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Apple Launching Reality TV Show Called 'Planet of the Apps' (venturebeat.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the planet-of-the-apes dept.

theodp writes: The Verge reports Apple is making good on an earlier threat to create a reality TV show about app developers. An open casting call has been issued for "Planet of the Apps," with the goal of finding "100 of the world's most talented app creators" -- news which VentureBeat suggests must be making Steve Jobs' ghost weep. Apple has teamed up with Propagate, a new production company created by the producer of "The Biggest Loser." The description of the show says: "Join us on the search for the next great app in a new original series. Those selected will have the chance to receive hands-on guidance from some of the most influential experts in the tech community, featured placement on the App Store, and funding from top-tier VCs." The show is expected to be released in 2017.

34 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Just another Reality POS program by bloodhawk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It baffles me how they find audiences bored enough to watch the reality TV shit they have already let alone make more.

    1. Re:Just another Reality POS program by geekmux · · Score: 2

      It baffles me how they find audiences bored enough to watch the reality TV shit they have already let alone make more.

      Ah, consider the success of "talented" shit like Flappy Bird.

      In a single word? Pokemon.

      That should tell you everything you need to know about "bored enough".

    2. Re:Just another Reality POS program by mccalli · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Years back, there was an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. It was by one of the tech mags and they were asking him what makes a great game. 3D instead of 2D? Immersive? Should the player have cinematic elements? Does the player need to be emotionally involved?

      Miyamoto's answer was "well, I like moving things around the screen.". That's it. That, bluntly, is why he is a genius level game designer and the interviewers were not. Every element above is just that - an element. It can help or hinder the particular game, and Miyamoto just saw them as things that could be combined to form a game.

      The point? Don't discount Flappy Bird. Just because it didn't take three years and a research team to develop, does not mean it wasn't talented.

    3. Re:Just another Reality POS program by geekmux · · Score: 1

      Years back, there was an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. It was by one of the tech mags and they were asking him what makes a great game. 3D instead of 2D? Immersive? Should the player have cinematic elements? Does the player need to be emotionally involved? Miyamoto's answer was "well, I like moving things around the screen.". That's it. That, bluntly, is why he is a genius level game designer and the interviewers were not. Every element above is just that - an element. It can help or hinder the particular game, and Miyamoto just saw them as things that could be combined to form a game. The point? Don't discount Flappy Bird. Just because it didn't take three years and a research team to develop, does not mean it wasn't talented.

      I would agree with the fact that it takes a certain amount of design talent or even artistic flair to attempt to create something as mindlessly simplistic as Flappy Bird.

      Ironically, it was actually so mindless that the creator himself couldn't take it anymore, pulling the game out of app stores for a period of time to help the addicts get some professional help.

    4. Re:Just another Reality POS program by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 2

      The only reality TV show I'd like to watch is "Bill Gates Piñata"

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    5. Re:Just another Reality POS program by swell · · Score: 1

      And the consumers of the world feel the same way. Whether it's a TV or a computer, they like things moving around the screen. Thus, reality shows and anything but quiet and thoughtfulness.

      --
      ...omphaloskepsis often...
    6. Re:Just another Reality POS program by Atrox666 · · Score: 1

      This show has everything, the tension of programmers working themselves nearly to death, the drama of them moving back in with their family when they can't pay their rent, and the excitement when you see the nice new car the Apple executive spends their profit on.

    7. Re:Just another Reality POS program by macs4all · · Score: 1

      The only reality TV show I'd like to watch is "Bill Gates Piñata"

      I'd watch that, too!

    8. Re:Just another Reality POS program by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      just wait for someone from the film industry for using a name too close to "planet of the apes"

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    9. Re:Just another Reality POS program by Jezral · · Score: 1

      It is possible to do reality shows amazingly well. The prime example being Penny Arcade's Strip Search (produced by LoadingReadyRun).

      Though, I don't know of any other reality show worth watching. So only sample size 1. But still, proves it is possible.

    10. Re:Just another Reality POS program by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      It baffles me how they find audiences bored enough to watch the reality TV shit they have already let alone make more.

      The show is called "Planet of the Apps". Sounds like the target audience is code monkeys.

    11. Re:Just another Reality POS program by narcc · · Score: 1

      The point? Don't discount Flappy Bird. Just because it didn't take three years and a research team to develop, does not mean it wasn't talented.

