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Rogue Amoeba, which is responsible for applications including Audio Hijack and Airfoil, says that in the past 12 months or so Mac development has shifted from producing applications that provide new functionality to applications with 'flash and sizzle' and plenty of marketing hype.

'This had created something of a toxic atmosphere in the Mac development world,' writes Paul Kafasis on the Rogue Amoeba blog. 'A rift between the old school, with its plain but functional apps, and the new school of flashy but frivolous apps, has developed.'

Top of the list of hypeware apps is Disco, a CD and DVD burning tool which, Kafasis says, is little more than a repackaged version of OS X's built-in authoring tools.

'Plenty of those exist already, but Disco looks different, and it was well-hyped, so people are interested,' he wrote. 'Disco's smoke effect is now infamous for being a sign of the fall of the Mac. I certainly won't go that far, but I think it's clear that it's a "triumph" of style over substance.'

Other members of what he calls the Delicious Generation (a reference to the Delicious Library cataloguing application) include AppZapper, the My Dream App contest and the new, still-secret MacHeist.

'These all share a common ancestry of people behind them, but more importantly, they're nice-looking sites and applications that are heavy on the marketing buzz and light on substance,' he wrote.

Not that these apps have absolutely nothing to offer. They generate interest in Mac software and there is no doubt that they are beautiful to look at.

'Given the choice between two identical applications, one that's beautiful and one that's plain, the beautiful one doesn't just look better, it's more usable,' Kafasis wrote, 'Adding some flash to a solid application is certain to be a good thing.'

But focusing on the user interface to the detriment of interaction and features is not. There are also implications for the developers themselves, with the hype inevitable generating a backlash.

'Hyperbole

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and breathless reporting is certain to receive criticism and backlash,' Kafasis wrote. 'If you bought an application for its smoke effects, what happens when the novelty wears off?'

Who is benefiting?, he asks.

'Gaining users is good, but it also increases support costs, and selling at a discounted price will obviously net less income,' he said. 'The developer has also reduced the perceived value of his software. If an application appears with a slashed price on one of these sites, will new full-price sales follow, or will people simply hope to find it on sale again? Are these loyal users who will buy upgrades and new applications? My sense is no.'

MyDreamApp's Jason Harris disagrees, arguing that the stylistic shift in the way that Mac software is written shows that Mac development is alive and healthy. Software written for beginner computer users should be 'pretty and fun' he says.

'I'll be the first to agree that the Smoke is superfluous (by design), but I disagree that Disco itself is simple,' he wrote. 'It's not at all - even though it shares functionality with other solutions, it's workflow is superb. It makes a boring task that can be difficult for neophyte computer users fun and simple.'

He adds: 'If you plan to sell Mac software to non-technical users, and you plan on doing it in the latter half of the first decade of the 21st century, you'd better make it drop-dead simple to use, and you'd better make it visually appealing and fun.'

But both agree on one thing: the fault, in part, lies with Apple.

'Apple is moving away from a consistent interface across the entire operating system, and towards a model based on the idea that "it should look good",' Kafisis wrote in a footnote to his comments. 'Whether that's ultimately sustainable, we'll see, but for now that's the way it is.'

While Harris is more forthright.

'Here's what's caused the shift: Apple,' he wrote. 'Apple has gone through 42 window styles in the past five years. Apple does not use their own standard user interface elements, eschewing them for custom shiny ones. What the Mothership does tends to trickle down to the rest of the Armada, and the change in UI conventions is the result.'

Kafasis's comments can be read on Rogue Amoeba's Under the Microscope blog. Harris's reply is at mydreamapp.com.