Appcelerator, provider of mobile and desktop platforms, recently surveyed 2,733 of its developers in its June 2010 Mobile Developer Survey. According to the survey's summary, the goal was to gain deep insight into the perceptions of six major operating systems in the smartphone field, including: Apple's iOS, Google's Android, Palm/HP's webOS, Microsoft's Phone 7, Nokia's Symbian/Meego and RIM for BlackBerry. As expected, the buzz around Apple's iOS (with 90% "very interested" in developing for the platform)  and Android (84%) remained strong, while findings showed flat-lining interest in BlackBerry (34%) and Windows 7 (27%) and dwindling interest in Symbian (15%) and Palm Pre/Pixi (13%) platforms.

Additionally, those who were not interested in developing for a platform were asked what was the most important factor in determining this position. Results found that 90% of those not interested in Apple's iOS do not favor the platform because they have become too controlling, while 69% found the Android platform to be too fragmented when it comes to developing and testing across the various platforms and devices. However, 75% of those not interested in developing for RIM indicated their reason as "competition from both iPhone and Android are going to overtake BlackBerry's position," while 72% said they do not see Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 climbing its way back in the fast moving market, 73% indicated that Palm/HP/webOS are too far behind Apple and others and do not foresee them catching up, and lastly, 52% found Nokia's triple-platform (Symbian, Meego, Maemo) play too risky and muddled.

Although some developers have gripes about the two leading operating systems, they don't take a knock at the positions each one holds in the smartphone market. While Apple and Android are off and running exploring other realms of development, with tablet computers and beyond, the others are still struggling to play catch-up. Modern-day Darwinism?

After reading Charles Darwin's "On the Origins of Species," British philosopher Herbert Spencer coined the phrase "survival of the fittest." He wrote: "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection,' or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life."