Re: start of elevator pitch for plasma on devices

On Thursday, November 18, 2010, Carl Symons wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 2:47 PM, Aaron J. Seigo <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Thursday, November 18, 2010, Carl Symons wrote:

> So this really boils down to that it's best for Plasma for Plasma and
> MeeGo to be closely tied. Is that your view?

it's our strongest full solution, yes.
 
> The elevator pitch to a device manufacturer might be, "Choose MeeGo
> for all these reasons, PLUS you get Plasma, which does all of
> this...". In essence...instead of choosing Android and its ecosystem,
> especially Android's open source that's not really an open project.
> 
> The pitch to a supplier that has already decided on MeeGo would be,
> "Choose Plasma."

i agree, though i don't want to over commit on MeeGo either. the pitch i've 
started would most likely end up in front of suppliers that have already 
decided on MeeGo in the short term; mid-to-long term we should be able to get 
it in front of those who might be looking at Android or other stacks.
 
> >> How does it compare
> >> with Appcelerator/Titanium used to develop native-ish apps for iPhone,
> >> Android and RIM?
...
> I've been working with someone who is developing Android apps with
> Titanium. It ain't that great, but it's the best choice for what he
> wants. By contrast, I've followed your comments and others about
> developing Plasmoids. It seems like a far easier and more effective
> path. Courting the developer community seems like a tunnel with some
> cheese in it.

i agree .. once there are devices with Plasma on it. it's unrealistic at this 
point in time to expect an app developer to bundle the dependecies from 
libplasma on down for their Android (or other platform) app. 

if Qt bubbles up on Android, and kdelibs mobile profile is nailed down sweetly 
and packaged for Android, then we have a chance. so i agree it's a tunnel with 
some cheese in it, but we don't have entry to that one at all yet.

there is work on such things as Qt for Android as well as kdelibs mobile. so 
there is hope.

right now our best bet is getting devices to ship with kdelibs and to use 
Plasma as that gives something for developers to target. we are starting to 
see some early successes here, but we're in our absolute infancy here still.

btw, the kdelibs elevator pitch would include Plasma, Kontact Mobile and 
FreOffice (aka "KOffice Mobile"). but in that wiki page i'm focussing on the 
Plasma issue first and foremost.

> >> What are the other choices related to the following:
> >> "Help decision makers (e.g. managers) understand the concrete benefits
> >> of using Plasma for smartphones, tablets, netbooks, set-top boxes and
> >> other CE devices so that they choose to make it part of their platform
> >> strategy."
> >> 
> >> And how does the Plasma-related solution compare to these other choices?
> > 
> > it's more portable, more open, multi-device (the "one plasmoid, multiple
> > device target customizations" is completely unique right now to Plasma),
> > has better and more language options and generally faster to develop for
> > than the alternatives.
> 
> That is a pretty good start to an effective elevator pitch right
> there. 

it's succinct and full of beneficial attributes. it lacks, however, the "why 
it matters to me" bit ... which is: "lower cost with faster time to market".

> In addition, Plasmoid developers come up to speed quickly
> because they typically don't have to learn a new programming toolset.

well, many do actually. but it's a very flat learning curve and people fall 
into it very quickly.

> What are you comparing against? What are the alternatives? Clutter, GTK,
> Hildon?

Android, iOs. nothing else matters right now.

though compared to the items you list, it's painfully obvious how superior Qt 
+ Plasma is. painfully.
 
> > this is why there are already more Plasmoids that work nicely on an N900
> > style device than there are Maemo apps that i can download for my N900.
> > 
> > these are the ideas that "elevator pitch" needs to get across.
> > 
> >> How savvy are the decision makers/managers?
> > 
> > usually quite savvy. they are all technology experts, though usually with
> > management instead of development backgrounds.
> 
> So they should easily get the ecosystem message. However, competing
> with Android could be a slog. Is this an issue really?

it is, unfortunately. Android has an awesome foothold right now, the question 
is if it can maintain it. personally, i don't think it can long term. Android 
and iOS will likely remain significant players in the market, but will both 
likely shrink in absolute importance over time.
 
> This may again be my lack of knowledge, but could this be turned into
> a situation kinda like Visicalc selling Apples? Use MeeGo to get
> Plasma.

i think there is a strong argument for doing what we can to help MeeGo get a 
leg up. though what we can do, while possibly significant, is also a drop in 
the bucket compared to what Intel, Nokia, AMD, etc can do. i think we need to 
focus on being there "on the ground floor" as MeeGo builds momentum. we need 
to be careful not to become exclusionary as that will cost us investment 
elsewhere that we can very much use, but having a compelling and well put 
together story for MeeGo and allying ourselves with MeeGo is probably a smart 
thing to do.

i'd be very happy with our performance if the Plasma, Kontact Mobile, Marble 
and FreOffice became the de facto, "no brainer" choices for MeeGo devices in 
their respective categories. we have the opportunity to stand tall, but we 
need to be able to tell that story well.

which is what i'm trying, slowly, to work towards on that wiki page :)

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
humru othro a kohnu se
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

KDE core developer sponsored by Qt Development Frameworks

 
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