There are a whole host of reasons not to release information to the
public. First is legal reasons. Development is an everchanging beast,
and feature sets are frequently modified or scrapped as development
progresses. Some things turn out to be more difficult than initially
anticipated. And so on. Also, users have a tendency of becoming
hostile if you announce changes in specs or features through the course
of development. This is particularly true in the gaming community, for
whom our products are intended. Just look at Will's response to Apple's
reply to him. He i mmediately assumed the worst. This is very
frustrating for developers, and tends to be far worse if you have been
open and upfront with the user base. Plus, you frequently don't want
competetors to be aware of too much of what you're doing. And that's
just the tip of the iceberg.
Ryan Mann wrote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject:
Re: needed information on braille displays in leopard
From:
Ryan Mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date:
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:38:40 -0400
To:
[email protected]
To:
[email protected]
Why wouldn't software companies answer those kinds of questions as
soon as possible? It would sure give me more confidence in the
software company.
Original message:
Apple isn't under any obligation to release information to the public
until they are ready. A declination to answer doesn't equate to a
admition of ignorance. This is common with software, which is precisely
why, Will, we also do not answer e-mails asking similar questions about
our products at Draconis. We'll all just have to be patient.
