(used to work for Nextel, know their location infrastructure well). I suspect that the basic reason for this is that customer care doesn't have the tools to do it. The network infrastructure is there, and the tools are there, but Sprint probably hasn't invested in giving this kind of capability to care organizations. Plus, there ARE some (minor, overblown, redherring but real) concerns there about impersonation, spoofing and such, particularly in Boost land where the amount of information known about customers is pretty minimal to begin with.
I've worked most of my career with PowerPoint types -- people who are actually creating the things because they're the MBAs presenting the concepts.
99% of them don't know how to use Powerpoint beyond dragging squares and changing colors. Styles, templates, master slides, etc are foreign concepts to them.
Often times, these are folks who got MBAs after spending years creating static HTML pages. They did it using FrontPage.
Becoming a competent HTML editor is not difficult, but it still is a skillset that not everyone has.
There are still plenty of corporate websites for even large multi bilion $$ companies that are not database driven. Sometimes, it just doesn't need a database. 400 pages clearly is too many... but I've seen sites developed with 40 static HTML pages. Maintenance is a pain, but it's more expedient to hire an HTML editor than to hire the staff to install, configure and maintain even a simple/FOSS CMS.
That is a significant point. The architecture of the BlackBerry system requires all traffic going to a BlackBerry device from an Enterprise email server to go through RIM's NOCs -- all Americas email traffic goes go through the Canada NOC at some point, all EMEA traffic goes through their NOC in the UK. [reference]
While all the transmissions are encrypted end-to-end (to the point that the system has passed US-government security reviews for secure traffic), the transmission of a US President's data traffic through systems that are outside of US jurisdiction and government control can be tricky.
But then again, this gets eliminated if they go with any other wireless email device that does not use RIM's infrastructure; there are plenty, and they can be made to work.
n01, you're on the right track thinking about going with a publisher.
I used to run developer programs for a large US wireless carrier, and now do so for a large Latin American wireless carrier. In general, I encourage small Java ME developers not to bury themselves trying to negotiate with the carrier directly. Unless you have something extremely innovative or a brand that a mid-level product manager type in a wireless company can recognize, you're probably going to lose a lot of money, time and brain cells getting anyone who can launch your product at SprATiT-zon to respond to you. And say you DO get their attention: that's almost even worse, since coming up with some kind of content distribution agreement with a gigantic corporation will consume all your waking hours.
So start small, and grow from there depending on how your app does.
- Make sure the stuff works. You should start researching Mobile Publishers out now, but before you do, make sure your game is rock-solid on as many devices as possible. - Work with a content porting service. There are companies that can help you make sure your game works on all these devices. One I know of that I can recommend (they used to be a development shop as well, they know the pain of the small developer) is Tira Wireless -- they have a program that can take your midlet and help you port it to the hundreds of devices you'll need to build the MIDlet for to get any traction: http://gomobile.tirawireless.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome - Get your MIDlet run through a generic certification program like JavaVerified. Many operators require it, it is a very good basic quality test that meets about 96% of the requirements of any operator, and at least shows that you're serious. One company I've worked with that does a good job with that is NSTL (https://www.nstl.com/javaverified/gui/home_main.asp). The other labs that do Java Verified (RelQ, Babel, CapGemini) also have good reputations. - Join the developer programs of operators worldwide you'd WANT to work with. It will give you a sense of whether or not they care about developers like you. Companies in English-speaking countries that I think are able/willing to work with smaller developers are AT&T, Orange, Sprint (the Nextel side), T-Mobile to a certain extent, and of course, we are (although I must say that you're probably not quite there yet to work with us, mostly due to language issues). Particularly, make sure you can that it is easy to get the data services you need for your application to work - since yours uses a data network, if it's tricky to get the service (or tricky for you as a developer to get it working) chances are you're going to be hitting a brick wall sooner rather than later. The forums on these sites will give you a good idea of where the pain points are for developers.
NOW, find a publisher. There are a number Publishers or Aggregators that work with guys like you to get good game placement without trying to gouge you too badly. I will mention two that I have worked with and respect (and that have a good reputation), and that are of a size that would work well with what your game sounds like it does.
