RE: Re: Need help understanding desktop/handheld relationship

On Tue, 13 Jan 2009, David Erlenborn wrote:

# Do you actually know that there is an "overdependence" on the Cloud 
# inherent in WebOS?  I haven't seen anything yet that says the Pre will 
# run everything from the Cloud.  The Pre doesn't look like a handheld 
# browser to me; it looks like a handheld web server.  I haven't seen 
# enough details, so I may be naïve - but I assume the application 
# developers will be intelligent about where they locate data.

	It almost certainly has a local webserver or Gears-like 
environment; it almost certainly has a JVM on it too, though hard to say 
how exposed it is. Myself, I'd like if they cozy'd up to devs and offered 
C/C++ (for speed, and for porting all existing code, especially old Palm 
OS backends that may be useful still), as well as Java, and JS. 

	JS does suck for a lot of applications (JS is not a bad language 
per se, its just got browser issues and no 'standard lib' since the DOMs 
are a mess, etc.), but imagine if they provide some native JS compiler, 
and a JS lib that talks to the OS. Still no good for numerical 
applications, or writing device drivers for new hardware, or action 
games.. but woudl be fine for a lot of apps.

	We'll have to see.

	I'm very interested to see how the Pre ecosystem goes. App stores 
.. I bet they'll follow the Apple route and really lock it down, rather 
than the out of control systems of the past (Which were good in a lot of 
weays, but also let the middlemen gouge the living hell out of us..)

		jeff

--
If everyone would put barbecue sauce on their food, there would be no war.

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