Schiffres wrote: > Sorry if you were offended by my attempt to create a unified place > where people can express themselves about their Android wishes.
I am not "offended" so much as "disappointed". You have a lot of energy, which is excellent. Frittering away that energy through "reinventing the wheel" makes me sad. > Albeit, I maintain that having a much more informal and > conversational mirror of that list couldn't hurt, and would be a good > place for people to talk, learn, and jot down everything they can > think of (including things that they may not know how to write down > specifically enough to make it an "enhancement" or a "bug" on the > official list. For an ecosystem to succeed, there must be balance. This is true whether we are talking about ecosystems in nature, ecosystems in business, or ecosystems in human communities like this one. We already have the issue trackers, and many threads on this list (and [android-developers], to my general dismay) are focused on "Google should do X" and "T-Mobile should do Y" and "Android doesn't do Z, so Android is teh sux0r". That doesn't mean all those comments are irrelevant or wrong, just that we're drowning in them, particularly compared to posts and such depicting how the community is enhancing the value of Android, through apps, tools, components, evangelism, and, yes, firmware improvements. > (I've read most of the resources online and am looking for a > book or some hard copy reference source, however, it's interesting > that it was you who tried to shut me down because I checked out your > company and you guys make three Android development books which claim > to be good for even people who don't have previous knowledge of Java, > unbiasedly Hmmmm...I'll try to tighten the prose on that one page on the site. My books assume at least a basic level of Java experience, though not necessarily with any particular flavor (e.g., JavaME) or third-party class library. Thanks for pointing that out! > (I realize that it's your company so you have a conflict of > interest, and I also know I just put a parentheses in a parentheses in > this giant sentence) would you recommend these? You could do worse. ;-) Right now, the "big 3" are my series, _Professional Android Application Development_ by Reto Meier, and _Hello, Android_ by Ed Burnette (not to be confused with the SDK tutorial of the same name). I have not read Mr. Meier's book, but based on the feedback I've seen, it is probably pretty solid. Mr. Burnette's book is also good, particularly in coverage of 2D/3D graphics, which my series specifically lacks at this time. Note that my series and Mr. Burnette's book assume prior knowledge of Java-the-language, if not necessarily specific frameworks or class libraries beyond the basics (java.io, java.util, etc.). Mr. Meier's probably does too, but since I have not read it, I cannot say for certain. > and unfortunately don't own a G1 or > Android powered device so can't really write either the former or > application reviews. You could do application reviews via the SDK emulator, but I agree that it would be better to do them on a device. > Thus, while I'd love to "DO THE > WORK", and I fully understand and empathize with your frustration, > please realize that I am trying to help the platform in the only > manner I am currently capable of. Given what you write below, I'm no longer questioning what you do overall. > Furthermore, even though you stated > that I am "trying to start" these threads, in my opinion they have > been exceedingly successful and I have learned much from other members > of the community who were kind enough to share their insights and > knowledge, especially the Google engineers who have illuminated me to > how Android is seen and run within Google. Yes, that was poor phrasing on my part, and for that I apologize. > Finally, I would be very interested in any other ways you can think of > for someone in my position to help improve Android besides learning, > reading, promoting, offering feedback and making suggestions, and > working on developing applications? That would seem like plenty for somebody who also presumably has other matters to attend to outside of Android. However, I offer a couple of suggestions: 1. If you haven't done so already, make a "home" for your efforts, such as a blog that you register with Planet Android. Doing lots of things is good, but doing lots of things that *visibly* add up is that much better. Since we don't know what it is you all do, it is up to you to provide that visibility. 2. Ask questions first. Admittedly, that's sometimes hard on discussion lists, and I am as guilty of not asking questions as is the next guy. It also may be I missed the post where you asked "hey, is there a good central spot for coordinating feature requests and the like?". If nothing else, hopefully we would have let you know about the issue trackers and perhaps engaged you in a debate on whether any mailing list is the best vehicle for orchestrating a desired-feature list. Again, if you posted such a query and I missed it, I apologize. > As a larger question to any > Google engineer who happens to be reading this discussion, would > Google take a highschooler for a summer internship, for I feel that > working inside I could be much more productive through increasing > communication and other internal functions. Specifically, any > opportunity in the New York City area. IANAGNDIPOOTV (I Am Not A Googler, Nor Do I Play One On TV). However, I seem to recall that either they opened up Google Summer of Code to high school students or created a parallel program for them -- have you seen any evidence of this? There might be some opportunities there. I sure hope the core Android team has filed a GSoC request and, if needed, will ask the community for mentoring help. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com Android App Developer Training: http://commonsware.com/training.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
