I'm just wondering. Because I have yet to hear of anyone using the mobile phone as an actual development platform. So, does anybody out there use a mobile, handheld phone to:

* write executable code (be it compiled or scripted)
* do web development
* design graphics
* write (I don't mean business mail, I mean books)
* and, you know, make anything.

...? If you do, I'd like to hear about it. I'd also like to know where the development tools for the mobile phone are. Now, I know that there are cameras out there where you can rotate the picture or change the hue with a thumb-slider - that's not what I mean. I mean create graphics from scratch. I know that theoretically you could type out Javascript with your thumbs and save it to a text file for later inclusion, or swap Bash code snippets over Twitter, or whatever. I mean real development. Does anybody exclusively use a mobile for development, and they write full applications, compose whole web pages, or render a 3D scene? How about audio and video editing - not just capture, but editing, like you can with Audacity?

Because I see where Google's Europe boss John Herlihy is getting these headlines that say one thing - "desktops will be irrelevant" - while showing an article body that says something completely different - that mobiles will be "the primary screen from which most people will consume information and entertainment."

See, consuming and producing has always led to a dichotomy on the web. The two cultures clash. It's my old "toys vs tools" spiel again. A division of devices intended for consumption and devices intended for production makes a lot of sense. I pray for the day when it dawns on the mainstream media that there are two worlds out there and it doesn't make sense to try to force them onto the same planet.

Somewhat related to that is the endless Linux desktop war - between the "dumb it downs" and the "hands off my geek toys." I've long argued that there should be a division in Linux distros between those intended for producers and those aimed at consumers. And indeed, I've also stubbornly clung to the opinion that open source and open content is more important to the producer than the consumer. The people who do not ever do anything on a computer but consume have no more right to try to take away my power tools any more than I have a right to demand that your camera become a picture-viewer only. I'd much sooner you have your playtoy and I have my power tool and we can each have our own unique needs met.

At the same time, I'd be nervous about building a wall between the two so that one cannot easily cross between the two when needed. That would not make sense - but it would be really, really profitable for big corporations to do. After all, what does open source mean on a phone? Yeah, you can modify it - but on the phone itself? Oh, so then if the computer stores go away and all the consumer is allowed to buy is a mobile - well, then, that's lock-in of another kind, isn't it?