- Digital Chocolate - focuses on social mobile games. Good company to do business with from a carrier's perspective. http://www.digitalchocolate.com/ - Cellmania - they're an aggregator that also runs a number of storefronts for various operators worldwide. They do a good job putting apps on the long tail to see what happens with it. http://www.cellmania.com/content_providers/
IF YOU ARE SERIOUS about it, then do this. There is money to be made if your application really is good and different and sticky. If you're not in a position or willing to spend some money on it up front, or to dedicate s
You're right, I didn't mention WinMobile. I have a blindspot to WinMobile -- I guess I've been in Java ME-land too long.
Generally speaking, I have seen either lot of crapware on WinMobile or good apps that are much more expensive than their Java ME counterparts (3X-5X). Basically, even though Microsoft is probably the best company out there in supporting developers, they haven't managed to create a hugeexcited developer ecosystem for the WinMobile platform for some reason. I think it's because of what you mention (too many different versions of the platform each of which changed the security model).
Most developers I've encountered who really understand mobile end up not liking WinMobile as a platform at the end -- it sounds like a great idea and the tools are slick, but the good tools cost $$$, the OS can be unstable and the devices are often more expensive, and Microsoft ends up mucking up the model a year later. They end up putting up with Java ME (because even though the tools are more limited and pain-in-the-ass to work with, the platform is ubiquitous and readily available on inexpensive devices and the tools are free) or switch to BREW (because even though it costs money to join, there's almost guaranteed revenue coming from the people who are stuck with BREW-only devices).
Most of the folks I know who've gotten WinMobile devices for the purpose of getting apps on them seem to be happy (with the exception of WinMobile SmartPhone (not Pocket PC Phone edition) users, who tend to be unhappy because the platform allows the carrier to lock it down) -- at least happy in that they can get applications they download of the interwebs on their phone.
My experience is also that there are a huge number of fairly crappy/duplicative applications written for WinMobile, and that the good applications are somewhat expensive (but they are indeed good). There isn't a huge groundswell of open source WinMobile applications out there.
Basically -- if you're a developer, and you can pay for the.NET development tools or are comfortable working with the free C-based SDKs, then you'll probably like WinMobile. If you are simply looking to load casual apps on the device, this may or may not be the best choice depending on what apps you're talking about.
Sprint will let you load pretty much any Java ME app that does not use protected APIs on your phone. For their CDMA phones, you'll need a special developer unlock to use protected APIs (easy to get). For their Nextel phones, you can sign any apps that use protected APIs using the iDEN SDK they have available. Visit their developer site (http://developer.sprint.com) and you'll find links to tools to do Over-the-air (or cable installs in the Nextel case) of Java apps on your phones.
Pretty much any GSM phone with Java ME you can use to download apps over the air. AT&T does not make this difficult, and lets you download applications over the air to any of their Java ME capable phones. If the application uses a protected API, you'll probably have to get it developer enabled as well -- their developer website (http://developer.att.com) should help you with what you need.
T-Mobile also has wide open phones for Java ME apps, as long as they're not using protected APIs.
For Verizon, you're SOL.
BlackBerry devices are all pretty open and you can install whatever you want on them as long as it's not locked up by your system administrator. The APIs are as rich as they come.
Basically, it's a box about 2 inches square with a VGA output that you can either pair up with Bluetooth to a Blackberry, WinMobile or Symbian device, or that you can hook up via USB to one of said devices, and that basically runs your powerpoint show (which is on the mobile device) or shows what's on your screen.
Works well. No laptop.
Re:Didn't look very hard
on
Open US GPS Data?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Open Street Map has a good and growing base of data for the US. Plus they link in to open source or freeware applications that you can load on PDAs, GPS-enabled cell phones, laptops, etc to begin creating traces that can then be turned into map data.
For this to work, you have to have a huge pool of people willing to drive a lot. Even the big map players (NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas) have problems keeping data up to speed, and they have an army of people driving around double-checking existing street grids.
I was a student in the first Java course taught at Cornell to undergrads -- CS 201 for non-majors, basically -- led by Professor Keshav Pingali. That's exactly how he structured the class -- throughout the class, we used Java OO concepts to build a virtual CPU that interpreted an assembly-like pseudo language that we had to use to learn about how the concepts behind low-level programming work (opcodes, registers, instruction pointers, etc).
So I got two things -- an (basic for a non-CS major) understanding of how computer software works, which has helped in my professional life, as well as skills in a programming which have gotten me the jobs I've had since graduation (even though I'm not a coder).
The issue is not the language that something is taught in, it's how that language is used to teach.
