An OnComing Rocket Ship

In the mobile offices we are often deep in debate: What will be the top reigning mobile OS this year? Where does one get the best Pho in San Francisco? How do I get the best ping pong topspin, penhold grip or shakehand grip? 

One argument you will be hard-pressed to hear over the beats of the new Kanye album and the flurry of typing is the value of HTML 5 versus native application development. It is our philosophy (yes even the Android team!) that native application development offers the most robust experience to end users. Native development is very near and dear to our hearts, a reason why we build native applications for universities on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Hp WebOS platforms. We want to be able to deeply integrate into each platform and give each end user, no matter their device, the experience they expect when they pick up their mobile device. Waiting for 3 or 5 or 10 years for HTML5 to catch up is not an option as the mobile revolution is undoubtedly happening now.  

That being said, we cannot deny the appeal in a future common denominator, such as HTML5. Fragmentation in the mobile industry is an issue we face every day and a common development platform that would unite all the different operating systems would be a blessing to all. However this begs the question, as we wait for that unifier to arrive how far will native development progress?

In the end, Blackboard Mobile is dedicated to providing the best end-user experience without compromise. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, that experience is provided by native development.  

To read more about this debate, check the recent article from TechCrunch’s MG Siegler: HTML5 Is An Oncoming Train, But Native App Development Is an Oncoming Rocket Ship