Think about it this way. The more people putting out apps, the more competition there is. the more competition, the more thinking will go into each design, which will provide the rest of us with increasingly useful applications to use. A perfect example is the merging between FTP and Text editors. How nice is it to only have to have one window to edit your html or php and then upload it to your server all from one easy to use app? Makes my life simpler that’s for sure!

Cheers,
Brad

I’m accustomed to BBEdit, so TextMate seemed weird and alien and very un-Mac-like, but I’m sure the reverse is true for someone weaned on TextMate. It’s pretty weak on the HTML editing side, too.

New variant editors are created to scratch a specific itch, when the developers of the current dominant product don’t want to go in the direction you do. In open source programs, that usually manifests as a fork, but in commercial software, it’s just a new program written from scratch.

The profusion of FTP programs, I don’t entirely understand. The command-line ftp is fine for simple tasks, and beyond that Fetch used to be the only serious choice. It’s not all that hard to make an FTP, but none of them seem significantly better; I would expect over time that Cyberduck (and maybe some forked variants) would replace all the others, as it’s free.

a) I don’t like what’s already available.
b) I can. ;)
c) The decent available products are shareware and only work for a limited period or in a limited fashion. Like it or not, many people hate to pay for things when there are free alternatives.
d) I’ll also add that many developers want to get in on the application X bandwagon and make some dough.

I have seen clear favorites that everyone seems to favor, and those are certainly on my list. But the thing is there are free alternatives that are almost equally appealing.

This one really put a smile on my face after another 2 hours of reading about Mac applications and I caught this post just before I retire for the night =)

As programs become more bloated to try to do everything it will make a lot of things more complicated. Sometimes we just want something simple that does not take 60 seconds to load.

Same thing with FTP clients.

In other words, every developer, whatever field they work in, has a strong interest in text editors, a strong desire to use the best one for their needs, and the abilities to make their own if the current offerings are lacking. In that context, I’m surprised there aren’t more text editors kicking about!

Whatever, speaking as a writer, I’m certainly pleased that there’s such a lot of tools to choose from.