RIM says it’s hoping to have plenty of apps for its PlayBook tablet when it is released later this year, but blogger Jamie Murai says the company must really want no one to develop for its platform. “Considering how terribly designed the entire process is, from the registration right through to loading an app into the simulator, I can only assume that you are trying to drive developers away by inconveniencing them as much as humanly possible,” Murai writes in a scathing review of the process.
Murai finds fault with RIM’s fee for developers ($200) and the fact that the IDE, SDK and the simulator require three separate downloads and don’t come with installers. In addition, the tools were difficult to use and had little documentation. To top it off, RIM requires developers to confirm their identity by getting a document notarized before they can submit apps for the platform.
RIM responded in a letter that acknowledges that many of Murai’s criticisms are valid.
