I was wondering why there are so few open source mobile music projects? I know about mobile synth for the iPhone but I can't think of any others which is strange as there are plenty of free apps out there.
Mobile device manufacturers are not exactly encouraging open development.
Aside from that and in my opinion, the mobile device market is far too volatile to support broad open development at this time. It's difficult to get a community enthused about a project that has little chance of being functional on their device in 24 months.
I think the iPhone and Android have both put forth operating environments that are at robust enough, and backed by companies strong enough, that consumers and developers alike have reason to believe they'll still be around in a couple years, however, there's philosophical limitations for open developing on many mobile devices. Jailbreaking an iPhone can violate one's TOS agreement with AT&T or void a warranty. Android is no better. You have to remember that the whack ass agreements you sign when you buy these things basically signs away all ownership rights to the devices you just purchased.
Step #1 for an increase in open development on mobile devices is mobile device manufacturers loosening up. Step #2 is finding a powerful and popular platform and sticking with it... and sharing it.
I was hoping mobilesynth would encourage others to open up their code and share their knowledge. It does take a lot of time to write mobile music apps, but hopefully with everyone contributing their code the barrier to entry will be much lower and we'll all learn from each other and push the envelope (so to speak).
I was hoping mobilesynth would encourage others to open up their code and share their knowledge. It does take a lot of time to write mobile music apps, but hopefully with everyone contributing their code the barrier to entry will be much lower and we'll all learn from each other and push the envelope (so to speak).
4 comments:
Mobile device manufacturers are not exactly encouraging open development.
Aside from that and in my opinion, the mobile device market is far too volatile to support broad open development at this time. It's difficult to get a community enthused about a project that has little chance of being functional on their device in 24 months.
I think the iPhone and Android have both put forth operating environments that are at robust enough, and backed by companies strong enough, that consumers and developers alike have reason to believe they'll still be around in a couple years, however, there's philosophical limitations for open developing on many mobile devices. Jailbreaking an iPhone can violate one's TOS agreement with AT&T or void a warranty. Android is no better. You have to remember that the whack ass agreements you sign when you buy these things basically signs away all ownership rights to the devices you just purchased.
Step #1 for an increase in open development on mobile devices is mobile device manufacturers loosening up. Step #2 is finding a powerful and popular platform and sticking with it... and sharing it.
Thanks very much for this comment. I found it really useful.
I was hoping mobilesynth would encourage others to open up their code and share their knowledge. It does take a lot of time to write mobile music apps, but hopefully with everyone contributing their code the barrier to entry will be much lower and we'll all learn from each other and push the envelope (so to speak).
I was hoping mobilesynth would encourage others to open up their code and share their knowledge. It does take a lot of time to write mobile music apps, but hopefully with everyone contributing their code the barrier to entry will be much lower and we'll all learn from each other and push the envelope (so to speak).
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