Re: sections 1.4.2 and 1.4.3

I agree with everything that Jeff is saying below (well, I could argue 
some points but that would spoil the effect), I think mine is a 
different point.

The question is not whether devices are becoming more capable or not, or 
specifically whether tomorrow's processors will be more capable than 
today's. I have no doubt that tomorrow's mobile devices will be capable 
of executing what today can only be executed on a beefy mains powered 
desktop machine.

But that doesn't mean that processing power is no longer an issue. The 
crucial question is, for any point in time that you choose, is there be 
a difference between what is then considered a beefy mains powered 
desktop machine, and what is then considered a high end mobile device. 
Or to put it another way, at what point do we foresee that the 
difference is processing power will be immaterial?

I think it is arguable, for example in respect of bandwidth available, 
that the point-in-time differential between fixed and mobile is actually 
increasing. I would be more hesitant in arguing that for processing 
power, but the point remains.

So. Given that applications have a tendency to consume all the resources 
that are thrown at them, and given that at any point in time there is a 
differential in favour of the desktop in terms of the resources 
available, it follows that no matter how much the available resource 
grows, if there is a measurable difference between mobile and desktop 
then this is a distinct and enduring feature of mobile.

Jo

On 23/05/2008 17:06, Jeff Sonstein wrote:
> 
> On May 23, 2008, at 10:49 AM, Adam wrote:
> 
>> Jo objected to the assertion that limited device processing capability
>> was a good example of a limitation that will become vanishingly 
>> insignificant
>> in the foreseeable future.
> 
> as one of the weirdos who runs things like
> Apache and other services under the BSD sub-system
> on his everyday mobile device
> I am in the "will become insignificant in the future" camp
> and think it is reasonable to recognize trends like this "out loud"
> 
> what is "high end" today
> becomes "everyday" amazingly rapidly
> within the mobile device domain...
> witness the move over the past couple of years
> bringing photographic capabilities both still and movie
> "down" into what is expected of an everyday device
> 
> a comment was made elsewhere about
> some of these issues we are writing about being "so 1996"
> and the problem is that that really is where things stand
> in some ways...
> for example
> right now we *do* need to talk about
> graceful degradation & progressive enhancement
> with both based on the capabilities of the client context
> but the need to talk about that will fade
> as the XHTML/CSS/ECMAScript trio
> penetrates more thoroughly the mobile browser ecology
> just as the need to talk to big-screen developers about these issues
> has faded over time in the desktop/laptop "space"
> 
> my
> this has become a long-winded way of saying
> "yes, I think this is a decent example"
> <grin/>
> 
> jeffs
> 
> -- 
> “In an attempt to take Baltimore, the British attacked Fort McHenry,
>  which protected the harbor. Bombs were soon bursting in air,
>  rockets were glaring, and all in all it was a moment of great historical
>  interest. During the bombardment, a young lawyer named Francis
>  Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner", and when, by the
>  dawn's early light, the British heard it sung, they fled in terror! "
>   -- Richard Armour, It All Started With Columbus --
> ============
> 
> Jeff Sonstein
> 
> http://www.it.rit.edu/~jxs/
> http://ariadne.iz.net/~jeffs/
> http://ariadne.iz.net/~jeffs/jeffs.asc
> http://www.it.rit.edu/~jxs/emailDisclaimer.html
> 
>

Received on Friday, 23 May 2008 17:08:37 UTC