First Look At Palm's Mojo SDK 128
snydeq writes "Peter Wayner puts Palm's Mojo SDK through its paces and finds the general outline of the system solid and usable despite 'numerous rough edges and dark, undocumented corners.' The main draw, of course, is the reliance on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which lower the barriers to entry, though with Mojo, HTML and JavaScript do at times work against each other, with JavaScript occasionally 'wiping out anything you do with HTML.' But more than anything, Wayner sees the current version of Mojo as 'merely the start of access to a very fertile platform. 'Developers are actively digging into the Linux foundations of the Pre and finding they can build tools that work with the raw guts of the machine. Some are talking about writing Java services underneath,' Wayner writes, pointing to sites such as PalmOpenSource.com and PreCentral.net that are cataloging dozens of apps that come complete with the source code. 'I know people are doing similar things with the iPhone — such as selling the source to people who must install it themselves — but the entire scene emerging around Palm has a much more organic and creative vibe. It's not getting hung up on parsing and reparsing the App Store rules.'"
Like with the original Palm OS (Score:4, Insightful)
Seems like it was this same type of development culture that helped to launch the first Palm Pilots to popularity.
What the hell? (Score:2, Insightful)
I know people are doing similar things with the iPhone â" such as selling the source to people who must install it themselves â" but the entire scene emerging around Palm has a much more organic and creative vibe.
What does this even mean? Are we measuring mobile phones against each based on "vibes" now? And how is doing the same thing on a different device somehow more creative?
Real programming/scripting language (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What the hell? (Score:2, Insightful)
What does this even mean? Are we measuring mobile phones against each based on "vibes" now? And how is doing the same thing on a different device somehow more creative?
I think what was meant is a reference to the developers' [demonstrated] willingness to listen to the community's developers, along with the overall design of the operating system which is drastically different from the massively popular contender: the iPhone. If you read the palm developer website, it appears much friendlier and more open than anything I've seen on the iPhone website.
As for your comment, when phones can do very nearly anything our laptops / netbooks can do, then yes, I would measure a phone based on its "vibe." It's not so much -what- is being done, but how it is done that makes it different.
[Cue the "vibe" jokes]
Re:Like with the original Palm OS (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm just curious why the Android OS doesn't get this level of love and affection from the mainstream.. yeah, the G1 isn't as sleek/sexy as the new Palm... just the same, the OS/platform is at least as interesting. Not to mention even more open.
The key is striking the right balance [in the public's eye] between closed and open source. Yes, the G1 is even more open, but is it too open? Also, what language is required to program the G1? I've never heard anything about it aside from ads and comments saying "Open source!!11!" This system leads with its strengths: design, programming, and the Palm name. Google isn't known for their phones. Palm is.
Re:What the hell? (Score:3, Insightful)
Does that mean in future:
iphone == 95%
Palm Pre == 1%
Re:Simplicity is Complex (Score:3, Insightful)
Your post is pure FUD. The bottleneck in any application worth writing isn't actually laying out the widgets on the page. Also, I can't see why using a graphical HTML editor if you were so inclined would be out of the question.
It's not how many "languages" or "syntaxes" one needs to learn that counts, but the complexity of the whole system. The system complexity is roughly comparable, and if anything, favors the Pre. Objective C is still an esoteric language; HTMl, Javascript, and CSS have been universal for 15 years.
Re:Simplicity is Complex (Score:2, Insightful)
That doesn't make it any better.
Re:How will this Help Palm? (Score:4, Insightful)
But I digress. All of my iPhone owning friends have played with my Pre for a bit and have conceded that it is indeed a decent rival, technically speaking, to the iPhone, but the conversation didn't stop there. Pretty much all of them agreed that their current iPhone would be the last one they own. Why? A few reasons. Some feel the hardware's appearance is beginning to look dated, especially compared to the Pre and HTC Hero, others are sick of waiting for a decent multitasking solution for it, which both Android and WebOS already have, some are sick of AT&T's horrible network, and still others are just tired of being forced into using iTunes, which in recent years has become an immensely bloated app in it's own right.
Admittedly, none of these people are Apple fanatics, though some do own Apple computers. Their primary reasons for using an iPhone, as I said, were because until recently, there wasn't much in the way of competition that could even approach the iPhone's usefulness and usability. I'll be the first to admit that my personal friends, family, and acquaintances are likely far removed from the average cross-section of iPhone owners, but they brought up valid points, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the next iteration of the iPhone doesn't sell nearly as well unless Apple begins looking into some pretty big ways of updating the device, something they failed to do with the 3GS imo. It's kind of telling when WebOS, which is still very much in it's infancy, is already being seen as a legitimate threat to the iPhone by CNet and others, even though Apple has had such a huge head start with both their OS and hardware, and that in a similar time span, Android has gone from a crawl to a run, with each new OS update bringing tons of new features, and with handset manufacturers building some amazingly slick interfaces on top of it.
Re:Like with the original Palm OS (Score:3, Insightful)
Palm Computing invented worthwhile handheld computing. The Newton had its uses, but it was strictly for nerds. The Palm Pilot was the first pocket computer useful to suits. Graffiti was the first pen-recognition system worth using. Apple has done a lot to change things, but to a lot of people a PDA will always be a Palm Pilot.
Re:How will this Help Palm? (Score:3, Insightful)
They do once they ask why they can't use their phone for proper instant messaging, file sharing, streaming music, or any of a dozen other things you might want to use a 3G-connected smartphone for.