Java and Handhelds, Goodbye Palm
So Java is pretty far from its "write once, run anywhere" promise, especially when it comes to handhelds/phones. But, it is the only viable "platform" versus the MS/VBScript/.NET juggernaut.
Russell Beattie seems to agree while responding to an interview with David Nagle of PalmSource:
So that shows you where Palm is when it comes to Java: PDA Profile didn't turn out like they wanted it to and so now they're passing on J2ME. Oof. J2ME's not my favorite, but to pass on it (and Java) wholesale is a real loss. Nagle talks about competing with M$ but then blows off the primary weapon when it comes to Enterprise customers. What does he think, some corporate code jockey is going to write all of their custom code in non-portable C for the PalmOS?
Yep. See ya later Palm. Handhelds will gain the full power of a computer at some point, so the organizer/PIM role that most handhelds are used for today will migrate to phones.
An editor's note at the bottom is particularly interesting – "until last year, there were no PalmOS-based offerings based on GSM or GPRS technologies"….and all of Europe uses only those technologies.
This is part of the long term Archive, originally published on