Comments on: Will developers embrace webOS? Not yet… http://www.pda-247.com/wordpress/2009/02/will-developers-embrace-webos-not-yet/ Intelligent Mobile Discussion Mon, 23 May 2011 18:43:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: James M. http://www.pda-247.com/wordpress/2009/02/will-developers-embrace-webos-not-yet/#comment-321 James M. Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:19:11 +0000 http://www.pda-247.com/wordpress/?p=1338#comment-321 I don't blame the developers for taking a "wait-and-see" approach. Let's be fair, there are plenty of early adopters who are out for the coolest-looking device, but don't actually install many third-party applications. Look at BlackBerry: The platform pre-Bold was actually pretty primitive. But people bought it because of the "corporate big-shot" halo and as the Pearl and Curve made the hardware more attractive. Only in the last 6-9 months have their hardware and software become truly compelling "total packages". And they STILL have an awful third-party ecosystem. iPhone didn't have third party apps for a year, and look how they dominated the market right out of the gate! Nowadays, most platforms come with all the fundamentals out of the box (e-mail, PIM, media player, etc.). These basics cover most of what buyers will ever use or care about. The Pre with webOS is no exception. The hardware and software are sexy as hell, and Synergy could be a really solid and compelling feature for non-tech-heads that differentiates the platform. As much as those of us surfing these sites and boards want to bring the success of a platform down to third-party software, that's what sustains a system over the long-term, not what takes a system off the ground with the general public. I think Palm has a great shot. I don't think it's a sure thing by a long shot, but I realize that my desires really don't reflect most of the people out there buying smartphones to show off and just make their lives moderately easier. I don’t blame the developers for taking a “wait-and-see” approach. Let’s be fair, there are plenty of early adopters who are out for the coolest-looking device, but don’t actually install many third-party applications. Look at BlackBerry: The platform pre-Bold was actually pretty primitive. But people bought it because of the “corporate big-shot” halo and as the Pearl and Curve made the hardware more attractive. Only in the last 6-9 months have their hardware and software become truly compelling “total packages”. And they STILL have an awful third-party ecosystem.
iPhone didn’t have third party apps for a year, and look how they dominated the market right out of the gate!
Nowadays, most platforms come with all the fundamentals out of the box (e-mail, PIM, media player, etc.). These basics cover most of what buyers will ever use or care about. The Pre with webOS is no exception. The hardware and software are sexy as hell, and Synergy could be a really solid and compelling feature for non-tech-heads that differentiates the platform.
As much as those of us surfing these sites and boards want to bring the success of a platform down to third-party software, that’s what sustains a system over the long-term, not what takes a system off the ground with the general public.
I think Palm has a great shot. I don’t think it’s a sure thing by a long shot, but I realize that my desires really don’t reflect most of the people out there buying smartphones to show off and just make their lives moderately easier.

]]> By: Edward Green http://www.pda-247.com/wordpress/2009/02/will-developers-embrace-webos-not-yet/#comment-310 Edward Green Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:38:09 +0000 http://www.pda-247.com/wordpress/?p=1338#comment-310 I think part of the issue is what will the WebOS do out of the box. A lot of the smaller classical Palm OS apps are not found on more web connected platforms. Others patch holes in the OS. With a good data connection and the meaty CPU using web-apps is going to me more of a reality on the Pre than it is even on the iPhone. Especially with copy and paste functionality. The apps that will be important for me will be from people like Dataviz, Adobe (Acrobat & Flash), Tom Tom, and of course Olive Tree (I need my NRSV). I think part of the issue is what will the WebOS do out of the box. A lot of the smaller classical Palm OS apps are not found on more web connected platforms. Others patch holes in the OS.

With a good data connection and the meaty CPU using web-apps is going to me more of a reality on the Pre than it is even on the iPhone. Especially with copy and paste functionality.

The apps that will be important for me will be from people like Dataviz, Adobe (Acrobat & Flash), Tom Tom, and of course Olive Tree (I need my NRSV).

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