Despite my pessism for $PALM’s long term prospects, I’m installing the Mojo SDK

Posted: July 16, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: mobile | Tags: , , | Leave a comment »

(Besides, I can’t afford a Mac at the moment to begin native app development for the iPhone.)

I guess Palm finally started feeling the pressure of the developers wanting to get their hands on the SDK and opportunity slipping away with other phones stealing the Pre’s thunder.

One thing I’ve noticed so far is the reliance on Sun’s products and the recommendation to use an Apple product. (Palm, this flattery hardly makes up for the iTunes debacle):

via Installing the SDK on Windows – webOSdev – Palm:

  • Install Java
    Download and install the latest version of Java. To verify that Java is installed. go to the Command Prompt and type:
    java -version
    If Java is installed, Java version information appears.
  • Install Safari 4
    The Safari browser includes a number of features that are useful for debugging webOS applications.
  • Install VirtualBox
    The Palm Emulator is built on VirtualBox, virtual machine software that you can download free from Sun Microsystems. VirtualBox is required before installing the Mojo SDK.

By the way, what’s up with these conflicts? What will the webOS SDK update that is used by iTunes, my Garmin Training Center, and Firefox??

palmconflicts

Updated: 11:10 pm (EDT)

I had the following error:

palmsdkerror_virtualbox

So I went to update my VirtualBox. The update “link” that the version of VirtualBox that I had installed on my PC provided would not “link” or copy and paste, so I typed a nice long URL in manually. After downloading the 3.0.2 update, I ran it… After 15 minutes of inactivity at 99% complete, I gave up and hard booted my machine to get my network connections back that the earlier stages of the VirtualBox install disconnected (and to get rid of the VirtualBox install process that I could no longer cancel out of).

This is probably one of the many reasons Apple keeps such a tight control on its software ecosystem, Palm… People may still hate your software if you control all of the components, but at least you have fully earned the disdain of your users, and not put it in the hands of other companies, or even competitors. As I have learned through software development and working for a large company, it doesn’t matter who failed in the food chain. If it breaks your product, you will be blamed.

One hour later and I have not installed the Mojo SDK.