RunRev for iPhone and iPod Touch

[Richard Gaskin]

Terry Judd wrote:

>> If I were RunRev, long before I jumped on the iPhone bandwaqon I'd make
>> an engine that runs on the Windows-based handhelds.  Simpler API, and a
>> much larger installed base.
> 
> A Windows mobile version of Rev would be great (hey I think I even voted for
> one in BugZilla about three years ago) but if I could only have one mobile
> Rev platform then it would be for the iPhone/iPod Touch. These are the first
> handheld devices that I've seen that, IMHO, have real potential in the
> education sector. PDAs, whether Windows powered or not, have never taken off
> among students but these just might!

It's a tough call.  The iPhone has captured some healthy mindshare, but 
like the Mac GUI it won't be long before its gestures (and more) are 
simply industry standard.

And for the other capabilities, competing vendors don't have far to go. 
  I got a Palm Centro for my gal, and it's quite a powerful little 
device.  And I have to say I prefer the tactile response of a fixed 
keypad over the where-did-I-just-press? virtual keypad of the iPhone. 
And ideal device may be more like the Sidekick: usable physical keypad 
with large screen display.  Add gestures and it's an iPhone-killer.

It'll be interesting to see whether Apple opens up the iPhone 
architecture faster than competing vendors add gestures.  But while that 
race is on, it would take RunRev some time to deliver an engine for 
either device.  With both the iPhone and competing alternatives in such 
a state of flux, the whole thing is quite a moving target, and in the 
meantime I really, really, really need independent column alignment and 
zero-width columns in Rev fields, as do a few thousand others.

So it may be best for Rev to keep focusing on honing the engine for the 
business tasks currently asked of it, while the Handheld Platform Wars 
play themselves out for at least another year.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Managing Editor, revJournal
  _______________________________________________________
  Rev tips, tutorials and more: http://www.revJournal.com