Mobile Dad

Mornings are always hard. Kids making beds, taking showers and just getting ready is a routine we enjoy stretching out when the weekends arrive.  Though weekdays demand that we stay on track, nuggets of casual and interesting conversation still flutters in the mist of chaos.

As my daughter ate her morning breakfast, she ask me to tell her some more about the iPad. After telling her my feelings of how Apple missed a great opportunity, she asked me something intriguing.

“We have Apple computers at school, will I get to use this iPad there too?”

I put my spoon down and thought for a second, did I miss the point of why Apple created the iPad? continue reading…

As the tablet market started to gain new interest, the desire to own one captured my imagination as well.  I was in a pickle a few months back.  I was tasked to find ways to engage students and teach faculty methods of mobile engagement utilizing modern frameworks like the iPhone or Android.  As mobile app projects fail to capture practical use in classrooms (seriously, what can you do on a phone that cannot be done better on a laptop?), there seem to be a real disconnect between the mobile aspect of the student and the pedagogy of a classroom.  This is where I think tablets may succeed and why competition is desperately needed. continue reading…

Wordpress, my favorite blogging platform.  Palm Pre, a nice mobile device.  Matt found this post on how to install a LAMP stack on a Palm Pre and serve a Wordpress blog from the mobile device:

Server in the cloud or in your pocket, may not be practical but it’s damn cool.  Nice find.

[palmpre-hacks.com]

As mobile development expands, decisions need to be made for where resources should be placed.  With the multitude of platforms, it is very difficult to build and support applications across the spectrum, especially when your dev team is no bigger than a typical golf outing with your buddies.  The problem amplifies when your application becomes a web superstar and the fans crave access to it everywhere.  With so much traction and attention, passion/excitement immediately becomes confused with company opinion and stance.  I feel for Tom Conrad, the CTO of Pandora.  I am sure the moment after Tom Conrad said his famous quote at the Mobile Web Wars Roundtable, he had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.  The quote was this:

I need Android like I need a hole in the head

That sick feeling was strong enough for him to clarify his statement.  Sure he did not mean what he said, passion at times clouds judgement and people can be forgiven as long as their passion is expressed in everything they do.  But obviously one has to be mindful of their words especially when that person is perceived as a leader in an industry.  Passion represents rebellious youth or emerging identity but it also burn bridges.  That is why leaders of established industries are dry, placid and old.  Mobile market is still emerging and statements expressed by Tom will not be an isolated one.  I am grateful that Pandora finally made it’s way to the Android platform.  I am sure Tom feels the same, and is looking forward to getting this behind him.

Remember the good old days as a kid in school where you went on scavenger hunts in hopes to win that coveted mini-trophy?  Or better yet, when your company’s moral was so low, your boss pulled everyone together to do a scavenger hunt team building exercise in hopes to make everyone laugh and gel.  Scavenger hunts can be fun, that is the reason why Geocaching is still around, but geocaching required the player to buy special hardware and most tracks are locating a single cache.  The problem is how do you make it easy for everyone to play?  Scvngr came up with a solution to solve that problem, play the game on your mobile phone REGARDLESS of the type.   Obviously if your mobile phone rocks, Scvngr will take advantage of the hardware, they already have iPhone and Android apps ready for download.  You can also build your own hunts which seems like a killer activity for in coming Freshmen on college campuses across America.  This Boston start-up may have something here, I am going to see if I can find a local game.  Anyone SCVNGR’ing in Austin?