Apple has enormous success that is largely due to it's control freak tendencies. They make some really great innovations, and then lock everyone in to their proprietary ecosystem using the appeal of these innovations.
Locking users down doesn't work forever though. iTunes did for a while, with DRM on every song. Finally users were able to pay to get rid of it, as other sources (Amazon MP3) were offering competition. The only way I can see Apple continuing to be so successful with iOS is through continued innovation, not by caving in to developers demands for features---what developer has refused to reach Apples enormous market because they weren't happy with development tools? Something like no garbage collection seems like a small issue when considering the upsides of developing for iOS. (I really hope better web technologies will change this.)
It reminds of a quote sitting in my high school journalism room: ``People like cocaine and prostitutes, but we don't give them that either.''
> The only way I can see Apple continuing to be so successful with iOS is through continued innovation, not by caving in to developers demands for features [...]
Let's not forget that a significant (however you choose to define that) reason for the success of the iPhone was - and continues to be - due to the apps available for the iOS platform. Apple understands this - just look at their marketing.
GC? As has been said by others, it's not really on the wishlist. Most devs have much simpler requests that would make development so much more enjoyable. By the time you've written a basic HTTP request-response wrapper for the 10th time, it starts to get really old...
Locking users down doesn't work forever though. iTunes did for a while, with DRM on every song. Finally users were able to pay to get rid of it, as other sources (Amazon MP3) were offering competition. The only way I can see Apple continuing to be so successful with iOS is through continued innovation, not by caving in to developers demands for features---what developer has refused to reach Apples enormous market because they weren't happy with development tools? Something like no garbage collection seems like a small issue when considering the upsides of developing for iOS. (I really hope better web technologies will change this.)
It reminds of a quote sitting in my high school journalism room: ``People like cocaine and prostitutes, but we don't give them that either.''