The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

DealsOnTheWeb Daily Deal: OneCall's Weekend Sale - 20 Great Items at Great Prices All Weekend Long

MWNY Opinion - Meet Atomm, The Future Of The Mac Platform

by , 1:50 PM EDT, July 20th, 2001

On Thursday, I served on a Mac OS X Shareware panel with Bob "The Little iTunes Book" LeVitus (send the check to my house, Bob). We had a grand time that included a recalcitrant PowerBook and a few other glitches [Note to self: Next time, spend more time with Pepper before you talk about it], but the audience was absolutely fantastic. What does this have to do with the future of the Mac platform? There was a young man in the audience, and by "young man" I mean "kid," who is just that, the future of the Mac platform.

It all started when Bob was talking about TinkerTool. Someone in the audience asked where one could get the app because the last time he had been to TinkerTool's Web site, he said there was a cease-and-desist order from Apple (for the record, I have no idea if this gentleman was correct, but if you hit the site now, you can download it with no problems).

Here's where the kid enters the picture.

He held up his hand and waited earnestly for us to call on him. When we did, he said "I have a program I wrote that does almost everything TinkerTool does." Eh? What? You do? "Yes, I wrote it at MacHack." He eyes wandered a little when he spoke, not quite looking at us while doing so. What? You wrote this? "Yes." What did you use? "REALbasic." It's called More Prefs and you can find it at his Web site, Atommic.com. How old are you? "I'll be 12 next month."

The whole room pretty much burst into applause at that point because we were all just kind of awestruck to have such a young person making apps for Mac OS X (he was actually only the 3rd youngest participant at MacHack 2001, which is even more cool!).

I haven't tried More Prefs yet, so I don't know whether or not the product is any good. That's hardly the point, however, because the app could be one of the worst pieces of software on the face of the planet and I would still be just as excited as I am now. Bringing in young people to the Mac platform is essential to the growth of that platform, and bringing in young developers is even more important. When there are 11 year old kids interested in making apps for Mac OS X, the future of the platform is bright indeed. It is these "kids," these developers, that will be making the future of the Mac platform a bright future. Knowing that there are young people like this working to make cool X apps helps me sleep a little better at night. From The Mac Observer, thanks for your hard work, and keep hacking out that code!

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Comment on this Article

Log in | Register | Having Problems? Reset TMO Cookies & Try Again
Username:   Password:   Log me on automatically each visit   

You are not logged in, and this post will appear as "Guest." Log in with your username and password from the TMO forums. If you do not have a username, you can register here.
Please note that guests are limited to including a maximum of two URLs per post.


Post A Comment
  Subject


  Your Comments



Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.


Recent Headlines - Updated Friday, July 4th, 2008

Fri., 7:30 AM
Happy Fourth of July!
Thu., 4:50 PM
Apple Slashes $400 from SSD Drive in MacBook Air
4:05 PM
It's Official - Firefox Sets Guinness Record for Downloads
3:30 PM
Apple Files Patent for a Multi-touch Gesture Language
2:20 PM
Editorial - Mac's Market Share and the Cascade Failure of Windows
1:35 PM
iPodObserver - Apple Slurps Up Samsung's NAND Flash for iPhone 3G
1:05 PM
WSJ: Tips for Switching from Windows to Mac
12:05 PM
iPodObserver - Google Intros Google Talk for iPhone
11:35 AM
iPO Just a Thought - iPod nano Versus iPhone: Decisons, Decisions...
10:55 AM
YouTube Ordered to Turn Over All User Records to Viacom
10:10 AM
Hot Forum Topic - Apple vs. Cell Carriers: Who's Winning the Game
9:25 AM
iPodObserver - Rumor: Best Buy, Radio Shack to Sell iPhone 3G
8:45 AM
.Mac Bookmark Sync Deadline Extended to July 6
8:10 AM
Adobe Reader 9 Hits the Streets
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
  • OWC: NewerTech NuPower Batteries for iBook and PowerBooks Designed+Built in USA to run longer, LAST LONGER TOO! Free Battery Recycling Return Label; Quality High-Capacity from $99.95
  • MacPro Memory 667Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $90 / 4GB $134 / 8GB $264. Click to Maximize your Macs...
  • Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.
  • RamJet Memory: MacBook 1Gig $39, 2Gig $78, 4Gig $195! Mac Pro 2Gig $115, 4Gig $189! 500G Seagate SATA II $139! Click here
  • For the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.

  • Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
  • Special Report: WWDC 2008
  • Special Report: iPhone
  • __________
  • Help TMO Grow
  • Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
  • Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
  • TMO on Twitter!
  • New Media Expo 2008

Apple Stock Quote

  • AAPL: $170.12. Change Today: +1.94.
  • (Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
  • Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

Top Deals From DealsOnTheWeb