I started KeitaiArts at the beginning of 2010 for the purpose of creating games, utilities, and other types of software applications for mobile devices. The first KeitaiArts application is GameQuartet for iPhone.
Keitai is the Japanese word for mobile. The word further connotes mobile devices and software, and the culture that surrounds them. I chose this term out of my fondness for Japanese culture, especially Japanese print artists such as Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese temple carpentry, and the Zen masters from Dogen Zenji onwards.
I find developing mobile applications exciting because it provides an opportunity to truly practice the computer science that I studied for so many years. I spent about 20 years primarily writing books on computing, with too little time spent developing software. In addition to the demands of writing, the desktop environment—dominated by large software suites that would take a lifetime to write—was becoming less than inspiring. The desktop was also beginning to get just a little bit boring. I simply didn't have any ideas for desktop software that I wanted to write.
Mobile computing, however, is new and interesting. Mobile devices bring computing into new environments with entirely new needs and possibilities. Also, mobile applications are typically more compact than desktop ware, bringing them well within the scope of a single developer. And, writing software for a mobile device—with its small screen, limited memory, short battery life, and so on—is full of interesting challenges. I now have lots of ideas for software that I want to write. That must be a good sign.
Please visit my original website, mjyOnline.com, for information about my background and other pursuits.