Seems like we're all trying to figure out what is a good hobbyist platform. So here are my thoughts, but any additional suggestions welcome:
1. Low cost of entry -- if the hardware is expensive or the toolkits are expensive, it's not a good hobby tool 2. Ubiquity -- if the hardware is hard to find or only three people have it (and two of them are in Zagreb) it probably won't build a good community of enthusiasts 3. Plentiful and understandable documentation -- if information on it is hard to find or understand, you wouldn't learn about it to start with 4. Uses languages I already know -- why learn something new? 5. Vibrant community -- you want to feel part of something interesting, most of the time 6. Easy tools to use -- good for the non-coder just-get-it-done-so-that-I-can-show-my-buddies 7. Good tools to use -- good for the uber coder who just-get-it-done-so-that-I-can-show-my-buddies 8. Simple distribution -- I want to be able to share my apps with my friends or the world. 9. Path from hobby to profession -- making a living out of it!
Under these criteria, I'd rank major mobile platforms this way: 1 - Java ME (Ubiquitous on even low-cost cellphones with low cost data plans, easy to learn, low cost if you already have the phone, tools are free and some are even good, documentation is available although mas-o-menos, distribution is reasonably easy in most cases, path to profession is clear although bumpy. Java is well known.) 2 - WinMobile (Ubiquitous -- getting a cheap PocketPC these days isn't difficult, easy to learn if you have the good tools -- thought a pain if you use the free tools, great tools although the best are expensive!, documentation is plentiful, distribution is generally easy as long as you're not trying to hit SmartPhone platform, easy path to profession), community exists but probably not passionate [I went to a winmobile developer conference and the folks there looked as excited as someone waiting for a colonoscopy]..NET is well known 3 - Linux (if you can find a Zaurus on the cheap, and are already a Linux coder or can pick up *nix thinking, it's a good platform for making some very complete applications. Development tools are ubiquitous but can be hard to figure out for the beginner, but the community will help you out through building makefiles. path to profession on mobile linux limited given small range of devices, unless you're a consultant). C is well known. Other platforms (Python, Perl, ROR) are available, though not sure about the mobile side. 4- Symbian (devices are ubiquitous in europe, coding for it can suck, distribution can be tricky at best, but there's enough community support that it may be worthwhile, although if I were a hobbyist I'd try different things. C is well known but the API set I've heard is miserable. 5 - BlackBerry (Easy to find devices although service can be expensive, tools are great if you don't need a visual IDE (visual IDE costs more overall because you need a Blackberry enterprise server + MDS), documentation is very good, community is animated though smaller, path to profession is clear. Java, XHTML, ECMA script are well known. 6- Palm OS (easy to find cheap devices, no services required, tools are adequate, documentation is solid, not exactly great for quick throwaway apps though. C and Java ME available 7 - BREW: BREW is designed to discourage hobbyists. The point is to make it so that mobile operators only have to deal with pros or companies that put money into the bucket.
I do mobile platform evangelism for a living -- I very much like hearing what people have to say about platforms and developing for them. But this was disappointing from any of the angles I look at it: if he actually did bother to do research, then we in the mobile space are doing a miserable job at educating the hobbyist (he obviously had a hard time finding the BlackBerry JDE or a clear enough explanation of Java ME that tells him that 90% of devices out there with Java ME are MIDP); if he didn't bother doing research, then it almost sounds like he went out of the way to prove that Windows Mobile is the way to go... and from my own experience, for the average hobbyist, WinMobile does the trick but only so far (i.e. good toolkits and APIs but only if you want to code in C, if you want to do.NET you've got to shell out for Visual Studio); if he really didn't try, then it says something worse about the person who thought this merited highlighting.
It may just say that the mobile space is really not targeting the hobbyist... should we change that?
If someone has actual experience in this, would much welcome reading it.
The problem was that it wasn't a piece of quality software. It offered to read and work with MS Office documents and failed in it. The spreadsheet program lacked basic functionality and keyboard commands that were common in 1999 when I first found myself having to use this with no alternatives other than going Windows. It crashed altogether too frequently. The database was awkward, the drawing program was a mess. Yes, I was able to write graduate school papers with it, but it couldn't even do basic things like handle footnotes and endnotes well.
When OpenOffice for Mac came out I flew far far away and never looked back.
Abandoning a miserable piece of software and just pretending it's ok is not quality.
Clarus the DogCow have a long-standing relationship of mutual disrespect. Claris the company provided some of Apple's best early software, including MacDraw and MacPaint and FileMake -- as well as the infamous turd known as AppleWorks.
