Software architect working in Symbian/S60 area since 2000 and still being enthusiastic about mobility. Please visit my introduction page on Forum Nokia Champions web page.
tote_b5 | 20 August, 2008 23:57
In response to the article I found on Forbes.com, Nokia Software Problem,
let me collect my remarks on the statements in a single post. The list
of statements below simply follows the same order as they appeared in
the original article.
"Nokia sells close to half of all smart phones worldwide"
Well, around 70% would be more accurate, but then it couldn't have been said that "close to half".
"N95's only edge was in watching video"
Hmm,
let me smile at it. I think GPS, 5 megapixel camera, WiFi, etc. also
come in handy every now and then. These things were all new in a Nokia
device at the time when N95 was introduced and although Nokia might not
have been the first in introducing them, the point is that video was not the only thing users could enjoy.
"Symbian is not dead, but it has a limited amount of time to act to capture developer mind share before it is too late,"
I don't know how many times I wrote this on various forums: developing for a Symbian-based device does NOT mean pure Symbian/C++ development. On the contrary, the range of possibilities is much wider: you can program in Flash (Lite), Java (Mobile), Python (for S60/UIQ), (Open) C, Widgets, .NET, NS Basic,
etc. My question is not solely addressed to Apple: is there any other
manufacturer in the world who can compete with this at this very
moment? Is it the not-closed-but-not-too-open-either Apple who although
enables Objective-C development, but nothing else? For example, Java,
which is not only available on all other
platforms, but also the primary language for 3d-party development on
Android? Not as if I had heard too many good things on iPhone developer
support, but are they really the ones who will save the world?
"Applications written for the iPhone, by contrast, will run on every iPhone."
Ehh,
typically naive, beginner approach. I wouldn't write an article if I
were such a beginner, though. How many iPhone models can we talk about
at the moment? Two. There's a rumour on Apple introducing iPhone Nano
still this year and I bet that that device would introduce variation
both in hardware (e.g. screen size) and software. And having spent
almost a decade with mobile software development, I can tell you that
software development becomes exponentially more complex with the
introduction of variations. I think we should get back to this question
in 1-2 years time-frame and then we'll see how programs written for old
models will work on new ones and vice versa.
"Carriers here have been loath to give Nokia much love over the years"
Yeah, this one is a hit on the nail. I find it very interesting
how much North-American carriers favour US phone manufacturers (Palm,
Microsoft, Apple) and Canadians (RIM). It is one of the root causes (if
not THE) why Nokia has failed to successfully enter North-American
market.
As to developing software for mobile platforms, it's
worth noting that it's becoming more and more popular to rely on a thin
client software responsible mainly for the User Interface, while
storing data and implementing heavy business logic on a remote server.
So often, the thin client is a browser or an application capable of
providing "browser-like" behavior. This is something iPhone, the latest
Nokia S60 phones, Windows Mobile are (and the newcomer Android will be)
good at. And lots of people say that this architecture is the most
suitable solution for cross-(mobile)platform software.
In my
opinion, it's too early to talk about the dethronement of Nokia by
Apple and RIM. Just count the number of phones sold, how many models
various manufacturers have on market, how long has a manufacturer been
on market, etc. and we'll have just the right amount of information ...
to be silent. The author of the
article fails to see that global market is not equal to American
market, over-emphasizes the importance of Silicon Valley and can't
think of the possibility that these platforms, devices, manufacturers
can co-exist with one another.
Otherwise the article was good,
Tote :)
mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com
Software architect working in Symbian/S60 area since 2000 and still being enthusiastic about mobility. Please visit my introduction page on Forum Nokia Champions web page.