How it all started…

When the first iPhone came out in Summer of 2007, I admired it from afar – I had a capable flip phone at the time that was able to not only take a 640×480 resolution picture (!) but ALSO played .MP3 files through a functional audio player!  An acquaintance of a family member received one of the first iPhones as a work-related expense, and I was quite impressed, but at the time, I couldn’t justify spending a tidy sum on a phone, especially considering the fact that I was still reeling from the fact that my phone could play music, too.

A few months later, the flip phone had an epic battle with a pool of water in the washing machine, and lost.  Around that time, I was fortunate to run across some mad money – and the first generation iPhone soon had a home in my back pocket!

The App Store didn’t debut until 2008, and I don’t remember exactly when the SDK was made available to the public, but I do remember thinking and contemplating how the software distribution model had been changed — forever.  I’m not one who generally buys into the grand “Apple changed the world” type statements, but it was pretty clear that, at least in this case, the software world was open, via apps, to everyone.

I knew I wanted to create an app, and not just one – a library of applications that spanned different genres and devices – games, utilities, and everything in between.  I wrestled with the question of “What should I create first?”  The widespread adoption of the iPhone in commercial aviation was quite apparent, and after a few false starts and aborted projects, “Bingo Fuel” (http://appstore.com/bingofuel) was started in 2009.  At the time I started, iOS was up to Version 3, long before storyboards, automatic reference counting (ARC) or other iDevices were in the family (besides the iPod Touch.)

Next time, I’ll talk about resources for getting started — textbooks, tutorials, programming websites, and lectures.  I’ll also highlight a few things from the day job that steered me towards deciding on “Bingo Fuel” as my first application.

Until then, clear skies!