"1989 - the legendary TechNote 31
In April 1989 Mark Harlan, with the help of Mark Johnson, wrote TechNote 31 as an April Fools' Day joke for Apple's developer community. It clarified certain matters regarding the Dogcow. Mark also revealed her real name: Clarus (a private joke about an internal Apple project named Claris that was terribly late at that time).
By now, Clarus was known outside of Apple labs and it seems that even Microsoft used her in an advertisement! Later Microsoft also used her in PowerPoint."
... and I got my stories mixed up. Still a horrible phone call issue, but the.01 dollar and.01 cent was another person whose recording I can't find any more. Oh well.
I thought that was a strange choice of words for Rowling to use -- I'm sure there were other words that she could have given Molly to use that would have flowed with Rowling's previous insults. It just sounded too much like written for a screenplay rather than as her usual way of carrying that same kind of emotion without resorting to calling Bellatrix a BITCH (in all caps, too!).
Couldn't agree more. Usually, folks who are non-technical are often coming from either an MBA background or are using the jargon used by MBAs -- so instead of talking about RoR, LAMP and AJAX like you might, they're talking about ROI, NPV, IRR and APAC.
Thing is, what you would need to do to justify, for example, why the company should use a combination of Ruby on Rails and AJAX on a LAMP setup to build their next corporate website, you should talk about the return it can generate a good return on investment for the company by reducing the cost of software development and hardware by x amount, and that the x amount at an internal rate of return of y% generates a net present value of $z dollars -- with the added benefit that you get economies of scale by using technologies that are widely used in asia pacific (RoR) and that let the marketing folks do the visually appealing things that Google Maps can do.
It's about talking in the other people's language, really.
Slashdot Mirror
(used to work for Nextel, know their location infrastructure well).
I suspect that the basic reason for this is that customer care doesn't have the tools to do it.
The network infrastructure is there, and the tools are there, but Sprint probably hasn't invested in giving this kind of capability to care organizations. Plus, there ARE some (minor, overblown, redherring but real) concerns there about impersonation, spoofing and such, particularly in Boost land where the amount of information known about customers is pretty minimal to begin with.
I've worked most of my career with PowerPoint types -- people who are actually creating the things because they're the MBAs presenting the concepts.
99% of them don't know how to use Powerpoint beyond dragging squares and changing colors. Styles, templates, master slides, etc are foreign concepts to them.
Often times, these are folks who got MBAs after spending years creating static HTML pages. They did it using FrontPage.
Becoming a competent HTML editor is not difficult, but it still is a skillset that not everyone has.
There are still plenty of corporate websites for even large multi bilion $$ companies that are not database driven. Sometimes, it just doesn't need a database. 400 pages clearly is too many... but I've seen sites developed with 40 static HTML pages. Maintenance is a pain, but it's more expedient to hire an HTML editor than to hire the staff to install, configure and maintain even a simple/FOSS CMS.
EOM
That is a significant point.
The architecture of the BlackBerry system requires all traffic going to a BlackBerry device from an Enterprise email server to go through RIM's NOCs -- all Americas email traffic goes go through the Canada NOC at some point, all EMEA traffic goes through their NOC in the UK. [reference]
While all the transmissions are encrypted end-to-end (to the point that the system has passed US-government security reviews for secure traffic), the transmission of a US President's data traffic through systems that are outside of US jurisdiction and government control can be tricky.
But then again, this gets eliminated if they go with any other wireless email device that does not use RIM's infrastructure; there are plenty, and they can be made to work.
n01, you're on the right track thinking about going with a publisher.
I used to run developer programs for a large US wireless carrier, and now do so for a large Latin American wireless carrier. In general, I encourage small Java ME developers not to bury themselves trying to negotiate with the carrier directly. Unless you have something extremely innovative or a brand that a mid-level product manager type in a wireless company can recognize, you're probably going to lose a lot of money, time and brain cells getting anyone who can launch your product at SprATiT-zon to respond to you. And say you DO get their attention: that's almost even worse, since coming up with some kind of content distribution agreement with a gigantic corporation will consume all your waking hours.
So start small, and grow from there depending on how your app does.
- Make sure the stuff works. You should start researching Mobile Publishers out now, but before you do, make sure your game is rock-solid on as many devices as possible.
