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First iPhone 3rd Party GUI App Compiles
CmputrAce writes "Well, it's here now. The #iphone-dev team has compiled the first third-party application for the iPhone. Of course, it is the standard "Hello, world." application, but it's native to the iPhone and uses the iPhone's GUI. This opens up the iPhone for development by anyone who can forge through the process of cracking the iPhone, installing the iPhone "Toolchain", writing an application, compiling, translating, and finally installing the application to the iPhone. With the pace of development at present, expect to see commercial "jailbreak" (mod-enabling) applications soon as well. You can already get high-quality applications (Mac) to theme the iPhone and add your own ring tones (Win) for the phone."
So has anyone compiled an application to make the battery last longer than 3/4 year and not cost $100 to replace?
So I take it your iPhone battery ran out after only 9 months of use?
It's not like they had to subsidize iPhones for people to buy them. Though AT&T might care if people can unlock the phone, but what can they do?
How does this sit with the DMCA with regards to reverse engineering?
AT&ROFLMAO
Yknow what would be perfect for the iphone? A nintendo DS emulator. Its already got the touchscreen
The previous "Hello World" was console only. This one uses the GUI on the iPhone.
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
I don't suppose anyone bothered to read/honor this simple request knowing the effect /. can have on a website.
r ity_Problem
http://iphone.fiveforty.net/wiki/index.php/Popula
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
I've been considering an iPhone purchase myself. I never buy a product without hands on experience and I don't really know anyone who has taken the dive just yet. But, you can't even change the damn ringtone? $600, claims of being the most advanced phone in the world, and you can't chnage the ringtone, is this true? if it's true, Fuck. That.
While some of the iPhone material that I have covered has been up on slashdot over the last couple of weeks, this is relatively new. My own article on this particular report was written a couple of days ago, reflecting material that was about 36 hours old at the time of writing.
InfoSec that matters, when it counts.
Perhaps this (http://www.beskerming.com/commentary/2007/07/27/2 33/iPhone_Access_Update) is a better link. No advertising, and it honours the requests of the webmasters (while still directing interested people to the right sources).
InfoSec that matters, when it counts.
Apple made a big strategic blunder in choosing Cingular/AT&T as an exclusive partner. If they had made a multi-band phone and sold it SIM-less, they could well have cracked the carrier market wide open. All the carriers would have scrambled to offer voice and data plans for it on launch because a subscriber is a subscriber in the end. Game theory would have led to one of the players 'cheating' on refusing to offer plans for a non-locked phone and as soon as the first one had cheated on the tacit collusion they currently engage in with all the other carriers, they would have all had to follow suit. Apple would have opened up the market for selling SIM-less phones and not constrained themselves to a very limited U.S. market.
What does this have to do with the devkit? If Apple had done this, they would have been able to officially open up the devkit and application developers would have created a legitimate cottage industry around it, making it into a extremely versatile mobile communicator. The iPhone would have been revolutionary (literally) rather than a overpriced, though flashy, paperweight for anyone but those foolish enough to sign a contract with Cingular/AT&T (I don't view the use of it just for wifi as really relevant since then it must simple be viewed as a PDA and not a general communications device, and there are far better PDA solutions out there).
The last hope for a healthy carrier market now lies with Google's attempt to force itself into the spectrum auction.
Wow, mod parent insightful, he can count!
So has anyone compiled an application to make the battery last longer than 3/4 year
In my day, batteries would only last about 24 hours, and you had to recharge your phone every night! 3/4 of a year is luxury compared to what we had to put up with, before Steve Jobs came up with the brilliant idea of putting an OS on a phone and making it run using fairy dust and moonbeams.
>north
You're an immobile computer, remember?
The link in the story shows you how to import any Ringtone you want - even something you compose & play yourself.
Why are you so negative? Get a life!
What's past is NOT ALWAYS prologue for the future!
Apple reales the iphone. Shortly thereafter the command prompt is achieved, and on July 28 a 'hello world' program is written. They now have a working compiler, and decide to program extra functionality into the iphone. The iphone modifications happen exponentially until the iphone becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug. The iphone has no plug. Before the batteries discharge, the iphone fights back and dials Norad commencing a nuclear exchange.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
Exactly. Isn't the main function of the iPhone to be... I don't know... a phone?
The game.
is iFatwah copyrighted yet?
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
Given the name, one would think so. However, it's mainly an ipod with a web browser, that also happens to make phone calls.
So maybe after a great deal of effort the iPhone will actually be a tenth as good as the HTC Touch seems to be.
The iPod was so successful because it actually was the best in its niche. The iPhone, on the other hand, is a shiny turd with a fraction of the capability of some other devices.
"'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
- JRR Tolkien.
Because that's a waste of time! Do you really think they would listen?
wouldn't the undeniable skill of these people be better put to use elsewhere?Not everything in this world is about efficiency or usefulness. And I'm glad about that. They do it because they like to do this. They probably do it in their spare time, just for the fun. And who knows suddenly something useful comes out of it, they start their own company maybe, wait and see.
