my initial analysis is that this would be a very bad decision for
jphone/vodaphone, at least in japan, b/c by adhering to the standard j2me
midp spec, along with au, it makes it easier for developers to role out a
jphone/au (midp) app (which, considering market share, are usually
developed after i-applis). however, if jphone breaks from midp, developers
(after developing iappli), would then have to decide which platform to
target next, jphone or au, based on market share. if au has a slight lead,
this could spell disaster for jphone, as developers would consider
developing a jphone-version of their app last.
i think that jphone and au's current approach of both supporting the
standard midp together is beneficial to developers in japan and outside, as
they can currently release for both platforms (nearly) simultaneously and
(almost) without modifying code. furthermore, if jphone and au's combined
subscriber base passes docomo, then developers may consider developing for
midp first and docomo (doja) second. if jphone splits now, jphone and au
will always be 2nd or 3rd to get the best mobile java apps.
besides, the only reason why developers struggle with docomo java now is
because docomo has #1 market share. developers prefer standards. if
jphone splits, who's going to want to develop proprietary applications for
a provider who is #2 with little market share?
last, if docomo ever decides to adopt midp (i feel that they *should*
support both doja and midp api's in their next release, to move towards
adopting the standard while still supporting legacy doja apps), then jphone
would be dead in the water.
sorry for all my rambling, but as a developer, this is a very sensitive issue.
anyway, i've always been a strong supporter of java, but i'm becoming very
disappointed at sun that they're allowing docomo and now, possibly jphone,
to break from the standard. java *was* supposed to be write-once, run-anywhere.
have a great weekend! :)
At 22:08 02/08/02 -0700, you wrote:
>This article seems very pre-mature but if this is correct I believe that
>this might be a trend for more Java J2ME market segmentation for the sake
>of being proprietary. I will inspect this technology if I get a chance
>to see this. I hope someone from J-PHONE or Vodoaphone can comment on this
>
>--Jay
> Does anyone know if this is the first Java Market Segmentation in the
> J2ME specifictions ?
> tek1 <tek1@pobox.com> wrote:
>fyi
>
>http://www.nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/199504
Received on Sat Aug 3 09:30:24 2002