In response to "Binary compatibility: Holy grail or red herring?" reader Timothy Appnel writes:

Sun sanctions, but does not encourage, the breaking of the "write one, run anywhere" ideal in J2ME. Not only does Sun divide J2ME into profiles, but it permits OEMs--including Motrola--to include their own APIs to maximize the device's capabilities. This is understandable because capturing all of the differing requirements of all devices and make it work in very constrained places would be an exercise in futility.

The development team of the nameless CEO you reference should have known about OEM APIs and made light of it to him. What is flawed is Motorola's poor management of their API's compatibility.

It's still not binary compatibility -- an ideal we strive for, but can never fully achieve. It's also not an "insidious problem" in J2ME, but rather the nature of the device space.

Timothy Appnel