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Friday, March 07, 2008

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Some Random Mobile Musings

- Rob Bushway
Here are some random things going through my head as I ponder the mobile pc space:

37Signals has a great write-up on Apple's iPhone SDK "What we saw today was the beginning of two-decades of mobile domination by Apple. What Microsoft and Windows was to the desktop, Apple and Touch will be to mobile. " I especially love this comment from Kevin: "I completely agree as well. This is Apple’s second chance. While Microsoft may have won in the desktop market, the next generation of computing is upon us. After watching today’s event, more than ever I feel that mobile computing is the next big thing… perhaps even bigger than desktop computing. As you said, there’s currently no clear leader and Apple has all the pieces needed to make it to the top. This is going to be exciting."
I purchased an Objective-C programming book last night - still can't download the iPhone SDK from Apple's servers - still getting hammered on download requests. Amazing
What kind of process is Apple going to apply to determine who gets listed on their Apple App Store and who gets left off? Obviously they won't let SIM breaking utilities? Where is the line and what kind of objective / subjective reasoning are they going to apply? That is concerning to me as a developer. By the way - Apple's 30% cut seems awfully high. I don't know that it is, but it seems high to me as a developer. Along those lines, why will iPod Touch users have to pay for the new June release that will allow SDK support and Exchange support ( iPhone 2.0 )? Didn't they just pay for an update a couple of months ago? Good way to show love....
Absolutely loving EverNote's Web Notetaking / syncing beta - Warner will have much more to share on that later. My short impression - it is a game changer for mobile notetaking that addresses cross-platform notetaking. I'm looking forward to their Mac and iPhone version. I'm quite tempted to switch from OneNote to EverNote....What is OneNote going to do to get seamless syncing with the web?
As a web developer, where do I need to be focusing my programming efforts?
Rugged Tablet PCs and rugged notebooks seem to be getting a lot more focus these days? Is Field Force the vertical to hone in on? What are the application needs?
Is thin and light really that important?
The tablet pc OEM space is awfully quiet...why?
There is a clear move to focus on mobile computing - that's gotta be good for everything that we talk about here.
What are our readers getting excited about? Where do they see the most potential for there business?
I so totally love InkSeine and think it is one of the best things to happen to the Tablet PC software space in several years. What is Microsoft going to do with it?
Why do great tablet pcs like Motion's F5 and Dell's Latitude XT need to cost so much? They are totally awesome Tablet PCs that would sell like hotcakes if the price was right. How many folks would buy an F5 or XT if they cost $1500? Why is an already out of day Shift priced at $1629? Why are we still talking about cost five years after the cost conversation started? What's up with that?

3/7/2008 8:01 AM MST

Some Random Mobile Musings Comments [4] | Digg This | del.icio.us | Citations

Friday, March 07, 2008 8:46:38 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

As much as I hate Apple, I'm happy they're finally showing some love for Exchange users and 3rd party developers.

Also, I completely agree with your thoughts on cost and the thin/light discussion. Personally, I suspect that the thin/light obsession is related to the obsession with "super models". Plus, Apple says it's important with iPhone and MacBook Air, and they would never exaggerate for profit, right? But look at MBA's pricing... even it demonstrates your point about cost.

I agree with your first point as well, however-- and this is a biggie-- I stand by my conclusion that Apple *MUST* learn to be more flexible. Eventually people will realize that Apple's one-size-fits-all approach to interfaces isn't as appealing as they think right now. It's attractive because it's different and it's simple, but eventually people are going to want more and more advanced things... (like copy/paste or replacing their battery, for example...)

GoodThings2Life

Friday, March 07, 2008 8:51:33 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

Oh, and I'll also add that the terms for the 30% cut for Apple seems outrageous to me. As a developer, that seems very unattractive when I can develop for Windows Mobile and not have these hassles.

GoodThings2Life

Friday, March 07, 2008 1:15:59 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

RE: Evernote.

I too am thinking about switching from OneNote, a switch that I never thought would enter my mind. I am disappointed in the progress or improvements for ON Mobile, and am frustrated by feeling as if I am running some orphaned Palm program.

Looking forward to Warner's comments/show.

lark

Friday, March 07, 2008 5:26:27 PM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)

If you want bargains avoid Apple products. Apple has positioned their products as premium items. I've read a lot of whining about the MBA's price and nothing about the Lenovo ThinkPad X300's price. As long as Jobs is in charge Apple will emphasize simplicity over flexibility and complexity.

Virtuous

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