Software application development
This blog is intended to provoke discussion and exchange between like minded software application developers, engineers, architects, project managers - and keen hobbyists too.
Friday 30 November 2007, 10:23 AM
Mobile mushrooms for the masses
I blogged recently on the subject of the infuriating ‘downward scrolling’ ad that makes the use of hotmail for UK users about as pleasurable as getting stuck in a lift with (insert personal despised celebrity) – and was reminded again of the mushrooming nature of these ‘invasive’ ads last week as I dropped into an event to discuss next-gen mobile usage patterns.
Personally, for me, the opportunity for mobile messaging to start carrying ads is not good news. But then, I don’t live and breathe with my mobile as some do and recognise that I am now too old to develop anything but a passing fondness for my trusty Treo 650.
So forget my opinion – what does this industry think? Well, we’re moving to a point where globally we will see over three billion mobile units in peoples’ hands and this is contrast to a mere one billion PCs. So there is a certain inevitability for web access to spiral upwards on mobiles here isn’t there?
According to Geraldine Wilson, Yahoo!’s vice president for its Connected Life business in Europe the top four determining factors for mobile web access are:
1 – FREEDOM: people want to go anywhere and use their phones to access the web and keep their ‘cyber-dependency’ levels topped up (this actually does include me too).
2 – COST: connected gets cheaper all the time right?
3 – SPEED OF CONNECTION: also improving all the time.
4: FORM FACTOR: devices get better, work better and allow us to access the web better – simple, no argument there.
Flat rates for home and office broadband usage have boosted web usage to previously unimagined levels. Whole cities (or at least parts of them) are going wireless. The momentum is with us. Many argue that the same momentum is building for mobile.
“There have been many false dawns for Internet on the mobile device, but I believe we will look back on 2007 as things (across all four of the top determining factors) were really kick started,” said Yahoo!’s Wilson.
I can see shifts in the way technologies for mobile are developed taking on a new level of seasoning. Yes of course, it’s about optimising applications within the mobile device for an on-the-go web experience. But it’s also about making sure all applications are developed with an inherent embodiment of monetisation to make them commercially viable. Damn! I’m back to ads again. Maybe we’ll have to learn with a certain level of this if we want to use the web on the go.
I think you have to argue that things are moving now. If you want to read more about developing applications with refinements for mobile (that go beyond more fundamental considerations such as screen size and battery life) and that refine search for mobile with methodologies that we did not employ a decade ago (even if we did know about some of them) then you can visit http://mobile.yahoo.com/go
Wednesday 28 November 2007, 9:20 AM
Babies, burps and sat-nav software
I took a day out yesterday to visit my newly born niece just 25 hours after she decided it was time to arrive into the world. This meant leaving leafy Surrey for the day and negotiating a few chunks of the A31 on the way down to Dorset. Sat, as you do, listening to the rants of the lady in the satellite navigation system, is it just me that thinks this software could be better?
I imagine most of us have been in a car with one of these things and enjoyed playing the – “I know a faster way to go than the computer does so I’m going to annoy the hell out it by taking a detour” – game. She insists on U-turns, diversions and complete circuits of every roundabout in sight until the system sees that you’re heading in something resembling the right direction again. Shouldn’t awareness of the driver’s local knowledge through some degree of artificial intelligence (AI) be part of the next iteration of these units?
We nearly missed a few turn offs in Bournemouth as her directions are way early on some turns and non-existent on others. If we could programme the system to incorporate attentiveness (or annoyance) level and also embrace the knowledge of whether the driver has been to an area beforehand, then it would make the instructions given more appropriate wouldn’t it? Again, I would argue that this is a type of AI.
Would it be a case of technology over-engineering to elevate these systems, or do you think it would be a good thing? I don’t know, there are many who would argue that a map and a Mars bar are equally worthy travelling accoutrements. Anyway, welcome to the world Millie and thanks for all the burps!
Monday 26 November 2007, 2:44 PM
Techno-Economics
I haven’t spent much time reading the Economist since I studied the subject for my degree. Somehow chipsets, software and keyboards appealed to me rather more in the long run than the doubtless worthy teachings of Adam Smith, Milton Friedman or John Maynard-Keynes. However, when I caught sight this week of an Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by Oracle I was briefly tempted back into the fold.
Entitled “Corporate software strategies: Maximising value, mitigating risk” - this is a new piece of research that comes up with a very broad macro-level set of ‘revelations’. If you think you might be tempted to have a gander at the sixteen pages therein then here’s a snapshot skim of some highlights that hit you upon first reading.
