Bill Day's Blog

July 2003 Archives

Save Time, Waste Time

In spite of all of the abstract tech talk and demo code and articles I've been involved with over the years while advocating Java technology, at the end of the day any technology, Java included, is only useful when somebody finds something interesting to do with it. To that end, I enjoyed Jack Shirazi's recent blog entry on Java Case Studies and the J2ME stats URLs posted in response by kalim1998. I hope to see more of these in the future on java.net.

Jack's case study blog started me thinking about a frequently asked question I seem to receive at least once a week:
Just what is J2ME technology good for in the real world anyway?

My answer: The J2ME Platform is fantastic for building and deploying mobile applications that allow people to do one of two things:

1. Save time
2. Waste time

Classic examples of time saving applications include stock trading and financial apps that free the user to analyze and modify portfolios anywhere, enterprise apps that allow sales and support teams to access critical information at customer sites and elsewhere in the field, medical informatics apps that give nurses and doctors access to patient records, drug formularies, and more on the spot throughout their clinic or hospital, etc. Time wasting apps include a variety of offline and networked games, ring tone (and real soon now, ring *tune*) editors, and other entertainment apps.

The key issue to the success of both: Wireless devices are personal and with us everywhere we go. That fact gives mobile applications an edge over PC or even standard Web applications in the time-to-solution arena, whether the problem being solved is a sales and support issue or how to get past level three of a favorite game while at the beach with your friends.

Take it as a top priority to empower users to save time or waste time better than anybody else if you want to maximize your chances for mobile development success.

P.S. Click here to search Sun's Java site for wireless related case studies. Nokia also has a nice Success Stories site. Once you have a great time saving or time wasting idea, you can learn more about bringing it to fruition from the Sun Developer Network Mobility Program and Market Guides pages.

Hey Apple, Got J2ME?

I've been re-reading Tim's thoughts on Mac OS X switchers and OS X and the Next Big Thing of late.

You see, my current personal laptop is starting to show its age, and I'm considering alternatives. I've always said I wouldn't consider any system that didn't give me a command line, and now Apple's removed that hurdle. I've always said I had to have Unix tools, and OS X has that in spades. I've always sided with simplicity of design and reliability over complicated Windoze software hairballs, and Apple continues to beat the pants off other laptop OS choices in that department, too.

Given the above, it would seem like my choice is obvious: Dump the complexity of a Linux/Win dual-boot laptop mess and go for a shiny new Mac OS X PowerBook. But just as I was getting cozy with the idea, I hit a major snag: Though Apple has done a first rate job building in Java desktop and Web development support (J2SE and J2EE developers rejoice!), their J2ME development solutions are zip, zilch, rien.

Given the high priority Apple has assigned to enabling a new kind of productivity application via their iLife vision and iApps, one would think that supporting wireless software development would be a high priority in Cupertino. And given that Apple also supports basic data synchronization with many J2ME enabled devices via iSync (example: the latest rev supports, among other things, Bluetooth synchronization with my Nokia 3650), one might get downright giddy with anticipation of the fantastic J2ME development options that must surely be on offer for OS X.

Unfortunately, one would be very disappointed.

As best I can tell, Apple doesn't currently offer any J2ME development tools. There is no generally available port of the J2ME Wireless Toolkit (WTK) or any other general purpose J2ME development tools or emulators for Mac OS (X, 9, or otherwise). There are some independently available tools (Michael Power's excellent MIDP 1.0.3 reference implementation port to Mac OS X is one such example), but a search on the Apple Developer Connection site turns up but a single reference to J2ME, and it is an obscure reference to Zentek's i-JADE tools for i-mode development (applicable only to Java devices sold in Japan for the NTT DoCoMo network).

So Tim, here's my answer to your question, "What would you like to see Apple do to better support its independent developer community?":

Apple should support J2ME development as well as it supports J2SE and Tomcat. It should enable all of us Mac OS X fans to build first class apps for the hundreds of millions of Java devices available now and in the near future. It could port and support the WTK on Mac OS X (a relatively straightforward option, and one I'd be glad to help sort out if Apple is interested), or it could one up the current WTK support for Linux, Solaris, and Win32 with some new tool making J2ME development even more productive on Macs. Either way, Apple, I'll buy the next PowerBook off your manufacturing line...and I'll recommend PowerBooks as the J2ME development laptop of choice to anyone and everyone that will listen.

All of this reminds me of the California Milk Processor Board's now classic "Got Milk?" ad campaign. In the ads, people are tempted into some tasty treat such as chewy chocolate chip cookies, only to find out that the milk that would make the treat complete is missing. Chocolate chip cookies without milk, quelle catastrophe!

Apple has the chewy chocolate chip cookie goodness of J2SE and iApps and WiFi+Bluetooth support for Mac OS X. They need to add the "milk" of J2ME development support to tie all of the developer pieces of their wireless and iLife visions together. Apple needs to be able to say "Heck yes!" when someone asks "Got J2ME?"

Java for Palm OS Devices

The first time I saw a Palm V, I thought "I want one". The very next thing I thought was "I want one I can program in Java". Several years worth of developments later, I'm finally going to be able to properly bridge the gap between the two.

While we've been able to build and deploy Java applications for Palm OS since the early KVM days, the J2ME runtime itself has always been a separate Palm executable (PRC) that you needed to install first before you could use your J2ME apps. While this is no problem for geeks like me, it fails my "Mother Test" (whereby I measure the simplicity and usefulness of new tech by how intuitive it is or isn't to my intelligent, but non-technical, mother). And so we've waited, and waited, and waited for Palm to see the light and include a J2ME runtime built-in to their shipping environment.

Things are about to change for the better: Palm and IBM recently announced that Palm Tungsten devices will soon ship with an integrated J2ME runtime. With these devices, you won't have to go through the one time installation of the J2ME MIDP runtime: J2ME apps will soon be first class citizens on many Palm devices. And given their expected ship dates later this year, one would assume (IBM, correct me if I'm wrong here) that this runtime will be MIDP 2.0, bringing the latest and greatest Java device APIs to Palm Tungstens everywhere.

At long last, I'll be able to target Java apps at Palm devices knowing they'll pass my "Mother Test".

In spite of this very encouraging development, however, a key question remains: When will all Palm devices, much less all Palm OS based devices, include a built in Java runtime, not just the Tungstens? Time will tell, but my gut says very soon: If they don't, they'll suffer the consequences as J2ME rolls on to the tune of millions of Java developers and hundreds of millions of consumers with Java devices everywhere.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.