Countdown. Mac App Store. Missed.
I really wanted to be there when it opens on January 6th, 2011. But, the design of the application icon was awful. It took me weeks to decide on the design and to craft something, when I should have been coding instead of drawing. At least now I have something in this regard (not really visionary, but it is better than my other drafts, believe me).
However, I will not have the application finished and running in time for the grand Mac App Store opening. Too much minor stuff still missing (help files, website, some functions), not to mention the “just one more feature”-disease waiting just round the next corner… So far the main interface is ok, the most important functionality is in place and the application is already of (some) use when running.
The lesson from this icon-gate time management disaster: Software development is really a lot more than coding. Unless you decide to outsource design tasks (if you have the money for that), this can be really a mess, even with the right tools like Photoshop etc. Now it’s at last back to coding. More to come.
My only comfort is that probably the Mac App Store will not be that instant hit the iOS App Store was: Unlike the latter, the Mac App Store will not be installed on all Macs but it will take time until more and more users have downloaded it and are using it. So it is perhaps not that decisive to be there right from the start.