*** “Maintenance and upgrades are probably the biggest challenges any large organisation faces.”
*** “As the software market continues to consolidate around large vendors that have aggressively acquired smaller vertical-market applications providers, executives worry that moving away from customised applications or traditional best-of-breed strategies will erode price competition, and that feature innovations will ultimately suffer at the hands of fewer players.”
*** “There will always be a need for custom-built applications. In fact, those interviewed for this report agree that using industry-specific software to automate certain business processes can free up internal IT teams to concentrate their efforts on custom-built applications that can create key competitive advantages and market differentiators.”
*** “The more complexity you introduce, the more challenging it is, whether you’re implementing new software or writing it from scratch.” (yes, someone really did get paid for saying that).
So is it a good read? Well yes – but to be honest, it could probably (and you’re going to have to let me say this) do with more from Oracle. They’ve had the experience with all the companies quoted and know the intricacies of technological upgrades and other major issues better than customers like Tesco, Austin Energy, BT or others.
One point that jars is – just how many times can the Standish group charge companies to the come up the following research?
“According to the most recent Chaos study, undertaken by the Standish Group, only slightly more than one-third of the corporate software development projects completed in 2006 were categorised as successful (in that they met objectives, and finished on time and on budget), while one in five were outright failures.”
You don’t say? Really? There must be a fresher way of saying this, or uncovering more research to find out where we’re all going wrong.
The conclusion?
“The benefits of deploying pre-built vertical applications and integration tools extend beyond lower costs, faster deployment, and significantly reduced support and maintenance burdens. They also allow organisations to focus their internal and external development and integration resources more strongly on key applications that facilitate differentiation - the business processes that encapsulate the most valuable intellectual property of a business or government entity.”
So this is the 505-word version – if you want the 5500-word version, you know where to look.
Friday 23 November 2007, 4:36 PM
Dinner jacket desktops
Rumours abound that Microsoft Office 2007 is not as straightforward an enterprise level upgrade as earlier iterations might have been. Certainly, uptake has not been at fever pitch – an inertia attributed by many simply to financial cost. Somebody once said (not sure who it was) to me at a software conference that there is no such thing as legacy software – only software that works.
You may reasonably argue that upgrades are not always needed. I was in Moss Bros today hiring a waistcoat for a wedding and I swear the chap on the counter had Windows 95 installed on his machine – all he needed it for was e-mail and to count dinner jackets after all.
This is when basic functionality kicks in. Microsoft has waxed lyrical about improved productivity, better looking documents and easier ways to share and collaborate. Cool if you’re a web development agency, overkill if you are Moss Bros counter assistant - apparently.
I mention all this in the context of my visit to the outfitters and the fact that on the same day I get pinged by a file migration company called ConverterTechnology who has migrated over a million users of Microsoft Office from older Office platforms to newer ones. They say that it is becoming more economically feasible to employ software upgrades, but historic perceptions can still prevent enterprises from upgrading. According to these guys, the need to stay ahead of competitors whilst remaining compliant and accountable is universally recognised, but the cost, in terms of staff time and disruption to the business, is still perceived as outweighing the benefits.
Do they have a point? I just upgraded to Mac Leopard, so I’m abstaining.
Wednesday 21 November 2007, 7:04 PM
I think, therefore I am… a mobile developer
I seem to be increasingly focused on mobile these days, so much so that it makes me think back to a comment piece I ran in a development magazine I used to edit. The piece was on mobile development in general and was written by the hugely erudite Dr Neil Roodyn. He wrote about the various slings and arrows of mobile development in his usual relaxed style, but it was the title he used that stood out.
I AM A DEVELOPER, THEREFORE I AM A MOBILE DEVELOPER
What he meant by that heading of course was that as almost all application scenarios migrate in some form of other to the mobile device, so therefore any developer should consider himself or herself a mobile developer.
That was three years ago. Today, mobile continues to make just as many headlines. In particular, I’ve recently picked up on the dotMobi consortium who is trying to make it easier for the development of mobile content and applications to spread.
As anyone in this space will tell you, proficient software engineering for mobile is only achieved through thorough testing. Interesting then that their first, “hey guys – here’s what we do” fact is its Mobile Complete testing, monitoring and support solutions.
Also worth a nod perhaps is the DeviceAnywhere service, which provides users with connection to and interaction with live mobile handsets over the Internet. The idea with this service is that developers have complete virtual access to all interfaces of a device, similar to having that device in their hands. The result? Fewer bug riddled or badly functioning apps – we hope.
I don’t profess to be an expert on this consortium, but I wanted to highlight these guys in light of the general amount of mobile malarkey – and in particular the web on mobile devices – that I am seeing flying past my inbox at the moment. So I’ll leave it there, you can research the dotMobi Developer Forum at http://dev.mobi
Previous
