Comments on: Gearing Up For An Offline Application http://www.27months.com/2009/01/gearing-up-for-an-offline-application/ Cameroon from a technologist's point of view Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:21:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Shrikant http://www.27months.com/2009/01/gearing-up-for-an-offline-application/comment-page-1/#comment-12441 Shrikant Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:37:41 +0000 http://www.27months.com/?p=534#comment-12441 Is this solution implemented and available? I need to develop similar application for one of my client. Is this solution implemented and available?
I need to develop similar application for one of my client.

]]> By: BamendaBabe http://www.27months.com/2009/01/gearing-up-for-an-offline-application/comment-page-1/#comment-7521 BamendaBabe Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:55:23 +0000 http://www.27months.com/?p=534#comment-7521 I am still figuring out what the difference is between "proprietary" and "open source," and I think I am getting the gist of it, but maybe you'll eventually blog about your view of why open source is useful and fits the Cameroonian (African) context you work in, or maybe just how it fits with your own philosophy of IT. I hope you'll blog about this because it would elucidate what you mean when you say "the vast potential for raising the level of IT-awareness in Cameroon and beyond," especially for me and other readers unfamiliar with much of what makes up the world of IT. And for the sake of history, I posted this comment on: ~Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009~ I'm so proud to say that I am an American. :) I am still figuring out what the difference is between “proprietary” and “open source,” and I think I am getting the gist of it, but maybe you’ll eventually blog about your view of why open source is useful and fits the Cameroonian (African) context you work in, or maybe just how it fits with your own philosophy of IT.

I hope you’ll blog about this because it would elucidate what you mean when you say “the vast potential for raising the level of IT-awareness in Cameroon and beyond,” especially for me and other readers unfamiliar with much of what makes up the world of IT.

And for the sake of history, I posted this comment on:

~Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009~

I’m so proud to say that I am an American. :)

]]> By: billz http://www.27months.com/2009/01/gearing-up-for-an-offline-application/comment-page-1/#comment-7472 billz Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:17:52 +0000 http://www.27months.com/?p=534#comment-7472 @BamendaBabe, our hope is that being free & open source, the software might be modified and used specifically for ethnographic research. It'll have a lot of this functionality "out of the box" when we launch. It'd be great to have your input on its potential as a fieldwork tool. Perhaps you'd like to pre-register as a beta tester? ;) Re: distinctions between an app & a platform, I think you've got a good handle on it. Platforms are often associated with an application programming interface (API), which makes it easier for someone to build their own app from it. @BamendaBabe, our hope is that being free & open source, the software might be modified and used specifically for ethnographic research. It’ll have a lot of this functionality “out of the box” when we launch. It’d be great to have your input on its potential as a fieldwork tool. Perhaps you’d like to pre-register as a beta tester? ;)

Re: distinctions between an app & a platform, I think you’ve got a good handle on it. Platforms are often associated with an application programming interface (API), which makes it easier for someone to build their own app from it.

]]> By: BamendaBabe http://www.27months.com/2009/01/gearing-up-for-an-offline-application/comment-page-1/#comment-7320 BamendaBabe Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:54:06 +0000 http://www.27months.com/?p=534#comment-7320 This sounds like a very neat idea. Speaking as a once-upon-a-time fieldworker, I can say that having something like this would have made the idea of ethnographic research and data collection less daunting. I was a bit mystified and confused by the difference between an application and a platform. For a technologist, this is intuitive knowledge, but for a non-technologist this can cause some mental gymnastics. :) For instance: Is a platform also an app or could an app be a platform for something else, say another app? After talking to a technologist, I've learned that an "application platform" (like PHP and MySQL) is a set of tools and functions that allows a person to build an application. Basically, a platform is like a foundation or framework and it makes it easier for someone, say a web developer in Cameroon, to go on his computer and build a dynamic website (this site would be termed an application). Right? This sounds like a very neat idea. Speaking as a once-upon-a-time fieldworker, I can say that having something like this would have made the idea of ethnographic research and data collection less daunting.

I was a bit mystified and confused by the difference between an application and a platform. For a technologist, this is intuitive knowledge, but for a non-technologist this can cause some mental gymnastics. :)

For instance: Is a platform also an app or could an app be a platform for something else, say another app?

After talking to a technologist, I’ve learned that an “application platform” (like PHP and MySQL) is a set of tools and functions that allows a person to build an application. Basically, a platform is like a foundation or framework and it makes it easier for someone, say a web developer in Cameroon, to go on his computer and build a dynamic website (this site would be termed an application). Right?

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