Unexpected Benefits

As a father of 2 young children (ages 8 and 5), I receive the constant requests for toys that are meant for older kids.  I do my best to delay and avoid, but sometimes I am out-flanked. One such case was with the request of a zip-line.  Having heard about the numerous broken arms and injuries, I was successfully delaying and avoiding installing one of these until the grandparents saw an opportunity to offload one in their yard as a Christmas present.

Somewhat reluctantly, I installed the zip-line in my backyard. The zip-line consisted of a handle bar that the kids hold onto as they “zip down the line.” Right after I installed it, I immediately recognized it failed the prime directive of children’s toys, in my mind: children’s toys must wear out the children more than the parents.  Any toy that fails this test does not last long in my house. While my 5 year old was strong enough to hold on to that handle bar, I was nervous thinking that she could easily loose her grip, if not at first, then later after a series of rides. So, being the protective and dutiful father, I ran down the zip-line with her, holding my hands just beside her waist so in the event that she lost her grip I could catch her. After 10 minutes of this ridiculous task, I was in desperate need of another idea.

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3rd-Party Developers – the deciding vote?

On Saturday (June 7), the Palm Pre was officially launched. And with it, another smartphone platform. We now have a very large number of smartphone OS platforms (Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry, Android, BREW, LiMo, Openmoko, Qt Extended, and now the Palm Pre’s Web OS). These platforms are backed by a virtual who’s who of technology companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, RIM, Google and Palm. Each wants to become the platform of choice for the mobile internet device market. However, they can’t all be that. There can only be one platform of choice, with perhaps a second or third strong competitor. The rest will be relegated to niche markets or discontinuation.

So, which one(s) will emerge? That will, of course, depend on many factors, but one of those factors that will play a significant role, if not a deciding role, is third-party developers. The promise of being “always connected” cannot be realized solely by built-in applications. The uses of the internet are too varied for any one company to enable. And third-party developers are too creative, quick to market, and resourceful for any one company to replicate. Third-party developers are going to enable some of the most compelling uses of “always connected” devices. However, they are often small companies, small groups within larger companies, or even individuals, and are unable to port their application to 6 or 7 different platforms. They must choose. And the platforms that they develop on are going to have capabilities that other platforms won’t. These platforms will have a decided advantage as this market matures.

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