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iPhone 3G - The Best Apple Keynote Ever

I do not want to bore you with the facts about the countless possibilities that open iPhone SDK brings

Keynotes are often boring, but watching today’s keynote from WWDC conference was better than the movie “Sex and the City”  that I’ve enjoyed last week in the theater near me. I do not want to repeat the facts about iPhone 3G. I’ll buy a couple of them this summer. I do not want to bore you with the facts about the countless possibilities that open iPhone SDK brings to the table. Just watch the keynote.

While we’ve been writing articles comparing RIA technologies, Steve Jobs locked the iPhone team in  the underground bunker, they’ve been working hard and delivered. Big time.

During the last fifteen years, excitement in the software development was slowly moving from Microsoft to Sun Microsystems, then to Google and now it has arrived to the new destination – Apple’s iPhone.

People will enjoy developing applications for iPhone, and this device will spread around the world at the speed of sound. Sure thing, Japan has some super phones, but people there use not more than 5-10% of their abilities. Sure thing, Java ME has to solve a lot more complicated task of offering tools for developers dealing with hundreds of different phones, while Apple has a luxury to have just one phone device, just one OS, and they are the same. Who cares? If this phone is the best and the OS is great too, why bother looking somewhere else?

We are talking about advantages of the RIA platform that use Flash Player as a runtime, but if Adobe won’t find a way to put the player on iPhone, they’ll lose lots and lots of customers. Of course, just having open iPhone SDK is not enough for  porting Flash Player to iPhone, but there should be a way to find the key to Steve’s heart. Sun Microsystes should dig in the same direction.

Enough said, just get some popcorn and watch the Apple’s keynote here.

More Stories By Yakov Fain

Yakov Fain is a Managing Director of Farata Systems, consulting, training and product company. He has authored several Java books, dozens of technical articles. SYS-CON Books released his latest co-authored book , Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex and Java: Secrets of the Masters in Spring 2007. Sun Microsystems has nominated and awarded Yakov with the title Java Champion. He leads the Princeton Java Users Group. He is an Adobe Certified Flex Instructor. Currently Yakov works on the book for O'Reilly "Enterprise Application Development with Flex". He twits at twitter.com/yfain.

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Most Recent Comments
Anatole Tartakovsky 06/10/08 12:16:43 AM EDT

While pricing and peer pressure would propel this device in 100 million units range worldwide within 2 years it is up to AT&T to play hardball with other providers for smartphones market. I used 3G networks since they become available - having plans with Sprint and AT&T. For me ability to tether is critical as I do not care for hotels WiFi that is slower and more expensive then 3G. As a result, I carry 2 phones and move SIM to the one I see fit. First is "Android" linux phone that is a bit less sexy then iPhone but lets me talk on VoIP saving $500/year on the minutes. The second (in laptop bag) is for the times I am inside of clients firewall and need to tether and access outside world without restrictions. I would like to use iPhone as a replacement for both, but it is really up to AT&T to enable tethering plan competitive with "all you can eat" offered by Sprint.
Otherwise I will be playing with Android much more this year.
Regards,
Anatole