      No talent involved, I'm afraid. Flappy Bird is, first, just another one-button helicopter game. Worse, it's a near identical clone of Piou Piou vs. Cactus, down to the look of the unfortunate protagonist! Some people have even claimed the code and some of the assets were purchased from one of those pre-built game kit sellers.

      There was virtually no creativity or talent involved in the creation of Flappy Bird.

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
  2. Augmented reality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I have no intention of ever watching the show, but I predict the app creators will be evenly divided between:

    nerdy white & Asian guys
    nerdy flat-chested women
    curvy blonde & Asian women

    1. Re:Augmented reality by theodp · · Score: 2

      Gavin Belson, HBO Silicon Valley: "It's weird - they always travel in groups of five, these programmers. There's always a tall skinny white guy, a short skinny Asian guy, a fat guy with a ponytail, some guy with crazy facial hair and then an East Indian guy. It's like they trade guys until they all have the right group."

    2. Re:Augmented reality by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      Great show, and a nice follow-up to a heavier show like GoT.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  3. Most exciting thing to come out of Apple lately by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Which says a lot about their lack of vision.

  4. 2012 Reality Show: Be The Next Microsoft Employee by theodp · · Score: 1

    "Be the Next Microsoft Employee" (2012): "The show will debut online on Tuesday morning. It pits four veteran SQL Server gurus, selected from more than 100 applicants, in a series of head-to-head technical challenges designed to test their ability to develop business-oriented database solutions. A new episode, each about 13 to 14 minutes long, will be rolled each week until the winner is revealed in the finale on Aug. 21. And yes, the person who prevails actually does win a job at Microsoft."

  5. Weak Subject by phishybongwaters · · Score: 1

    The show will be pretty boring considering there's about 15 actual apps, then millions of shitty clones of those apps. I don't see how this could interest ANYONE other than app developers. And let me tell you right now, if you are spending your time watching TV instead of coding, you are developing wrong.

  6. Re:2012 Reality Show: Be The Next Microsoft Employ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Lmao the final episode was released on youtube and has amassed a staggering 5,032 views in the 4 years since its premier date.

    Apple will easily double that.

  7. Re:Planet Of The Apps by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

    Or they finally make it back to Earth and they see a statue of Ballmer

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  8. lets break this down for the record. by nimbius · · Score: 1

    Hands-on guidance from some of the most influential experts in the tech community

    enjoy your agile. Scrum, burndowns, swimlanes, and standups are now to become a newfound part of your otherwise normal development cycle where you just push to github and finish your pint. Get ready for status reports.

    featured placement on the App Store

    but given the million other pieces of garbage that get "featured placement" its hard to see how this would help an app developer if they already have an appreciable enough following to attract the attention of "planet of the apps"

    and funding from top-tier VCs.

    So take your BSD and your GPL licenses, print out a copy, and stuff it right up your ass. When these guys are done your once interesting project now comes with a myriad of new data access requirements, branded tie-ins, and advertising channel demands. your releases are now their releases, and youll do kindly to keep working at their pace.

    this isnt a show for developers, its a show for people who want to cash in on developers.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  9. Ob. Quote by ZipK · · Score: 1

    Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty app!

  10. DO NOT WANT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Oh, God.

    More Silicon Valley energizer bunnies.

    <facepalm/>

    On another note, I was chatting the other day with a very senior chap in a company I know, and got the message that Silicon Valley is fast approaching the event horizon.

    The arrogance, short-term job-hopping, ageism, sky-high salaries and incessant FAIL (see "ageism," previously) are starting to take their toll. Countries like Vietnam are starting to come to the forefront as places where good talent lives.

    This person's position, experience, corporation and seniority made the conversation one that should not be taken lightly.

    Interesting times ahead.

  11. Re:no such thing as reality television by UncleRage · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, this is true.

    I remember being quite excited about the prospect of some show about a group of mechanics that build end end motorcycles. What I wanted was to watch talented cats build beautiful bikes, what I got was some kind of soap opera.

    I'd also love to watch a weekly hour long episode focused on luthiers. Show me the beginning to end process of building a beautifully hand crafted guitar, violin, etc... from picking the wood to testing the acoustics and I'd watch it. Hell, expand it to cover all instruments (even though the Hang Drum is no longer being produced, that would have made an excellent series); but, I know... it'd turn into the same thing: personalities on parade.

