1st iPhone Developer Garage Athens, the aftermath

a guest post by Bill Rappos, co-founder of Great Apps

Its been a week from our Dev Garage and I finally got around to writing up a proper summation to what I believe turned out an awesome event. The turnout was huge for our estimations; at some point there were about 45 people inside K44. Even more impressive was the fact that most were on time, there to judge us while we were trying to resolve all the miscommunication errors…

Some coffees from the corner cafe(-neio) later, we were comfortably sited in a large circle, talking about the iPhone, iSteam, marketing, the Internet and everything related. Then came the introductions. Marketeers and Developers were divided about equally, with about 10 macs (1 air thin) gathered and distributed among the tables.

After a necessary break while setting up the projector, Kostas started giving out basic tips on Obj-C. How to fire up the developers’ environment and make your first Dev steps based on sample apps available by Apple. A Metronome App, for example, is a very good start for an app that incorporates animations with sounds. On that note, an awesome resource, that someone contributed, for making your first (and not only) iPhone app is the Stanford CS193P Module notes. To follow the notes you do need a Mac, an iPhone however is not required since you can do most of the work in the simulator provided.

Once most questions were out of the way, came the hour of idea sharing. Essentially, an attendee with an idea would speak up and those interested in doing an app around that, would form a team and start developing. A good concept, but most hesitated trusting 40 potential competitors.. Gradually the fear went away and some good ideas were thrown around. Distinct teams were formed in the corners of K44 and programming needs emerged. Kostas hovered from one table to another, offering his experience as other Obj-C programmers were almost obsolete when the event started. Hopefully some more picked it up after… :)

Although, time wasn’t enough to reach an end product, first steps were made in developing; I think the people that were truly interested when they arrived at Gkazi last week, now are somewhere with a mac building their test apps.

More importantly, people with an interest in the iPhone and the AppStore Market gathered in the same place for the first time and actually talked! They shared opinions and ideas. It was an amazing feeling for us, just being there among everything. Thank you all for coming, thank you Open Coffee for sponsoring and promoting.

Look out for more! Next time I promise we’ll have the keys on time :)