developer to avoid being locked into any particular technology or platform. There are constraints that we MUST work in. That is a reality.