In a great publicity move, Apple has announced the prizes and set the stage for this years Design Contest. According to Apple:
The awards celebrate the creativity of the Mac OS developer community and recognize superior software in the areas of innovation, user experience, and adoption of Apple technologies. With iMac and new Power Macintosh G3 computers inspiring developers to release new Macintosh software, this year Apple has also added an award for best new product. Winners in each category will receive a top of the line Power Macintosh G3 with Apple Studio Display.
The categories for this year include Best New Product, Most Innovative, Best Macintosh User Experience, and Best Apple Technology Adoption. In each of these categories, a winner and runner-up will be selected. The prizes are outstanding as well. According to Apple:
In addition to a Power Macintosh G3 and Apple Studio Display, winners will also receive a trophy and the right to use the winning entry logo on packaging and manuals. Runners-up will receive a plaque as well as the right to use the runner-up logo on product packaging and manuals.
Apple has set up an e-mail address for developers with questions, and that address is [email protected]. Rules and other information can be found at www.apple.com/comdesignaward.
The Apple Design Award winners will be announced during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on May 12, 1999 and the deadline for entries is May 1. WWDC takes place May 10-14 in San Jose, California.
The Mac Observer Spin: Apple has rarely been known for its outstanding relationship with developers. Efforts like this are a great step towards making this poor reputation a thing of the past. Admittedly a new computer might not be such a big thing to last year's winner of Most Innovative Product, Macromedia, Inc. with Flash 2, but it is a big incentive for many smaller developers. It also shows that Apple cares about its developers and that may be the biggest benefit of them all.
It would be nice to see Apple set up categories that target smaller developers (Best Shareware Product, Best Product From A Company With Less Than 5 Employees, etc.), and perhaps next year's contest will see such a change.
In any event, The Mac Observer would like to encourage every developer to enter their products and we wish you all the best of luck!
Apple
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