A number of weeks ago I chanced to enter a Culver's restaurant, whereupon, after I received my chicken tenders and plate of chips, I discovered there to be free Wi-Fi (information dispensed by a sign on the nearby wall, which I had not seen until that moment). Having my trusty, somewhat dusty Metallic Blue Nintendo DSi with me, I connected to the internet and, thus, to the DSi Shop.
I had read things on Nintendo's website about so-called, "DSiWare"... verily, the console itself came with six such applications installed already (Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, Mario Clock, Mario Calculator, FlipNote Studio, and two that I've never actually used). In any event, so intrigued was I at the prospect of having instant access to new programmes that I spent 20 quid on 2000 Nintendo Points. From Culver's free Wi-Fi, I downloaded three DSiWare applications: Rhythm Core Alpha, MusicON: Retro Keyboard, and Scrabble Classic. That left me with 500 Points which were burning the proverbial hole in my pocket until today. At a local grocery store, I discovered there to be free Wi-Fi again. I connected my DSi to it and downloaded one final programme: myNotebook: Carbon ("Carbon" referring to the colour, not the footprint).
Now, on an unrelated note, I also recently found myself in the local shopping-centre's Verizon Wireless store. I had been studying a Droid X, I think it was -- comparing it to a BlackBerry: functionality versus overhead costs and subscription fees. I need a new mobile phone and I've narrowed it down to three candidates: a Droid, a BlackBerry, or an iPhone. Controversy and hidden charges surround all three, but that's how stuff works in a capitalist society: who can swindle their subscribers out of as much money as possible. I figure five million owners of these devices across the country can't be all wrong -- they must see something in them, otherwise they wouldn't be selling as well as they are.
And now, the link between the two topics.
It seems to me as though all of the applications... er, "apps" for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone are all intended to perform the same general function as DSiWare -- to be downloaded from a remote location onto the user's mobile device for use at any time of the day or night, anywhere on the face of the planet (sort of). I already have a Nintendo DSi... DSi Shop is my App Store. Someone needs to discover that Nintendo are making a gigantic error in judgement by not using DSiWare to compete with other mobile devices. DSiWare developers seem to be focussing mainly on games ("It's for Nintendo -- the Mario people!"), whilst they could be doing a great deal more. Post-It Notes that one can write on and "stick" to their DSi's main menu! Graphing calculators! Address books! Tax software! Tip calculators! Graph paper! Day-planners! Dictionaries! Thesauri! Translators! Why, Nintendo could corner the market on paper and calculator apps alone! Never mind what could be done outside DSiWare... entire suites of office stuff (stickynotes, calendars, address books, day-planners, and notepaper all in one DS card)! Architectural design suites! Then, someone like SanDisk could come along and make a sleek, compact, yet durable DS card holder that could fit in one's pocket.
Don't get me wrong -- Flips: The Bubonic Builders is fine in its own right, but Nintendo are stunting their own growth by not seeing the DSi's full potential as a mobile device. Specialising in games is no longer an option. In this era of the iPhone, people want to be able to do stuff with their devices. Maybe assign one team to work on games and another to work exclusively on mobile apps?
It'll work, mates!
