airting007

Member since: Sep 19th, 2006

airting007's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
Joystiq	1 Comment
Engadget	49 Comments
Download Squad	5 Comments
Engadget HD	4 Comments
Engadget Mobile	2 Comments

Recent Comments:

Diaspora alpha invite giveaway (Download Squad)

Nov 24th 2010 4:19PM i'll give it a try

Camtasia 7.1 giveaway and video review (Download Squad)

Nov 15th 2010 2:19PM please be me this time?

SugarSync giveaway: win a 30GB account for a year (Download Squad)

Nov 10th 2010 7:33PM sign me up!

App Inventor lets you build your own Android app (well, soon: it's in closed beta) (Download Squad)

Jul 28th 2010 1:09PM Google actually ran some beta testing in colleges last year too. http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2009/07/app-inventor-for-android.html

As a part of that program, I can say that appinventor has potential but it isn't quite user friendly, at least from what I saw. A couple notes:
-There is no download. Appinventor is all online, so your projects are stored in the cloud like everything else Google. Compilation is all handled by google, and you don't even have to have a cable to put it on your phone. Appinventor can host the file and present a QR code for you to scan and download the application you compile.
-The Blocks Editor which is displayed briefly can be confusing to navigate since you have to find the right block within several panels and menus. It does however provide a very interesting, new way to view programming. Complex applications however would most likely be overwhelming to view in this form.
-Though Appinventor seems like a great way to introduce more basic ideas of software design, I think it's adoption in educational settings is linked to the success of Android. There is no way to test your application in Appinventor other than using an Android phone, so in order for schools to use Appinventor, they also have to have the phones. There is little motivation to develop applications you can't try out because you don't own the device.

just a couple thoughts