[nfbcs] java again

[majolls at cox.net]

I think Apple could be challenged in a couple of ways.
1. If the apps are so good, word will get around and people will want to go with Android.
2. If the accessibility is so good, Andriod will compete against Apple in the disabilities area.
3. If the cost of ownership is relatively low and the software available so good, it would be hard to justify buying a more expensive product.

I think I've seen in the past 35 years that when prices and features are expensive and not mature, people tend to wait to go with a technology.  When they get cheap and there's really a big bang for the buck, and the software is really good, you see people rushing out to get on the bandwagon to purchase.  I saw it with CB's, VCR's, and other things.  Think about the VCR when it first came out and how it proliferated as it got cheapter and the software on the devices got better.

This would hold true for blind people as well.  I know a few in my area and they all tout the iPhone ... primarily because the accessibility is pretty good.  But if Android built in really good accessibility like Apple did, and the phone was say ... 35% or 40% cheaper than an Apple, and there were really good apps that took advantage of the built-in accessibility, I think the folks I know would at least take a serious look if not jump ship and make the move to Android.   It might take come convincing and demonstration of the equipment and software, but why would they want to pay more when unnecessary?

And, regarding phone and accessibility ... Apple is an entity to itself, and they decided to build in the accessibility into their O/S.  Thus, all software has to play by their rules.  That's one reason why Apple seems (as I see it in my friends) to be the phone / tablet / etc... of choice.   If the Android players would all get together, agree on how apps should be written, such that every app was accessible, I think Andriod would put a severe cramp in Apple's style.

Comments?



---- "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu> wrote: 
> WRT our discussion of java last week, I had said on this list that somebody
> told me that a lot of mobile apps were written in java. I had no real reason
> to credit that but last night, I was talking to my wife about Google's
> crummy earnings and I happened to mention the android operating system,
> which, btw, is an open-source  linux fork. Anyway, I wikipediaed  android
> and found  this interesting note:
> 
> Additionally, Android has a large community of developers writing
> applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of devices, written
> primarily in a customized version of Java.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
> 
> So learning java might not be such a bad career move after all. Hard to say.
> Apple is so dominant in the mobile platform arena its hard to say which, if
> any, of its competitors will be able to challenge it down the road. Google?
> Microsoft?RIM? If I absolutely had to bet, I guess I'd bet on Google. 
> 
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