- Work with a content porting service. There are companies that can help you make sure your game works on all these devices. One I know of that I can recommend (they used to be a development shop as well, they know the pain of the small developer) is Tira Wireless -- they have a program that can take your midlet and help you port it to the hundreds of devices you'll need to build the MIDlet for to get any traction: http://gomobile.tirawireless.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome
- Get your MIDlet run through a generic certification program like JavaVerified. Many operators require it, it is a very good basic quality test that meets about 96% of the requirements of any operator, and at least shows that you're serious. One company I've worked with that does a good job with that is NSTL (https://www.nstl.com/javaverified/gui/home_main.asp). The other labs that do Java Verified (RelQ, Babel, CapGemini) also have good reputations.
- Join the developer programs of operators worldwide you'd WANT to work with. It will give you a sense of whether or not they care about developers like you. Companies in English-speaking countries that I think are able/willing to work with smaller developers are AT&T, Orange, Sprint (the Nextel side), T-Mobile to a certain extent, and of course, we are (although I must say that you're probably not quite there yet to work with us, mostly due to language issues). Particularly, make sure you can that it is easy to get the data services you need for your application to work - since yours uses a data network, if it's tricky to get the service (or tricky for you as a developer to get it working) chances are you're going to be hitting a brick wall sooner rather than later. The forums on these sites will give you a good idea of where the pain points are for developers.
NOW, find a publisher.
There are a number Publishers or Aggregators that work with guys like you to get good game placement without trying to gouge you too badly. I will mention two that I have worked with and respect (and that have a good reputation), and that are of a size that would work well with what your game sounds like it does.
- Digital Chocolate - focuses on social mobile games. Good company to do business with from a carrier's perspective. http://www.digitalchocolate.com/
- Cellmania - they're an aggregator that also runs a number of storefronts for various operators worldwide. They do a good job putting apps on the long tail to see what happens with it. http://www.cellmania.com/content_providers/
IF YOU ARE SERIOUS about it, then do this. There is money to be made if your application really is good and different and sticky.
If you're not in a position or willing to spend some money on it up front, or to dedicate s
Since when did living in root ever become a "good thing"?
At around the same time that sarcasm detection became a necessary skill for a good sysadmin.
You're right, I didn't mention WinMobile. I have a blindspot to WinMobile -- I guess I've been in Java ME-land too long.
Generally speaking, I have seen either lot of crapware on WinMobile or good apps that are much more expensive than their Java ME counterparts (3X-5X). Basically, even though Microsoft is probably the best company out there in supporting developers, they haven't managed to create a hugeexcited developer ecosystem for the WinMobile platform for some reason. I think it's because of what you mention (too many different versions of the platform each of which changed the security model).
Most developers I've encountered who really understand mobile end up not liking WinMobile as a platform at the end -- it sounds like a great idea and the tools are slick, but the good tools cost $$$, the OS can be unstable and the devices are often more expensive, and Microsoft ends up mucking up the model a year later.
They end up putting up with Java ME (because even though the tools are more limited and pain-in-the-ass to work with, the platform is ubiquitous and readily available on inexpensive devices and the tools are free) or switch to BREW (because even though it costs money to join, there's almost guaranteed revenue coming from the people who are stuck with BREW-only devices).
Most of the folks I know who've gotten WinMobile devices for the purpose of getting apps on them seem to be happy (with the exception of WinMobile SmartPhone (not Pocket PC Phone edition) users, who tend to be unhappy because the platform allows the carrier to lock it down) -- at least happy in that they can get applications they download of the interwebs on their phone.
My experience is also that there are a huge number of fairly crappy/duplicative applications written for WinMobile, and that the good applications are somewhat expensive (but they are indeed good). There isn't a huge groundswell of open source WinMobile applications out there.
Basically -- if you're a developer, and you can pay for the .NET development tools or are comfortable working with the free C-based SDKs, then you'll probably like WinMobile. If you are simply looking to load casual apps on the device, this may or may not be the best choice depending on what apps you're talking about.
If you're in the US, two general choices:
Sprint will let you load pretty much any Java ME app that does not use protected APIs on your phone. For their CDMA phones, you'll need a special developer unlock to use protected APIs (easy to get). For their Nextel phones, you can sign any apps that use protected APIs using the iDEN SDK they have available. Visit their developer site (http://developer.sprint.com) and you'll find links to tools to do Over-the-air (or cable installs in the Nextel case) of Java apps on your phones.
