Developer Rant: Restrictive policies strain developer patience (2002-6-15)
Author: M. Halliday

I believe that producing change for the better requires that we sometimes air out the dirty laundry, if only to spur more dialogue among the different parties. In the rant below, a developer notes down some problems with the current state of the Nextel Java ME (J2ME) program.

Regarding Java ME (J2ME) on devices like cellular phones, I think there are a couple reasons that we are not seeing a bunch of Java ME (J2ME) apps. I started on the Nextel Developer Program (http://developer.nextel.com) and the Motorola i85s Java ME (J2ME) phone. The hoops I had to go through to even load a midlet onto the phone was enormous. You have to buy a $29 cable from Motorola, download an app to load the midlet, and even then you got no network connectivity, so how you build a network aware app, I don't know. Also, Motorola's "update program" to be able to load the midlets wipes out all the information that comes with your phone, inlcuding the Sega games you got with it. (minor issue I know, but really this should not happen).

Now, once your up and going and have an app, you need to pay Nextel around $1500 (last time I checked) in order for them to test your app before they put it up on the network for people to download. Since most of the midlets I've seen sell for between $3 and $10, its gonna take a while to get back your $1500 investment if you ever get it all back as most people with Nextel phones have no clue what Java even is, or the fact the can download apps. In fact, most people do not pay for the "feature" that allows this to even take place. So your market is severly limited right from the start.

The whole thing is too restrictive. I have looked at Sprint's Java ME (J2ME) program, and they too look like they are going down the same path as Nextel.

Then they (Nextel) sit back and wonder why no one is developing Java apps for their phones. Hint: Make it easy and worthwhile for developers to do so, and scrap the $1500 fee - thats nuts. The Nextel Developer boards are for the most part dead. Theres no action over there at all.

Here is an article on the Nextel Developer Forums that summed it all up - better than I did

Having read through the cert program requirements, it's appears that the Nextel Java ME (J2ME) platform is headed nowhere fast. The hurdles for developers are incredible, and it really begs the question why all this effort on Nextel's part only to shoot themselves in the foot?

First off, the app cert cost. The price is absurd for an application that may sell for all of $5-10. And that's just for a single version of the program! Add a single feature and it has to be recertified, so either developers ante up and hope for 300+ sales _per_ update, or more likely, never update the program. Even the most minor error, like an incorrect screenshot, is a $1200+ retest. And the certification goes beyond program functionality, it also requires adherence to the Motorola style guide, which is _not_ an unqualified plus.

Most Nextel customers will never use the phone's ability to run programs. The majority of these folks are contractors who will never even use the built in date book, so the whole 'Java enabled' push comes to naught. The only way to get the message out is to get killer apps into the hands of early adopters, who can then show off and evangelize. In fact, when we got our phones even the Nextel _dealer_ didn't know the phones could run third-party software!

Better yet, how? The phones don't include a cable. And most subscribers don't have Nextel Online. In fact, Nextel Online was just dropped from the Free Incoming plan. The vast majority of potential customers, real end users who would buy software, are NOT going to buy a cable for their PC. The only way they'll get anything is if they can press the Java button and download from the phone's net access. The only way that's going to happen is if net access is ubiquitous, and the only way THAT will happen is if Net App download is a free feature - the opposite direction from recent events.

And so it's a vicious circle. The developer-hostile environment will keep the total number of apps low, which will keep customers from realizing the phone is a tool, which means too few customers for developers, which discourages development, and so on. Yes, it's a phone, but the second Java ME (J2ME) was put on it it became a platform, and software platforms are all about critical mass. And there's no critical mass without software, which requires developers.

Consider Microsoft, which long ago realized the key to a platform's success is courting developers. MS falls all over themselves to provide documentation, tools, and more. To some extent, it looks like someone in the iDen program got it. Information is plentiful, if labyrinthine, and there are a number of available tools. But these pluses pale in comparison to the hurdles, cost, limited delivery options. Indeed, the entire delivery system is all about what's good for Motorola, not customers or developers.

The only way Nextel can get this platform's foot out of the grave is to first, make Nextel Online, or the app-downloading subset of Nextel Online a free feature for ALL Java ME (J2ME) handsets, and second, create a section for 'uncertified' downloads, or preferably allow for other non-Motorola delivery mechanisms. Otherwise Java ME (J2ME) handsets will still be just phones, except for that small portion of the userbase that buys into a specific vertical market app. Well, except they're not just phones, they're phones with Java ME (J2ME) functionality that, unused, adds no value but adds to the cost of the device.

We've looked everywhere and can't believe people haven't raised these issues before. If we're late to the party, apologies.

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