I have been waiting for the version 8 of my favorite mobile OS and now when they showed it my feelings are a bit mixed. The main thing that stirs up my feelings is that you cannot upgrade a 7.5 telephone to Windows 8.
I didn't expect this from Microsoft. The early rumors where hinting that you would be able to upgrade your Lumia to the new OS. On the other hand, with a bit retrospective and with the talk of using parts of the Windows 8 kernel in the phones, I should have guessed.
This will on the other hand give me an edge in the ever ongoing "who has the coolest phone in the office"-competition, their Lumias will only make it to 7.8...
Every cloud has a silver lining...
So for the truly good news?
Version 8 finally gets a chance to compete with other smartphones when you just check the hardware specs.
It gets the multi-core processor, high resolution screens, true multitasking, integrated skype, offline maps. The best and in my point of view, a critical must for the success of Windows on the phone is that it will share code with Windows 8. In effect this will mean that Microsoft is choosing one road for all its devices. It is Windows 8 from phone to Server. This also gives me confidence that Microsoft will not to as they do with Windows Phone 8 again, namely cut off their existing user base.
This seems like a long term strategic choice and even though it has a slightly bitter aftertaste it still is needed in the long run.
So will there be a long run?
I still believe that Windows 8 will make it. It simply has features that makes it so much more powerful than the iPad or the Android tablets. It is a real computer. And I believe that Windows 8 will be the beast that will pull the Windows phone.
I hope so.
Windows Phone 8 is just too sexy to disappear. Just look at those nice square things on the screen!
June 24, 2012
June 18, 2012
Philosophy, technology, religion
Sometimes programmers are strange, actually most of the time programmers are strange.
Me included.
And maybe this is just my twisted and over-simplified view on the subject, but I see a clear line between the developer with a philosophical view on the subject and those with a more technological take on it.
It is a division that can be seen all the way from the universities split in educations for system sciences and those for software engineers.
Philosophers seeks the best way to split reality into parts, engineers tries to make the best parts to resemble the world. Top-down and bottom-up. People that are specialized in abstracting and those that are experts in coding.
Both sides are needed, but problem's arise when coders forget that that is a fact and adopt a one way minded view of the subject, often with an almost religous conviction.
Give programmers a buzzword and they will follow.
The technological religions seems to dominate right now. Most of the new methods and patterns results in a bottom up approach to development. An alluring belief that following a path can create the perfect system.
There are definitely religious philosophers too, an architect colleague to me once said that "when you construct a system, the most important is to be as flexible as possible and you achieve maximum flexibility by not constructing anything.".
The scary part was that he meant it.
The good thing, that he eventually got fired.
I went to a (for me too short) seminar with Chris Klug about the problems with the Test Driven Development (TDD) paradigm and got inspired.
TDD has a religious following in that the users seem to believe that every project gets better if you follow it strictly, the code gets better and the solution gets better. Use tests everywhere and you will see the light.
Lately, I have heard the same opinions about a lot of technologies and methods and if I look back I have heard the same statements before about older technologies. Some people seem to believe that the solution of all problems in the world lies in a three letter acronym.
CQRS, TDD, Scrum, ORM, Functional programming, Object orientation, SOA, Sql, NoSql, Open Source...
There are grains and sometimes tons of truth in all methods, but in my world they are just pieces in the big jigsaw puzzle. Use it, but don't be a Taliban.
Each tool has its place and a time when it should be forgotten.
The goal is to make a good system not to use a certain method or technology.
No method will do the work for you.
Amen...
Me included.
And maybe this is just my twisted and over-simplified view on the subject, but I see a clear line between the developer with a philosophical view on the subject and those with a more technological take on it.
It is a division that can be seen all the way from the universities split in educations for system sciences and those for software engineers.
Philosophers seeks the best way to split reality into parts, engineers tries to make the best parts to resemble the world. Top-down and bottom-up. People that are specialized in abstracting and those that are experts in coding.
Both sides are needed, but problem's arise when coders forget that that is a fact and adopt a one way minded view of the subject, often with an almost religous conviction.
Give programmers a buzzword and they will follow.
The technological religions seems to dominate right now. Most of the new methods and patterns results in a bottom up approach to development. An alluring belief that following a path can create the perfect system.
There are definitely religious philosophers too, an architect colleague to me once said that "when you construct a system, the most important is to be as flexible as possible and you achieve maximum flexibility by not constructing anything.".
The scary part was that he meant it.
The good thing, that he eventually got fired.
I went to a (for me too short) seminar with Chris Klug about the problems with the Test Driven Development (TDD) paradigm and got inspired.
TDD has a religious following in that the users seem to believe that every project gets better if you follow it strictly, the code gets better and the solution gets better. Use tests everywhere and you will see the light.
Lately, I have heard the same opinions about a lot of technologies and methods and if I look back I have heard the same statements before about older technologies. Some people seem to believe that the solution of all problems in the world lies in a three letter acronym.
CQRS, TDD, Scrum, ORM, Functional programming, Object orientation, SOA, Sql, NoSql, Open Source...
There are grains and sometimes tons of truth in all methods, but in my world they are just pieces in the big jigsaw puzzle. Use it, but don't be a Taliban.
Each tool has its place and a time when it should be forgotten.
The goal is to make a good system not to use a certain method or technology.
No method will do the work for you.
Amen...
June 7, 2012
A small break
Recording music with ÜNF this week, so no updates in the blog.
Will try to do some coding this weekend.
Will try to do some coding this weekend.
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