    --
    #SickNotWeak
  12. Re:First app! by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Where is the app guy when you need him? He should've been straight on this.

    That's exactly what I came here to post.

  13. Re:First app! by macs4all · · Score: 3, Informative

    You are all LUDDITES! Moooo! LUDDITES go mooooo! Moooo LUDDITES moooooo! You LUDDITE cows!

    No, not the Cow guy; we wanted the Appy guy!

  14. Re:no such thing as reality television by macs4all · · Score: 1

    I remember being quite excited about the prospect of some show about a group of mechanics that build end end motorcycles. What I wanted was to watch talented cats build beautiful bikes, what I got was some kind of soap opera.

    Haven't you noticed that this is what every (or nearly every) TV show devolves into?

    Even "regular" TV shows that start out pretty good, like "Code Black" or "Person of Interest" (which did have a wonderful final episode) seem to start spending more and more time with interpersonal relationships ("Soap Operas") than the actual overarching premise of the show.

    Frankly, though, I think it says more about human psychology than it does about the creative skills of TV producers.

  15. In a word: Swift by macs4all · · Score: 1

    I think this is primarily a vehicle for getting Developers interested in Swift.

    We shall see if I'm right...

    1. Re:In a word: Swift by narcc · · Score: 1

      ... How will know?

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
    2. Re:In a word: Swift by twokay · · Score: 1

      Surely people becoming interested in a programming language because of a reality TV show must be "developers" in the loosest sense of the word possible. I expect it to be watched exclusively be those already high as a kite on the Apple kool-aid.

      --
      Wannabe nerd.
  16. Re:First app! by Sax+Russell+5449D29A · · Score: 1

    He's been spending a lot of time with APK hosts file guy lately. He's bad influence.

    --
    -SR
  17. Re:Planet Of The Apps by The_Rook · · Score: 1

    Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty app!

    --
    when religion is no longer the opiate of the masses, governments will resort to real opiates.
  18. Re:First app! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    Since you are everything Mac, I am sure you know the answer, but I can't seem to understand this line in TFS.

    news which VentureBeat suggests must be making Steve Jobs' ghost weep.

    Why would Steve weep? I thought he was kind of the one behind the app store.

    Also, wasn't Steve a huge promoter, it seems like a TV show would be right along what he would envision for promoting the Apple way.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  19. Re:First app! by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Since you are everything Mac, I am sure you know the answer, but I can't seem to understand this line in TFS.

    news which VentureBeat suggests must be making Steve Jobs' ghost weep.

    Why would Steve weep? I thought he was kind of the one behind the app store.

    Also, wasn't Steve a huge promoter, it seems like a TV show would be right along what he would envision for promoting the Apple way.

    LOL! I have no frickin' idea!

    I actually went and read TFA (see what you made me do!), and have no more insight now than you about what that obtuse comment is about, sorry! My best guess (and it is exactly that: A guess) would be that Jobs hated television (IIRC), and, although he was certainly the ultimate promoter, would have considered this a "dilution (and cheapening) of the brand" (Apple). I personally think he would have been kinda right about that. But that could just be me "projecting" my opinions onto the ghost of Jobs...

    I know that Steve was originally against the idea of iPhone Apps as we know them today. It was allegedly actually feedback from the Developer community that convinced him to Green-Light the original iPhone OS SDK and its attendant App Store concept. And the rest is history...

    But while we're talking about Steve Jobs and Apple's Mobile History, I was very surprised to read the other day that, when Apple was in development on the iPad, there was internal debate as to whether to make it an OS X-based Tablet, or essentially a bigger iPhone. What's surprising is that Steve actually preferred the tablet-Mac idea. But he allowed two engineers to "horse-race" the two concepts and present them both to Steve. Well, we all know who won.

    But one of the things I wonder about is how far the other guys went in developing an ARM-based "Touch OS X". I am SURE that one (or more) of those creatures exist inside 1 Infinite Loop, along with a MacBook Pro and iMac with touchscreens. I would imagine that's why Apple is so confident that "tablets are tablets and desktops are desktops", rather than just bolting-on Touch to OS X and releasing an "AirTouch" laptop.

    But I digress...