Pretty much any GSM phone with Java ME you can use to download apps over the air. AT&T does not make this difficult, and lets you download applications over the air to any of their Java ME capable phones. If the application uses a protected API, you'll probably have to get it developer enabled as well -- their developer website (http://developer.att.com) should help you with what you need.
T-Mobile also has wide open phones for Java ME apps, as long as they're not using protected APIs.
For Verizon, you're SOL.
BlackBerry devices are all pretty open and you can install whatever you want on them as long as it's not locked up by your system administrator. The APIs are as rich as they come.
They play a Quebecois sitcom on France's TV5 network.
They play it with subtitles in French.
Because they don't have access card readers with smart chip cards to make sure that only vetted and authorized people can get through?
No surprise that TSA trusts these morons with national security... they trust themselves, don't they?
You're looking for this:
http://www.impatica.com/showmate/
Basically, it's a box about 2 inches square with a VGA output that you can either pair up with Bluetooth to a Blackberry, WinMobile or Symbian device, or that you can hook up via USB to one of said devices, and that basically runs your powerpoint show (which is on the mobile device) or shows what's on your screen.
Works well. No laptop.
Open Street Map has a good and growing base of data for the US. Plus they link in to open source or freeware applications that you can load on PDAs, GPS-enabled cell phones, laptops, etc to begin creating traces that can then be turned into map data.
Combine that with Open Source GIS software to query the data source and you're in business.
For this to work, you have to have a huge pool of people willing to drive a lot. Even the big map players (NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas) have problems keeping data up to speed, and they have an army of people driving around double-checking existing street grids.
I was a student in the first Java course taught at Cornell to undergrads -- CS 201 for non-majors, basically -- led by Professor Keshav Pingali. That's exactly how he structured the class -- throughout the class, we used Java OO concepts to build a virtual CPU that interpreted an assembly-like pseudo language that we had to use to learn about how the concepts behind low-level programming work (opcodes, registers, instruction pointers, etc).
So I got two things -- an (basic for a non-CS major) understanding of how computer software works, which has helped in my professional life, as well as skills in a programming which have gotten me the jobs I've had since graduation (even though I'm not a coder).
The issue is not the language that something is taught in, it's how that language is used to teach.
Seems like we're all trying to figure out what is a good hobbyist platform. So here are my thoughts, but any additional suggestions welcome:
.NET is well known
1. Low cost of entry -- if the hardware is expensive or the toolkits are expensive, it's not a good hobby tool
2. Ubiquity -- if the hardware is hard to find or only three people have it (and two of them are in Zagreb) it probably won't build a good community of enthusiasts
3. Plentiful and understandable documentation -- if information on it is hard to find or understand, you wouldn't learn about it to start with
4. Uses languages I already know -- why learn something new?
5. Vibrant community -- you want to feel part of something interesting, most of the time
6. Easy tools to use -- good for the non-coder just-get-it-done-so-that-I-can-show-my-buddies
7. Good tools to use -- good for the uber coder who just-get-it-done-so-that-I-can-show-my-buddies
8. Simple distribution -- I want to be able to share my apps with my friends or the world.
9. Path from hobby to profession -- making a living out of it!
Under these criteria, I'd rank major mobile platforms this way:
1 - Java ME (Ubiquitous on even low-cost cellphones with low cost data plans, easy to learn, low cost if you already have the phone, tools are free and some are even good, documentation is available although mas-o-menos, distribution is reasonably easy in most cases, path to profession is clear although bumpy. Java is well known.)
2 - WinMobile (Ubiquitous -- getting a cheap PocketPC these days isn't difficult, easy to learn if you have the good tools -- thought a pain if you use the free tools, great tools although the best are expensive!, documentation is plentiful, distribution is generally easy as long as you're not trying to hit SmartPhone platform, easy path to profession), community exists but probably not passionate [I went to a winmobile developer conference and the folks there looked as excited as someone waiting for a colonoscopy].
3 - Linux (if you can find a Zaurus on the cheap, and are already a Linux coder or can pick up *nix thinking, it's a good platform for making some very complete applications. Development tools are ubiquitous but can be hard to figure out for the beginner, but the community will help you out through building makefiles. path to profession on mobile linux limited given small range of devices, unless you're a consultant). C is well known. Other platforms (Python, Perl, ROR) are available, though not sure about the mobile side.
4- Symbian (devices are ubiquitous in europe, coding for it can suck, distribution can be tricky at best, but there's enough community support that it may be worthwhile, although if I were a hobbyist I'd try different things. C is well known but the API set I've heard is miserable.
