There is a 'slim' possibility that the 'native' SDK will end up being DASHCODE objects accessing native methods.
You never know. Bill On Oct 18, 2:23 pm, "Christopher Allen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Very interested post by Chris Messina, who was one of the organizers > of > iPhoneDevCamphttp://factoryjoe.com/blog/2007/10/17/did-the-web-fail-the-iphone/ > > -- Christopher Allen > > Did the web fail the iPhone? > > TWITTER: @factoryjoe: wait, so all of these "web apps" people have > invested time and money in are now second-class citizens? -- Ian > MacKellar > > Ian might be right, but not because of Steve's announcement today > about opening up the iPhone. > > Indeed, my reaction so far has been one of quasi-resignation and > disappointment. > > A voice inside me whimpers, "Don't give up on the web, Steve! Not yet!" > > You have to understand that when I got involved in helping to plan > iPhoneDevCamp, we didn't call it iPhoneWebDevCamp for a reason. As far > as we knew, and as far as we could see into the immediate future, the > web was the platform of the iPhone (Steve Jobs even famously called > Safari the iPhone's SDK). > > The hope that we were turning the corner on desktop-based applications > was palpable. By keeping the platform officially closed, Apple brought > about a collective channeling of energy towards the development of > efficient and elegant web interfaces for Safari, epitomized by Joe > Hewitt's iPhone Facebook App (started as a project around > iPhoneDevCamp and now continued on as iUI by Christopher Allen, > founder of the iPhoneWebDev group). > > And we were just getting started. > > ...So the questions on my mind today are: was this the plan all along? > Or, was Steve forced into action by outside factors? > > If this were the case all along, I'd be getting pretty fed up with > these kind of costly and duplicitous shenanigans. For godsake, Steve > could at least afford to stop being so contradictory! First he lowers > the price of the iPhone months after releasing it, then drops the > price of DRM-free tracks (after charging people to "upgrade their > music"), and now he's promising a software SDK in February, pledging > that an "open" platform "is a step in the right direction" (after > bricking people's phones and launching an iPhone WebApps directory, > seemingly in faux support of iPhone Web App developers). > > Now, if this weren't in the plan all along, then Apple looks like a > victim of the promise - and hype - of the web as platform. (I'll > entertain this notion, while keeping in mind that Apple rarely changes > direction due to outside influence, especially on product strategy.) > > Say that everything Steve said during his keynote were true and he > (and folks at Apple) really did believe that the web was the platform > of the future - most importantly, the platform of Apple's future - > this kind of reversal would have to be pretty disappointing inside > Apple as well. Especially considering their cushy arrangement with > Google and the unlikelihood that Mac hardware will ever outsell PCs > (so long as Apple has the exclusive right to produce Mac hardware), it > makes sense that Apple sees its future in a virtualized, connected > world, where its apps, its content and its business is made online and > in selling thin clients, rather than in the kind of business where > Microsoft made its billions, selling dumb boxes and expiring licenses > to the software that ran on them. > > If you actually read Apple's guide for iPhone content and application > development, you'd have to believe that they get the web when they > call for: > > Understanding User-iPhone Interaction > Using Standards and Tried-and-True Design Practices > Integrating with Phone, Mail, and Maps > Optimizing for Page Readability > Ensuring a Great Audio and Video Experience (while Flash is not supported) > These aren't the marks of a company that is trying to embrace and > extend the web into its own proprietary nutshell. Heck, they even > support microformats in their product reviews. It seems so badly that > they want the web - the open web - to succeed given all the rhetoric > so far. Why backslide now? > > Well, to get back to the title of this post, I can't but help feel > like the web failed the iPhone. > > For one thing, native apps are a known quantity for developers. There > are plenty of tools for developing native applications and interfaces > that don't require you to learn some arcane layout language that > doesn't even have the concept of "columns". You don't need to worry > about setting up servers and hosting and availability and all the > headaches of running web apps. And without offering "services in the > cloud" to make web application hosting and serving a piece of cake, > Apple kind of shot itself in the foot with its developers who again, > aren't so keen on the ways of the web. > > Flipped around, as a proponent of the web, even I can admit how > unexciting standard interfaces on the web are. And how much work and > knowledge it requires to compete with the likes of Adobe's AIR and > Microsoft's SilverLight. I mean, us non-proprietary web-types rejoice > when Safari gets support for CSS-based rounded corners and the ability > to use non-standard typefaces. SRSLY? The latter feature was specified > in 1998! What took so long?! > > No wonder native app developers aren't crazy about web development for > the iPhone. Why should they be? At least considering where we're at > today, there's a lot to despise about modern web design and to despair > about how little things have improved in the last 10 years. > > And yet, there's a lot to love too, but not the kind of stuff that > makes iPhone developers want to abandon what's familiar, comfortable, > safe, accessible and hell, sexy. > > It's true, for example, that with the web you get massive > distribution. It means you don't need a framework like Sparkle to keep > your apps up-to-date. You can localize your app in as many languages > as you like, and based on your web stats, can get a sense for which > languages you should prioritize. With protocols like OpenID and OAuth, > you get access to all kind of data that won't be available solely on a > user's system (especially when it comes to the iPhone which dispenses > with "Save" functionality) as well a way to uniquely identify your > customers across applications. And you get the heightened probability > that someone might come along and look to integrate with or add value > to your service via some kind of API, without requiring any additional > download to the user's system. And the benefits go on. But you get the > point. > > Even still, these benefits weren't enough to sway iPhone developers, > nor, apparently, Steve Jobs. And to the degree to which the web is > lacking in features and functionality that would have allowed to Steve > to hold off a little longer, there is opportunity to improve and > expand upon what I call the collection of "web primitives" that > compose the complete palette of interaction options for developers who > call the web their native platform. The simple form controls, the > lightboxes, the static embedded video and audio, the moo tools and > scriptaculouses... they still don't stack up against native (read: > proprietary) interface controls. And we can do better. > > We must to do better! We need to improve what's going inside the > browser frame, not just around it. It's not enough to make a > JavaScript compiler faster or even to add support for SVG (though it > helps). We need to define, design and construct new primitives for the > web, that make it super simple, straight-forward and extremely > satisfying to develop for the web. I don't know how it is that web > developers have for so long put up with the frustrations and > idiosyncrasies of web application development. And I guess, as far as > the iPhone goes, they won't have to anymore. > > It's a shame really. We could have done so much together. The web and > the iPhone, that is. We could have made such sweet music. Especially > when folks realize that Steve was right and developing for Safari is > the future of application development, they'll have wished that they > had invested in and lobbied for richer and better tools and interfaces > for what will inevitably become the future of rich internet > application development and, no surprise, the future of the iPhone and > all its kin. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iPhoneWebDev" 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/iphonewebdev?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
