As someone who learnt programming in the days when a class libraries were something that schools had, it’s always a bit of shock to see the vast tomes on Java, C++, .Net etc. I guess nobody writes their own linked list package anymore. Perhaps that’s why I like J2ME, or Java ME as it has now been rebranded. Only one way of doing things, one set of classes, simplicity.

That’s probably what worries me about the explosion of acronyms and differing ways of doing things. How many IT Managers, for example, really know what SOA, SOAP and Webservices mean, are they the same thing, are they different, and how does that XML thing come in to it? How many people really know the difference between a URI and a URL?

Because of this I wonder how many old wheels get reinvented by people who genuinely think they are shiny new wheels. And of course come up with some new name for it. Add all these new and not so new technologies to the burgeoning class library and you have to wonder when people are going to put up their hands and say, “May I be excused, my brain is full?”

Yesterday my ISP was hit by a DDoS attack that ran from 4pm to midnight and effectively wiped out their internet connectivity.
My teenage daughter was bemoaning that she couldn’t look up revision notes. My younger daughter was wailing that she couldn’t play Babble. My wife was annoyed because we couldn’t look at hotels for our summer vacation. I found myself repeatedly hitting F5 waiting for e-mail to return.

Clearly the internet has become a utility for those of us who are lucky enough to have 24-hour power, water, gas and telephone. And we’re annoyed when it occasionally fails.

Now let’s look at the mobile world. Dropped calls are still an everyday occurance. I just received a voice mail from a very important customer, despite the fact that the phone has been sat beside me all afternoon. We just accept it as being normal. In many areas of the UK we’re pleasantly surprised when GPRS works reliably. That’s equally true in Edinburgh and central London.

So when are the network operators going to offer the kind of service that will allow them to become a utility?

Or is that the opportunity that the WiFi installers can grasp, even if only in urban areas?

This is my first venture into blogging. I’ve never kept a diary before, and the scribbled notes in my small, squared Moleskine notebook hardly constitute a solid record of what I do.

My interest in writing here, however, is to share insights and ideas into the world of mobile applications, including the platforms, networks and devices on which we have to rely. There’s usually plenty not going right in that heady cocktail of half-baked technologies so I’m unlikely to be short of things to rant about.