What motivates developers?

Ever wonder what motivates a developer to write a Palm webOS app?

 

Sometimes it’s for the sheer enjoyment of the challenge, or developers are simply creating something they’d like to use themselves. For example, Andrew Munsell -- at 15 years old, one of the youngest webOS developers -- often has a personal need for the apps he creates, such as Stickyman.

 

Sometimes it’s just the right thing to do. After the earthquake in Haiti, Mediafly and Obtiva were moved to quickly create a Palm webOS app -- Hope for Haiti Now -- in about day. The app let users watch the Hope for Haiti Now LIVE! Telethon on their Palm Pre or Palm Pixi, providing links for making donations to help the international relief efforts.

 

Still, many developers are writing apps for their bread and butter. It is a business, after all, and there’s a lot of competition to write a best-selling app. To spur that race, the Palm “Hot Apps” program will award a total of $1 million to the developers of the most successful applications distributed between February 1 through May 31, 2010.

 

Whatever the motivation for writing apps, Palm webOS provides ample opportunities for developers to meet their goals… and deliver some great apps for Palm webOS users.

 

Paul Araquistain, Palm PR

 

Comments

[seastar886]

Intall base is the #1 factor to motivates developers. Please release a ipod touch version of palm pre and sell world wide. a ipad/kindle version of palm pre and sell world wide.

[Ian Mainville]

this is not really a comment but a question... I would like to know if there is gonna be a VPN app available someday for thé PRE? Many users seems to be waiting for that so they can use their phone to work. I would like to know if its worth waiting or if i should get another phone?

Thank you!

[Alex]

Bring Palm WEBOS to ATT.

[teen]

palm still good palm os tech. thanks

[Wayne]

The trade journals are saying there will be a new Palm phone released this summer. Sales of the current Palm phones vs. droid/htc/iPhone type models show that consumers want an iPhone/Google Phone type product, and Palm chose to ignore that category. Hopefully this will be rectified soon.

On the reverse side, Palm has to be careful about releasing information. If they talk about a new phone too soon, people will burn out (especially if the date slips). Likewise, word of a new phone could sabotage sales of their current phone. Holding back info until they're ready to ship is standard procedure for all tech companies to counter "vaporware" claims.

I'm not going to buy one of the current Pre phones (I'm a sprint customer) because they are too far behind current technology and the Verizon based Pre phones both do more, and cost less. (Plus I want a full-sized screen). That was a bad marketing plan when you could get two Palm Pre Plus phones for less than one Palm Pre phones.

I prefer the WebOS model and believe it will win out over the Android fragmentation (although the size of the Andriod / Sense UI market is becoming good sized). I'm hoping for a Palm summer surprise that is competitively priced as any possible new Palm phone will have to contend with a rumored summer launch of the Sprint 4G HTC Supersonic and HTC Incredible. If they also have the rumored wi-fi chip built in, you could eliminate home wireless for that deal.

[RobAnd]

I agree with seastar886. What really motivate developer is the install base. I am already 1 year waiting the Pre to be available in Brazil and still nothing. Come on palm, here in Brazil there is a huge community of palm users and every day I see that more and more brazilian palm users are migrating to IPhone, Blackberry and Android.

[Wayne]

As of March 10 with a 2-year plan:

• Palm Pre Plus at Amazon for $40, or Wal-Mart for $30. Some Verizon stores also have the "buy one-get one free" plan going; a great way to get a set of good phones at good price.

• For Sprint users, the half the memory, no wi-fi broadcast chip, harder to use keyboard version Palm Pre is $80 at Amazon -- half the memory, less capability/use-ability, almost 3 times the price.

• For me as a sprint customer with the maximum upgrade discount ($150), instant savings ($150), and mail-in rebate ($100), the final cost to me is $150 for the Palm Pre. (Only 5 times more expansive than the Verizon/Pre Plus deal!)

I would recommend the Palm Pre Plus $30 Wal-Mart/Verizon deal if you just need one phone.

[China]

A global app store without regional limitations (eg itunes) would certainly improve motivation. What is the point of limiting your growing app list to only the US store!

[lebowski]

heres a cool idea .... convince developers after today's earnings call that PALM will be around long enough for us to get traction in apps.

[Linda]

I've had Palm phones for so long. I currently have the Palm 755 on Verizon. I don't want to give it up because I love the way I can touch with fingers, use stylus, pencil, anything and use my physical qwerty keyboard. I've been waiting for another phone that can do what my old Palms did. I seriously considered buying the Palm Pre or Pixi but alas the keyboard is too small. That nixed the purchase for me. I'm really sad. I will have to replace my Palm soon. It's days are numbered.

I keep hoping Palm would introduce a phone similar to the old Palms giving me the best of all three worlds - touch, touch with pencil, stylus, or anything other than fingers, and a comfortable physical qwerty keyboard.

[SonnysGirl]

I have been a Palm user for a few years now and love it. I now have the Palm Pre, I love the phone, but I would like to see the following features available: voice activated dialing and the ability to edit word and excel documents. Are the developers looking into any of the applications?

[Air.Boss]

I have a Centro. It's my first PDA and I liked it because it had a capability to use stylus. I looked at other PDA's... mind you they all looked good, but Palm had what I wanted.

My contract ends in Dec 2010. If a competitor had Stylus available, I may move to them.

[ral]

i just got a blackberry and after a month i'm missing the stylus and touchscreen of my palm treo too and looks like the new palms do not have the stylus!!! the only option is the htc then??