I think it's important we stop thinking of a computing device's operating system as the defining factor of a gadget. This was true in the mid 90s, but today, when you are talking about anything that isn't a PC, the operating system is an implementation detail. What matters to consumers is the user interface (the graphical shell on top of the OS), and the apps they can run on it.
Apple determined that they could build their own UI and get enough developers to learn Objective-C that they would have a good sized ecosystem of apps. Clearly, they were right. Palm has chosen a modified Linux distro, but again that's an implementation detail. They created their own new UI shell using a card metaphor, and they are exposing the OS as JavaScript APIs, under the assumption that there are enough people who know Javascript already to fill up their platform with apps. I highly suspect they are right as well. Google created their own heavily modified linux derivative and Java derivative to build a multi-device OS. They are counting on the ecosystem of Java developers + Google's name to fill their platform with apps. In all of these cases the actual OS is irrelevant. No end user today cares what their OS is. They care what apps they can run on their device. No one cares what OS is inside the Kindle (it's a JavaME implementation, btw.) Closer to home, the goal of JavaFX is to create a uniform platform for graphically rich apps. Any JavaFX app can run on any JavaFX implementation, regardless of the underlying OS. This is the 21st century. The OS is a commodity now. PCs are a special case but even they are moving in this direction with netbooks that come preloaded with most of the software you'd want, plus a good webbrowser. In the future the OS is simply an implementation detail. What matters are the apps. On Jun 12, 2009, at 7:52 AM, Viktor Klang wrote: > I really like Palm, both the company and their products. But I think > they made a mistake with launching yet another OS. > If I could install Android on the Pre I'd buy it in an instant! > > Viktor, > Scala Loudmouth > > 12 jun 2009 kl. 16.35 Joshua Marinacci <[email protected]> skrev: > >> I don't know. Palm has some really great people on board. They >> basically had the iPhone with the Treo if they had continued to >> develop it instead of letting it sit for 5 years. Fortunately their >> new CEO is the guy who made them scrap everything and build the >> Pre, so I'd say they have a bright future ahead of them. >> >> - Josh >> >> >> On Jun 12, 2009, at 7:32 AM, Viktor Klang wrote: >> >>> Aside from iPhone I'd expect it to become the largest smartphone OS. >>> >>> Time will tell wether I'm right or not ;) >>> >>> Viktor, >>> Scala Loudmouth >>> >>> 12 jun 2009 kl. 16.20 Joshua Marinacci <[email protected]> skrev: >>> >>>> Are there that many apps already? Android is still a very new >>>> platform as well. Palm is building a device where they control >>>> the entire user experience. They would adopt Android over their >>>> own technology only if there were huge compelling technical >>>> advantages, or a tremendous amount of apps and market adoption. I >>>> don't know if that's the case. If the Pre were coming out 2 years >>>> from now the story might be different, but today they went with >>>> the simplest way to access the largest group of developers: >>>> JavaScript. As a developer on a competing platform (JavaFX) I >>>> certainly hope they will allow richer applications in the future >>>> using better a better platform than JavaScript (since they >>>> already have a JVM), but I completely understand why they went >>>> with pure JavaScript. >>>> >>>> Is there something that compelling about Android that I'm missing? >>>> >>>> - Josh >>>> >>>> On Jun 12, 2009, at 6:49 AM, Viktor Klang wrote: >>>> >>>>> I'd argue that being able to tap into the growing number of >>>>> Android apps would be better than having to rely on people to >>>>> rewrite apps for a rather small market (Palm Pre). >>>>> It's really all about being able to increase adoption rate by >>>>> offering a rich platform at launch. >>>>> >>>>> Viktor, >>>>> Scala Loudmouth >>>>> >>>>> 12 jun 2009 kl. 15.27 Joshua Marinacci <[email protected]> skrev: >>>>> >>>>>> I'm not sure why you think it was a bad decision to not use >>>>>> Android? Their current solution lets anyone who knows >>>>>> JavaScript write apps for the platform? While it may be limited >>>>>> compared to other technologies it gives them the widest number >>>>>> of developers. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Jun 12, 2009, at 12:03 AM, Viktor Klang wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 8:56 AM, Joshua Marinacci <[email protected] >>>>>>> > wrote: >>>>>>> Why us that? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Developers, developer, developers developers... >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> - Josh, on the go >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Jun 11, 2009, at 11:56 PM, Viktor Klang <[email protected] >>>>>>> > wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I'm loving the unit, the design and hardware, but in my mind >>>>>>>> it was a rather bad decision _not_ to use Android. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 4:11 AM, RogerV <[email protected]> >>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> One of my developers already has the Palm PRE. I like it. >>>>>>>> Well, for >>>>>>>> one, I do a lot of email so a physical keyboard would be a >>>>>>>> premium >>>>>>>> item for me. I tried out the PRE slide out keyboard and was >>>>>>>> able to do >>>>>>>> well with it. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Otherwise, very iPhone-ish experience. The browser has pinch >>>>>>>> gestures >>>>>>>> for zoom much like iPhone Safari. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I like the size better than iPhone too. A wee bit more >>>>>>>> compact but >>>>>>>> perhaps with a bit more thickness than iPhone. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> This individual already had the PRE's imap email client >>>>>>>> hooked up to >>>>>>>> suck email off our corporate Exchange server. Our Exchange >>>>>>>> server has >>>>>>>> HTTPS Internet web access, but just by entering that URL, he >>>>>>>> was able >>>>>>>> to configure the client to do imap with Exchange. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> This individual also says it can connect to iTunes and that >>>>>>>> he can >>>>>>>> download content - I was not aware that Apple permitted non- >>>>>>>> Apple >>>>>>>> clients to connect to the iTunes service. Hmm. That's a >>>>>>>> biggie. Of >>>>>>>> course there's some sort of Palm store too. Perhaps Amazon >>>>>>>> can be >>>>>>>> hooked up as well. Not sure on that... >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> And there's an app on there called SprintTV. Not sure if this >>>>>>>> comes >>>>>>>> bundled with Sprint service plan or if is an extra cost >>>>>>>> option. Didn't >>>>>>>> get into any of the particulars about service plans. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I rather liked this phone. Hope it does well. Am tempted to >>>>>>>> dump my >>>>>>>> Blackberry Perl, is just that the company pays for the >>>>>>>> blackberry and >>>>>>>> its service plan. If I got a PRE, I'd be on my own. Same with >>>>>>>> iPhone, >>>>>>>> though. So I stay in my Blackberry rut. Course can't knock >>>>>>>> the berry >>>>>>>> when it comes to corporate email, which is my life. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> Viktor Klang >>>>>>>> Scala Loudmouth >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> Viktor Klang >>>>>>> Scala Loudmouth >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. 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