|
Stupid question, but I have to ask ...
What is it beside not having the computer network plugged into a wall socket ?
Maximilien Lincourt
For success one must aquire one's self
|
|
|
|
|
Mobile/Wireless doesn't just apply to laptop computers with wireless NICs. It can also apply to smart phone, pocket pc, palm, cell phone, etc. Basically, anything that can be either disconnected from a network or not traditionally connected to one in the first place.
PocketPC development is a classic example. Not all PPCs have wireless capability, but they can periodically be connected to a sychronizing computer where their data can be synchronized with a company-wide database server. Consider a salesforce application, where the salesperson would download the latest product specs to their PDA, go sell some stuff (and enter the sales on their PDA), then reconnect at the end of the day and have their sales propagated up to the central DB server.
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. -- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
|
|
|
|
|
but, this is not something new, people have palm pilots, and other electronic appointment thingies for some years now.
There's must be more than data synching.
Maximilien Lincourt
For success one must aquire one's self
|
|
|
|
|
Now your question becomes more specific...
Previously you said that this must be something more than just unplugging the computer from the wall.
Yes, I agree, it's a lot more than data synching. That was just one example I was using.
And yes, people have been using palm pilots and other miscellaneous devices for years. But I believe the question that was raised in this poll is the following:
"What are your thoughts on mobile/wireless development?
Microsoft is rallying developers to consider adding wireless/mobile access to their application development projects. Are you thinking about it?"
This being said, it is perhaps important to realize that special tools and/or special techniques are required to develop applications for wireless/mobile devices. And there are also some limitations.
Just my 2p...
Rabid K
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
|
|
|
|
|
I believe these are two different things:
Mobile development:
Building an application that knows 2 states: online - offline. Usually this involves being able to store the data locally, and synchronizing that data once connected (and this connection can be over a wireless connection, either Bluetooth, WiFi or GSM/GPRS, or even Sattelite Link or whatever).
In the .Net vision (not technology, aka .Net Framework) this implies that you have a Rich Client that uses XML Web Services to sync to the back-end (so called Smart Clients). Note that this rich client can be any program (like Office Word, Excel, ...) or a Windows Forms application. And if it is a Windows Forms app, it is preferrably one that uses One-Touch Deployment (OTD) techniques. You know, the kind of app, that is nicely packaged in a Windows Installer and deployed to a web server, and uses again an XML Web Service to Auto-Update itself. -- I love the power of .Net apps! --
Wireless development:
Does not mean that the application will be used in a mobile scenario. But it does imply that this application needs to be aware that a connection is not guaranteed, that IP addresses can change, that bandwith might vary/be limited, etc.
either of these types of development can be done on any kind of mobile device: laptop, Tablet PC, Pocket PC (Phone Edition), Smartphone, ...
Just my €0.02
|
|
|
|
|
A waitress standing in front of you, taking your order with a Pocket PC in her hand, that is wireless, that is what I am doing right now.
eric feng
www.infospec.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
LOL!!!
Don't knock it - the tips aren't bad on a good night, and you eat regularly. That's much better than some of us are doing.
"Ask not for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee..."
|
|
|
|
|
I am sure there are situations currently where wireless is a requirement. But they are thin on the ground. Anything other than those is really just "Look! We can do it, ain't technology cool?" IMO.
It will pickup of course, but the net is not yet part of our lives enough to require that 24/7 connectivity which wireless provides. The times when I need the net I am at my desk at work using a lovely 19" screen with a fully fledged OS and browser. All the other times are just "nice to haves."
Also I am talking about getting info through my mobile phone, not wireless as in WiFi connected laptops. The later IMO is just an extension of the LAN, a less troublesome one but not a paradigm shift or even a revolutionary step. It is cool, it does make existing ideas more possible but that is all.
Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa
Chris Losinger wrote:
i hate needles so much i can't even imagine allowing one near The Little Programmer
|
|
|
|
|
I don't see it, what happened
Matt Newman
|
|
|
|
|
--
"It's a condition of mental divergence, I find myself on the planet Olgo part of a intellectual elite, prepared to subjugate the barbarian hordes on Pluto, but even though this is a totally convincing reality for me in every way, nevertheless Olgo is actually a construct on my psychee. I am mentally divergent in that I am escaping certain unnamed realities that plague my life here."
|
|
|
|
|
It was in reference to optional text answer box being used as a search engine.
Matt Newman
|
|
|
|
|
"Wireless? Ha! If we can ditch Win16 code by next year, we'll be doing well... :P "
Come on, who is it? :-P
"Póg mo thóin!"
"One of the most important things you learn !rom the internet is that there is no ‘them’ out there. It’s just an awful lot of ‘us’."
-Douglas Adams
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman
Homepage [www.nonny.com] [^]
|
|
|
|
|
I would like to claim credit, but not me. I was a different textual answer. I leave to guess which.
Roger Allen
Sonork 100.10016
Were you different as a kid? Did you ever say "Ooohhh, shiny red" even once? - Paul Watson 11-February-2003
|
|
|
|
|
Shog9
So much he don't understand,
Just might never make it to a man...
|
|
|
|
|
Who?
"Póg mo thóin!"
"One of the most important things you learn !rom the internet is that there is no ‘them’ out there. It’s just an awful lot of ‘us’."
-Douglas Adams
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman
Homepage [www.nonny.com] [^]
|
|
|
|
|
what are you talking about?
Shog9
So much he don't understand,
Just might never make it to a man...
|
|
|
|
|
Shog9 wrote:
what are you talking about?
Nothing, what are you talking about?
"Póg mo thóin!"
"One of the most important things you learn !rom the internet is that there is no ‘them’ out there. It’s just an awful lot of ‘us’."
-Douglas Adams
Jonathan 'nonny' Newman
Homepage [www.nonny.com] [^]
|
|
|
|
|
Jonny Newman wrote:
Nothing, what are you talking about?
Cheese, actually... but how is that relevant?
Shog9
So much he don't understand,
Just might never make it to a man...
|
|
|
|