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by jryan49 2574 days ago
It segmented the Java ecosystem into two parts. Android doesn't keep up-to-date with current Java version changes and creates friction. It seems similar to what Microsoft did to Java in the late 90's [0] (without the malicious intent).

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Java_Virtual_Machine

4 comments

> It segmented the Java ecosystem into two parts.

I'd argue it vastly expanded the Java ecosystem, and the original part is unharmed. It's not necessarily getting unearned growth from the success of Android, but at the same time it's a huge stretch to say it was harmed.

> It segmented the Java ecosystem into two parts.

Sun did that themselves with Java ME. In 2008 when Android was released the newest version of Java SE, Java 6, was released in 2006. The newest version of Java ME, however, was 1.3 released in 2000.

Java ME was 8 years out of date before Android was released.

And Java ME wasn't even one platform. It was a collection of optional extensions.

> without the malicious intent

It seems like exactly the same intent to me. They want people making “Android” apps not Java apps.

JavaME is also fragmented because those phones are the least likely to get updates.