Developer Profile- Andrew Stone of Stone Works
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With just 24 hours left before the Apple-imposed deadline for software developers to submit their applications in order to have them as part of the App Store launch, developer Andrew Stone of stone.com (Stone Works) was kind enough to take some time out to speak with us.
An architect by training, Andrew began using computers (a Radio Shack TRS-80) for his work in 1980. The switch to Mac came in 1985. It was, as he puts it, “love at first byte!” A Masters in Computer Science in 1989 led to his programming software for Steve Job’s spinoff company “NeXT Computer”. In the 20 years, Andrew has written over twenty applications, focusing, among other things, on creating “independent alternatives to expensive and ofttimes bloated commercial software”. StoneWorks takes a community model of software, offering programs for a low price and offering free software upgrades for life!
Andrew has turned to a focus on developing a number of applications for the iPhone. The teaser for the initial apps can be found at here.
To speak with Andrew is to immediately share in the excitement and creativity that is part of the iPhone development world.
It has been a mad dash since the SDK was first released in which developers have had to both learn coding for the new platform and write the program in a period of about 90 days. Moreover, even as they were writing the code the platform has been evolving, leading to a worldwide dash that culminates this Friday. Even then, though, Andrew noted that things will continue to evolve at a rapid pace long after iPhone 2.0 is released.
Speaking to Andrew, a few things become clear. First, there is currently an atmosphere of exceptional creativity the likes of which has not been seen in some time. (My comment, not Andrew’s.) Moreover, as noted in a post yesterday, there is a qualitatively different feeling that has entered into the process of coding software for this new platform. If former EA exec Neil Young is committed to his new company becoming the “spiritual first-party” for the platform, developers like Andrew are already bringing that creative, spiritual, “all things as possible” feel to the potential that currently exists.
Obviously Andrew is not currently free to speak about the specific apps he has written but from the teaser site we know that there are at least three in development.
Igraffiti– lets you paint on your photos. The process is simple; snap a picture or grab from your camera roll then finger paint over it with up to 50 different colors. Pictures can then be saved, emailed or shared on the web.
TalkingPics– extends the usefulness of the iPhone’s camera by letting you record voice notes over photos. It can be used to store thoughts, record travels, or help remember a new face.
Twittelator– a free app that extends the power of Twitter by taking advantage of the iPhone’s core location feature, as well as allowing you to take photos and have them autoblogged.
We can’t thank Andrew enough for taking time out to speak to us today. We look forward to sharing more from him and reviewing each of the apps in the weeks to come.
