Mobile platforms

A computer science student wrote to me: “Last year, you wrote that Smartphones and Tablet could replace PC but my university is still teaching software using PC platform instead of mobile platform. My teacher said we do not need to change because people will always use PC as mobile only has limited use. I am worry whether I could get good job if the market changes. Please advice.”

Answer: It would take several years for schools to catch up with changes in the industry. However, if you can write software using PC platform then transfering to mobile platforms is not difficult. All things that you learn in schools are still important to your careers. You can follow the industry trend and make adjustment when needed to ensure that you have the knowledge and skills that the market need. There are many online tutorials that you can learn about development in mobile platforms on your own.

According to Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs report last week on the competing platforms trend, Microsoft’s operating systems have gone from 97 percent of all computing devices in 2000 when desktop and laptop PCs were dominant to 20 percent in 2012 when PCs, tablets and smartphones are all part of the computing-devices. Today, the market is led by Android at 42 percent, Apple at 24 percent share and Microsoft has 20 percent of the market. Currently Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are critical factors in this competing market. If Window 8 could not compete well, the whole market will be shifting to all mobile platforms where all future applications will be built.

Since nobody can predict the market in the next few years, it is important for you to keep an open mind and learn as much as you can on both platforms. You may want to check out several on line tutorials on mobile platforms:

Sources

  • Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
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