5 - BlackBerry (Easy to find devices although service can be expensive, tools are great if you don't need a visual IDE (visual IDE costs more overall because you need a Blackberry enterprise server + MDS), documentation is very good, community is animated though smaller, path to profession is clear. Java, XHTML, ECMA script are well known.
6- Palm OS (easy to find cheap devices, no services required, tools are adequate, documentation is solid, not exactly great for quick throwaway apps though. C and Java ME available
7 - BREW: BREW is designed to discourage hobbyists. The point is to make it so that mobile operators only have to deal with pros or companies that put money into the bucket.
Any other thoughts?
I do mobile platform evangelism for a living -- I very much like hearing what people have to say about platforms and developing for them. But this was disappointing from any of the angles I look at it: if he actually did bother to do research, then we in the mobile space are doing a miserable job at educating the hobbyist (he obviously had a hard time finding the BlackBerry JDE or a clear enough explanation of Java ME that tells him that 90% of devices out there with Java ME are MIDP); if he didn't bother doing research, then it almost sounds like he went out of the way to prove that Windows Mobile is the way to go... and from my own experience, for the average hobbyist, WinMobile does the trick but only so far (i.e. good toolkits and APIs but only if you want to code in C, if you want to do .NET you've got to shell out for Visual Studio); if he really didn't try, then it says something worse about the person who thought this merited highlighting.
It may just say that the mobile space is really not targeting the hobbyist... should we change that?
If someone has actual experience in this, would much welcome reading it.
The problem was that it wasn't a piece of quality software. It offered to read and work with MS Office documents and failed in it. The spreadsheet program lacked basic functionality and keyboard commands that were common in 1999 when I first found myself having to use this with no alternatives other than going Windows. It crashed altogether too frequently. The database was awkward, the drawing program was a mess. Yes, I was able to write graduate school papers with it, but it couldn't even do basic things like handle footnotes and endnotes well.
When OpenOffice for Mac came out I flew far far away and never looked back.
Abandoning a miserable piece of software and just pretending it's ok is not quality.
Clarus the DogCow have a long-standing relationship of mutual disrespect. Claris the company provided some of Apple's best early software, including MacDraw and MacPaint and FileMake -- as well as the infamous turd known as AppleWorks.
"1989 - the legendary TechNote 31
In April 1989 Mark Harlan, with the help of Mark Johnson, wrote TechNote 31 as an April Fools' Day joke for Apple's developer community. It clarified certain matters regarding the Dogcow. Mark also revealed her real name: Clarus (a private joke about an internal Apple project named Claris that was terribly late at that time).
By now, Clarus was known outside of Apple labs and it seems that even Microsoft used her in an advertisement! Later Microsoft also used her in PowerPoint."
http://clarus.chez-alice.fr/ENGLISH/history.html
... when somebody holds a funeral and nobody comes?
... and I got my stories mixed up. Still a horrible phone call issue, but the .01 dollar and .01 cent was another person whose recording I can't find any more. Oh well.
Oh, and you think it's a joke...
.01 dollars and .01 cents and why his being quoted cents and being charged dollars made him upset.
An episode of "This American Life" provides a recorded version of an excrutiating series of phone calls between a hapless radio producer and MCI reps who did not understand the difference between
Lovely.
'nuff said.
I thought that was a strange choice of words for Rowling to use -- I'm sure there were other words that she could have given Molly to use that would have flowed with Rowling's previous insults. It just sounded too much like written for a screenplay rather than as her usual way of carrying that same kind of emotion without resorting to calling Bellatrix a BITCH (in all caps, too!).
Couldn't agree more. Usually, folks who are non-technical are often coming from either an MBA background or are using the jargon used by MBAs -- so instead of talking about RoR, LAMP and AJAX like you might, they're talking about ROI, NPV, IRR and APAC.
Thing is, what you would need to do to justify, for example, why the company should use a combination of Ruby on Rails and AJAX on a LAMP setup to build their next corporate website, you should talk about the return it can generate a good return on investment for the company by reducing the cost of software development and hardware by x amount, and that the x amount at an internal rate of return of y% generates a net present value of $z dollars -- with the added benefit that you get economies of scale by using technologies that are widely used in asia pacific (RoR) and that let the marketing folks do the visually appealing things that Google Maps can do.
It's about talking in the other people's language, really.