Perspective on Mobile from an Open Source Advocate
It’s no secret that the mobile space is booming and that the future of computing is largely in compact devices. From mobile apps to the mobile web, developers are seeing the potential and the industry is charging ahead. Where it gets difficult is when you’re an expert in a programming language that doesn’t necessarily allow you to program apps for specific devices, for example JavaScript and the iPhone.
The PhoneGap project was started a few years back as an answer to that problem. I had a chance to get this interview with Brock Whitten, one of the co-founders of the project, who also happens to be my brother in law. Here are some of his thoughts on the mobile space today and in the future.
Tell us a little about who you are and what your relationship is to mobile computing?
I am part of Joyent’s Engineering team in Vancouver. I have a strong passion for furthering open web development practices. Most recently, this has been in mobile development due to it lacking so deeply in this respect. I co-founded the PhoneGap project along with Rob Ellis while working at Nitobi. I am also involved with XUI along with Rob Ellis And Brian LeRoux.
What is PhoneGap, how did it come about and how has it evolved?
PhoneGap is basically mobile development as it should be. Html, CSS, and JavaScript with access to all the goodies mobile devices has to offer, such as Geo Location, Accelerometer, Camera, Media etc.
It all began on the iphone, attempting to get as much core functionality mapped to JavaScript as possible. Shortly after that Android and Blackberry were added with a matching JavaScript API. This is when we knew we had something real. Since then the project has gained several amazing developers, and along with it WebOS and Symbian support.
Are you still involved with the PhoneGap project?
It has been easy to become less involved since leaving Nitobi. This is because they have done an exceptional job at taking care of and furthering the project. Nitobi has a skillset that is well suited for such an undertaking and have been able to incorporate PhoneGap into their core business. This has been very fruitful for the project. That said, I continue to give my input on the direction of the project and evangelize PhoneGap at events.
At a high level, what are your thoughts about the smartphone market today?
The mobile landscape is very rough which means there are great opportunities in the mobile space right now. Especially for open source developers.
What would you LIKE see to happen in the smartphone market?
Developers need to step up and take control of the mobile development landscape. Device manufactures will never willingly give us a viable cross platform solution. It’s up to us to insist on it by creating it ourselves.
What do you think WILL happen given the current state of things?
There should be no doubt to anyone. Web development techniques will win in the end just as it did on the desktop. I think we will start to see more developers using web techniques for mobile development as Android takes more market share. The advantages of using PhoneGap or something similar are just too great to ignore.
Are tablet devices (especially the iPad, since we haven’t seen much else yet) going to change things?
Not in a way that I care. Tablets are the new TV.
Are there any other things you’d like to discuss with regards to the mobile space?
I would like to hear from developers who are still writing native apps. What is preventing them from building their applications with web tech? I am convinced that whatever the problems, they have been already or can be solved. Lets hear it.
Join the conversation.
Well, there you go. The future of mobile is in web technologies according to PhoneGap co-founder Brock Whitten. All you developers, what’s your take? Are you making use of tools like PhoneGap or XUI in your efforts to build mobile apps? What do you see as the future?
