Robin Jewsbury's Forum Nokia Blog - Web Apps vs Mobile Apps - the debates begins!

The next step: HTTP server in the phone

jukkaekl — 2008-03-04T10:26:39Z

This "hot topic" also seems relevant regarding our Mobile Web Server.

Web apps on the phone could then directly contact other phones, imagine the possibilities?

One idea that also might work:
http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/peep-an-open-twitter-server

Re: Declining attractiveness of native apps?

robin.jewsbury — 2008-03-03T18:06:44Z

I see your point about native apps in 1998 (J2ME did not arrive until 2001). In 1998 the native apps were those been produced for phone manufacturers so not really relevant here.... perhaps the graph should have started in 2001.

But the point remains J2ME has disppointed in its fragmentation and other native app development (eg Symbian) has been too difficult.

Declining attractiveness of native apps?

mgroeber9110 — 2008-03-03T10:13:18Z

I am not sure if the graph is entirely fair in showing the attractiveness of native apps actually declining (unless you are talking about "relative" attractiveness, compared to other options) - the fast growth of the installed base of platforms like Symbian should actually increase their appeal to developers massively.-

Certainly, the idea that writing native apps for mobile devices was actually *more* appealing in the days of the Nokia 9000 is not quite borne out by the number of people that were actually doing it - back in the days of the GEOS operating system I remember there being only a handful of us that actually even tried our hands at this...

Anyway, the argument probably makes sense even if you chart it with an increasing attractiveness, starting from a fairly low point, but with the slop for Web-based apps having become considerably steeper in 2007, with the advent of the S60 OSS browser and the iPhone.