iPhone Design Award-Winning Projects (The Definitive Guide)

For those who have played around with these apps and want to know more about how they came into existence, iPhone Design Award-Winning Projects (The Definitive Guide) is a fascinating read. CONTENT ------------- The book has profiles of developers for five apps: Tweetie, Topple 2, AccuTerra, Postage, and Wooden Labyrinth 3D. For five other apps, it has Q and A sessions with the developers of: Facebook (mistakenly not listed as Q&A in the Table of Contents), Foursquare, Exit Strategy NYC, Delicious Library (interesting in part because Amazon got it banned), and Prowl. DEFINITIVE? ------------- If there had been more discussion of coding, it might have earned that "definitive" in the title. However, it would have lost me and others as readers. I would say it is less a guide and more a narrative that can provide inspiration for others. If you are looking for deep discussions about code, this book isn't for you. THE GOOD STUFF ------------- These are impressive business and creative success stories. My favorite profile was probably the one about Elias Pietila. It's amazing what someone without a heavy programming background was able to do with only 100 to 120 hours of work. The Q&A sections were interesting as well, particularly the one for Facebook, because there were so many factors (different platforms/uses/functions) they had to consider when designing the grid interface. SUMMARY ---------------- Although the book was written with programmers in mind, even if you are not a programmer, you'll enjoy hearing about how they brought these innovative programs to life.