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MIT App Inventor Back Online
mikejuk writes "If you have been missing App Inventor, you'll be relieved to learn that it is now available again — albeit still in beta. After two months, MIT has managed to open the beta program and users can once again create App Inventor Android programs. However, you still need a Google ID to sign in, and among the known issues is the problem that MIT App Inventor cannot load projects that are as large as those supported by the Google version. It also reports that some projects have loaded with missing blocks. While the world seems to be intent on making a fuss about the educational impact of cheap hardware like Raspberry Pi, really valuable tools that could produce a new generation of programmers such as App Inventor don't seem to get the headlines or the concern due when they go missing for months."
the NoSQL projects would be so far behind without Google LevelDB (derived from BigTable). The entire Android OS was open sourced, a contribution the likes of which we haven't seen since Linux. V8 Javascript engine, funding Firefox, even after the release of Chrome, this is just the stuff I can name off the top of my head. Google's business depends on open source and unlike other companies we could name, they give back more then they take out.
You have that backwards, Google are the only one's not trying to shoehorn "standards" into a propratary solution. WebM is the perfect example of this, H.264 is restricted, if you wish to use H.264 to produce or publish content, you need to pay MPEG-LA for the rights to do so. Just because H.264 is free on Windows (meaning Microsoft paid for the license to use it) doesn't make it open source.
Actually, they give services a good go. They keep what works, dump what doesn't. They're a business and this isn't evil, it's sensible, even adventurous for a business.
As a business, Google are trying desperately do diversify because, as you pointed out an inordinate percentage of their revenue is from one source.
History, you mean before Google purchased them. Got anything after?
Google, as you pointed out is an advertising company and it makes sense for them to expand by buying a competitor (once again, this is not the evil you seem to think it is). Google ad's are the least intrusive and bandwidth wasting (with the exception of adwords and I haven't seen a site with them for a while). Compared to other advertising companies, they're saints.
I'll be the first to admit that their transition from hosting AppInventor and open sourcing it was not smooth, but this is Google for you. But what other companies Open Source anything they dont have to. If Microsoft or Apple bought Android Inc. do you think they would have open sourced it at all? I think not.
Now that rant is over, I wish I could have AppInventor installed as an IDE on my own machine but props to MIT for hosting it, maybe one day I'll have it as an independent IDE.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Is App Inventor really programming? It's a drag-and-drop system which produces bytecode directly. The user can't see or edit the Java code. Once you hit the limit of what App Inventor can do (it's limited to one view, for example), you can't extend your app by working on the Java code. This means that even if you become an expert with App Inventor, you're not really any closer to becoming an Android programmer.
"A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
The parent comment is retarded. How is it moderated insightful?
"I'm the target demographic for this product. "
No your NOT! It's target is education and "third-world" countries
"Yes, it's a cute piece of hardware, yes it's cheap. No, it's not revolutionary or game-changing."
It has potential to be "game-changing" because IT education in the UK is a joke - technical ability is shunned in favour of teaching Microsoft products instead. The Pi project is an attempt to start a similar UK computer culture as seen in the 1980s.
" We've had plenty of SBCs in the past that do pretty much what it can do."
At the current price - no, not really a 700mhz cpu AND gpu with 256mb ram, 2xusb and ethernet for $25?
"And the stupid thing is, I'm a robotics researcher and an electronics hobbiest to boot"
No the stupid thing is, you're stupid for not checking your facts first.
" I'm so sick of hearing about it I'm not going to buy one out of interest."
It's a charity and publicity is important to attract donors, sponsors and other sources of income. Producing hardware is an expensive undertaking.
As the saying goes "Ignorance is bliss" aka "twitchy slashdot commenter"
I also slay your troll-like posting with the following quotes from the Raspberry Pi "about" page: (Obviously your troll-like eyes are too tired to read the "about" page)
"..The idea behind a tiny and cheap computer for kids came in 2006, .."
" became concerned about the year-on-year decline in the numbers and skills levels of the A Level students applying to read Computer Science in each academic year."
"the 1990s where most of the kids applying were coming to interview as experienced hobbyist programmers, the landscape in the 2000s was very different;"
" David has been tireless in raising press awareness and finding us sponsorship."
"We’ve had enormous interest, support and help from the educational community, and we’ve been delighted and a little humbled by the number of enquiries from agencies and people far away from our original targets for the device."
"The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK registered charity (Registration Number 1129409)"