Mobile Devs @MoMo = No (apparently!)

It became quite clear at Mobile Monday in London this week that the one group that aren't welcome at Mobile Mondays are the developers and from talking to the people who were there it has become obvious that they aren't seen as a welcome addition. Not to name names but one person said "Why would we want the developers there, all they do is moan about everything.". My response was that they could help to suggest solutions that aren't just purely software solutions. Once again this comment fell upon deaf ears. I should have guessed as much.

This particular MoMoLo was the solutions executives, service providers, network providers, phone manufacturers and VC's. No one really cared much about solving issues that they have with mobile it was all about look what we can do and aren't we so much better than you. They forget who actually creates the systems that users end up communicating through and that without this they wouldn't have a means of interfacing to their 3G wireless networks or be able to do mobile micro payments.

MoMo are planning on doing a demo evening next time, but it is looking more and more like a promo evening to show off one company against another on functionality of phones etc. None of the funky developing softwares with the devs, service providers and phone manufacturers to get the latest API's or SDK's into softwares. I guess this now begs the question of whether there should be a side version of MoMo as MoMoDevs where these issues are raised and working in conjunction with industry partners such as Orange, Vodafone, O2 etc the issues might just be resolved. It's just another idea being thrown out there, any views either way are welcome.

Either way I doubt I will be bothering with the next standard MoMo and will probably be signing off of their mailing list as a result of the above!

posted @ Thursday, February 09, 2006 9:26 AM

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# re: Mobile Devs @MoMo = No (apparently!)

Left by David Hearn at 2/9/2006 12:37 PM
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I'm a developer and was at MoMo London on Monday for my first event and I found the presentations etc interesting - but as you say - more useful to business development guys, than developers. I'm not sure what I was expecting really.

Next month's demo evening might be interesting. My company (independent IT consultancy with no products to sell) is hoping to be able to demo some things to show off NFC technology and it's uses with mobile devices.

They were asking for suggestions for future events - maybe it would be worth suggesting a developer orientated evening - although I'm not sure what content it might include.

I guess the trouble is, the people with the money aren't the developers - but the execs, networks, manufacturers etc. Us lowly developers get forgotten about until we're the ones holding up the product when we hit a snag. ;)

# re: Mobile Devs @MoMo = No (apparently!)

Left by Jermaine Anderson at 2/9/2006 7:58 PM
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There are definitely going to be times when MOMO host topics which may not directly cater for our needs - or possibly go over our heads.

I'm relatively new to the mobile industry so I am keen to network and find more information about everything that I can.

I think it's kind of naive(?) of some people to say in not so many words that developers aren't welcome. At the end of the day we're the ones making the technology work, I think it’s fundamental for developers to know what keeps these execs et al. ticking.

What other topics do you think will be useful for developers at MOMO?

# re: Mobile Devs @MoMo = No (apparently!)

Left by Daniel Appelquist at 2/10/2006 7:50 PM
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This feedback saddens me, because we've tried to create an environment at MoMo London where all the participants in Mobile innovation are welcome and respected. The balance we are trying to strike is to have presentations that work for a range of participants -- designers, developers, marketers, VCs, etc.., and in the process bring those people together in an inclusive way. I do take your point that the presentations at the last one were a bit market-led, but that was kind of the nature of the event -- as it was focusing on mobile payment.

I hope you reconsider signing off, Sarah, because we need you and we need developers to be part of the community we're building -- in my mind very much front and center in that community, actually.

If you agree not to tune us out quite yet, will make a strong effort to make sure there is a strong developer component at the next event -- the demo night. For example, we can ask our demoers to not only walk through their applications but also spend some time talking about the technologies behind them and some of the challenges they faced building them.

What do you say?

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