Apple and Microsoft have been battling for programmers for a long time. Probably since 1977 with the release of the Apple II (or the "Apple ][" as it was then written), and most definitely since the release of recent MacBooks and iPhones.
With the recently released iPhone/iPod/Pad software license, and it's mandate to use the C, C++, or Objective-C languages (and nothing else), Apple has put itself in the lead for antagonizing developers.
In short, section 3.3.1 of the agreement limits development of Apple apps to these languages and excludes all other technologies. Those other technologies include Flash, Mono, .NET, Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, Scheme, and just about anything you care to mention.
The response from the programmer community has been uniform: Apple can go take a long walk off a short pier. (Although multiple sites use somewhat stronger language.)
The programming community has been irked by various restrictions in the past, as well as the capricious process for approving (or rejecting) iPhone apps. The response to this latest maneuver from Apple has been swift and unanimous.
Apple is acting like a monopolist. The strategy may work for a short time, perhaps three or four years. I'm sure that there are lots of developers who will jump through the hoops to write iPhone apps.
But the smart ones, the creative ones, will go elsewhere. They will leave for other platforms not because they want to, or because they feel offended, or because they think that there is some higher form of justice. They will leave because they cannot wear the straightjacket that Apple now requires for iPhone app development. The best and brightest will develop for Droid, or Linux, or perhaps even Microsoft Windows Phone.
This cannot end well for Apple.
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