Next week, I fly out to Cupertino to start working at Apple as a full time employee. This is a big move for me, as I’ve been working for myself since 2001. But this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I cannot pass up. As is the case for a lot of people my age, I began my computing experience on an Apple ][ and have been a huge fan of Apple ever since (with a slight defection to Linux in the late 90s and early 00s). Apple-related technology (Mac OS X and iOS) has been my main source of income since around 2006, so in many ways, this is a dream come true. I’m very excited to work with a great team and for a great company.

Because everything needs an FAQ:

What will you be working on?

I’m not sure that I can say, just yet. But it will involve heavy amounts of coding in Objective-C.

So you're moving to California?

Nope. I’ll be staying right here in Chicago.

Will you still be writing The Road to Code for MacTech Magazine?

Unfortunately, I will be unable to continue writing The Road to Code for MacTech, and I’ve already submitted my last article. It has been an amazing three years, and I am truly grateful to have worked with MacTech.

What about public speaking?

I will also be unavailable for future speaking engagements. I’ve already had to turn down opportunities to speak at Voices that Matter, the MacTech conference, and SecondConf. I’m sure I will be an attendee at a number of the conferences, though, and I plan to stay active in the community as much as possible.

What does this mean for Bit Maki and Textcast?

This is still preliminary and in progress, but Bit Maki Software, Inc., the joint company between Jonathan Rentzsch and I, is in process of being dissolved. I plan to keep Bit Maki, Inc., my contracting company, alive for now, though I will not be doing any more contracting. Textcast will become free and be available from the Bit Maki website.

What's the future of MAME OS X?

It has been a few years since I’ve been able to dedicate much time towards MAME OS X, and this is the nail in the coffin. I will not be able to contribute to MAME OS X. If anyone want’s to pick up the effort, please let me know. This also goes for most of my other open source software. Truth be told, with the two recent additions to our family, I’m going to be sufficiently distracted for a while, anyways.