Interview with Jonas Salling, of the Salling Clicker

This month, we are very pleased to sit down (virtually) with Jonas Salling of Salling Software, creator of Salling Clicker (formerly known as Sony Ericsson Clicker). Jonas was gracious enough to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to conduct an interview in which we discussed his excellent flagship shareware product as well as its strong integration with our beloved language, and the state of the Mac.

MacScripter.net: Are you an avid AppleScripter yourself or was the decision to integrate AppleScript into Clicker purely incidental or practical? Since OS X supports a broad range of technologies and languages (perl, Cocoa, etc.), I know we at MacScripter are tickled to see such robust support for AppleScript specifically.

J. Salling: Oh, I’d say it was 100% practical. Using some kind of integration technology was crucial for getting the work done and for Mac OS X, I think AppleScript is the natural choice. A nice side effect is that it allowed me tap into the existing pool of scriptable apps and scripting talent out there. This would not have been the case had I chosen a Cocoa based plug-in model for integration.

MacScripter.net: When did you begin development of Clicker and what made you decide to pursue itas a viable product? How long has it taken you to get Clicker this far?

J. Salling: I had been toying with the idea of doing something like Clicker for about a year, but it wasn’t until Bluetooth technology was solidly integrated in Mac OS X that it became feasible. I believe strongly in the “release, improve, repeat”-mantra; getting the product out there is very important to find out what people really want.

MacScripter.net: There’s a lot going on in the Mac world these days: the upcoming MacOS x 10.3 (aka Panther), expanded Bluetooth support, new uses for Rendezvous, etc. What sort of cool technologies, features or applications would you like to see around the corner? I’m looking for blue sky, I-always-wanted-so-and-so sort of stuff here.

J. Salling: Well, I am as excited about Mac OS X as anyone else out there; being a Mac user/developer hasn’t felt this good in a very long time. The coolest features and applications are always the ones you didn’t anticipate wanting, but once you see them, you really do. I think Apple is right on the money pushing for the “digital hub”. I hope to see more fun stuff in this area. As for my own ideas, I think I’d rather keep them to myself for now. :wink: I try to do my best to stay out of Apple’s path, though.

MacScripter.net: Is your development focussed solely on phone integration (Salling Clicker, MobileSync, Ericsson Client) or do you have other application plans?

J. Salling: You probably won’t see me developing yet another calendar application or text editor; these are just not my areas of personal interest. Basically, I’m up for anything that’s got a good mix of “fun” and usefulness, things that really excite people.

MacScripter.net: Have you always been an Apple fan? What sort of Mac hardware/software are youcurrently using?

J. Salling: “Always” would probably be pushing it a little. I have been a Mac user for many years, though, and even when I worked as a software developer on the Windows platform, I always kept a Mac at home. These, by the way, were difficult times, when my perhaps overly Mac-centric family almost ostracized me for working for the “dark side”…

As for hardware, I have the great fortune of doing my work on a 2003 Dual 1.25GHz PowerMac with a 20.1" Cinema display. For development, I really like Apple’s free developer tools and the new Script Editor (2.0 beta).

MacScripter.net: Thanks for your time, Jonas.

J. Salling: No problem. Thank you for having me.

Note: Salling Clicker sells for an amazing $9.95. Just click here or visit Salling Software’s website at [url=http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/]http://homepage.mac.com/jonassalling/Shareware/[/url]