Software Everywhere — David Beers on Mobile Computing

Thanks to all the folks who have been asking "where you been?" over the last five months. I go through periodic lulls in blogging and this probably won't be the last, but it has been one of the longest.

So where have I been? Why, right here, heh:


In August I took a position as a Senior Software Engineer at MapQuest, where I've had the pleasure of helping start a new mobile maps, directions and search project from the ground up: new dev team, new product and project managers, and a big, blank slate on which to build both product vision and technology.

It's been exhilarating stepping into the consumer mobile application space after years of doing vertical apps, especially doing so in an area that is so hotly contested right now: mapping, navigation and location-based search. Defending MapQuest's still commanding lead over Google and Yahoo, our closest competitors, is a huge challenge for a company of about 100 people, and ever since the iPhone the mobile front of that battle is becoming very important. It's been a while since I worked on a project where I would wake up on any given morning, think about the day ahead, and feel an adrenaline rush before my head even lifted off the pillow. It's kind of scary, totally stimulating intellectually, and a whole lot of fun!

I'm somewhat constrained in what I write about my work at the moment, but suffice it to say that the technical, creative, and team challenges at MapQuest have been so absorbing that I just haven't been able to keep the blog on my radar screen. That's not really changing—the heat is on more than ever—but I'm feeling once again the need to off-load some of my thoughts on mobile software here, if only to help sharpen some of my thinking about the interesting challenges I face in my current work.

For that reason the blog will probably have a little different focus for a while. I'm still thinking about the future of mobile computing and the companies that I see pushing out the frontier (including Palm, my favorite underdog). But expect more developer-oriented topics, perhaps some thoughts on mobile search and advertising which I haven't covered in the past, and definitely a new focus on agile practices as applied to mobile phone application development. I've had requests to comment on Android, SuperWaba, ACCESS and how the carriers will shape mobile development, and I'm flattered to be asked. But whatever small time I can make to blog these days is going to be occupied with stuff that's at the forefront of my mind that day, so please forgive me if I can't predict when I'll get around to these topics. I'm sure I will.