Last week was incredible. We held our debut iPhone/iPad DevCon in beautiful La Jolla, a village in San Diego. So please forgive me if I’m on a bit of a mobile high. (As I write this, it’s Friday, and I’m both working my way through several days’ accumulated e-mail and trying to get readjusted to life in foggy San Francisco instead of basking in sunny South California.)
Two highlights of the conference were keynotes from Mike Lee, “The World’s Toughest Programmer,” and Aaron Hillegass, the founder of the Big Nerd Ranch.
Mike appeared for his keynote dressed in a pirate costume, and he implored everyone in the audience to focus on things that are worth doing, and to do those things with excellence. Don’t waste your time building me-too apps or cranking out garbage, he said. Write software that matters.
Aaron’s point was that we’re living in the golden age of mobile computing, similar to the way that the mid- to late 1980s were a golden age for the Internet. There are more opportunities and ideas today for mobile developers and entrepreneurs than there ever have been, or ever will be again. So, he advised, now’s the time to seize the moment and write software that matters.
Hmm. Do I sense a common thread there?
Our second iPhone/iPad DevCon will be in Boston from April 4-6, 2011.
We’re also creating a similar conference for Android developers. AnDevCon is coming to the San Francisco area on March 7-9, 2011.
Hope to see you at one of them—or at both!
Alan Zeichick is editorial director of SD Times. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/zeichick. Read his blog at ztrek.blogspot.com.