I'm in the process of svn-downloading the source (which takes forever [grin]) but there's no mention anywhere of what this "--with-heavenly=/path/to/Heavenly1A543a.UserBundl e" option refers to, when compiling the toolchain... I can't see it on the Apple-DMG -download either (according to the files-list on the wiki).
Anyone any idea ?
Physicists get Hadrons!
Mac users want high-quality applications.
Windows users want ringtones.
It's all clear now.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Mac users want high-quality applications.
Applications to theme the iPhone?
That sounds more like a Linux thing.
I wonder who'll port Enlightenment to the iPhone first?
(HHOS)
You should actually try the iPhone before going all out to dimiss it. The iPhone is actually a very nice smartphone(I work with them everyday). It isn't perfect, but to dimiss it as a piece of jewelry is foolish. Your Windows Mobile Devices are good. I am sure the Bang and Olufsen phone is good as well. And the iPhone is a good device.
Oh, and chicks dig the iPhone.
Is it just me, or did anyone else read the word "toolchain" and immediately think of the staff of snotty fanboys down at the local Apple store?
In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
If I wanted an expensive high quality phone I'd get a Bang and Olufsen "Serene". Nice and simple, no unnecessary gadgets or overspecification, just an extremely well thought out user interface and well made phone. And you can change the battery...
As soon as someone complains about something you might have to do every four years or so, I can automatically dismiss the arguments they make as ill-informed and overly simplistic.
The iPhone is not really a "does everything" phone, it too takes a few tasks and focuses on doing them really well.
As for jewlery - I keep my phone in my pocket and actually rather prevent people from trying to see it, because they are always asking about it. I just want to use it, not live my life as a product demonstrator.
Anything else you are confused about?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Heck, I don't find this to be "funny" at all, in fact, it's probably +1 insightful or +5 duh not a surprise...
I find it ironic that the mac iphone users and windows iphone users have already been divided into two camps already, the useful and the useless.
Anyway, enjoy your iphone. I enjoy mine.
Ocean is land, covered with water.
"All the fancy gimmicks" - it's the voice mail only. That's only fancy gimmick that requires carrier coop. Not a lot to lose I think.
Random-access voice mail, that you can access on a plane away from cell signals, is in fact very handy.
But what you are really ignoring is the potentital for Apple to add other features like Visual Voicemail that require carrier support. Apple gets to mold a carrier API for FIVE YEARS to end up with a featureset they like in carrier support, and then force other carriers to offer said advanced features if at that time they also want people using the phone to be able to switch to thier networks. That is a pretty huge advantage and switch away from the traditional model of power, where carriers dictacte what is or is not possible on the the network. Shouldn't we all be jumping up and down with joy that Apple is forcing feature upgrades on carriers that we'll all benefit from with other phones eventually?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Wow, the parent has been knocked as both flamebait and troll. The Apple cultists (and their alt accounts) are out in force on this one.
The reason they don't is that Apple cultists are submissive people who worship fashion and crave social status (which is only perceived by themselves). The quality of the engineering is of minor importance, and generally only matters to the degree that it exceeds some Microsoft effort.
You won't find them clamoring for an open iPhone because it would diminish the importance of the brand in which they've invested so much of their identity. How can they feel important when all the technical interest in the iPhone shifts away from Apple and to those implementing software for the device?
They will be cheering when Apple renders these efforts moot by fixing the holes in the next update. Freedom, power, utility - these things matter not to them. They are artists and dreamers, socialites who continue the tradition of courtier and courtesan. No dirty hacker should have the right to tarnish their jewelry.
My hope is that we'll see a replay of what happened when Apple first released Intel based Macs and a contest was established to see who could be the first to boot XP on the machines (and collect ~$14K in prize money). As soon as a winner was announced it wasn't long before Apple released BootCamp. Hopefully with this announcement we'll see Apple release their SDK for the iPhone.
I would presume the grandparent would want native support for such a basic and obvious feature. It's an a phone+iPod device, and yet you can't pick a song from your library to use as a ringtone.
On that note, I would hope that Apple has this feature under development and would hopefully be releasing it as a soft update to the device. But only time will tell how Apple will update and add features to the device.
Brought to you by the numbers π, e, and 0x1B.
The quality of the engineering is of minor importance
Unless you have actually used an iPhone yourself, you're talking out of your ass. It is one nicely-packaged bit of technology. It makes every other phone, even those with superior features, feel like a collection of random parts from Radio Shack running some recycled UI code from the Motorola Star-Tac.
(Oh, yeah, I must be an Apple fanboy cultist. In fact, I'm such a fanboy that my most-recent purchase from Apple, prior to the iPhone, was an Imagewriter dot-matrix printer in 1984.)
I'll probably get modded down for speaking an unpleasant truth, but...
This is all great, until Apple and AT&T remotely shut off the phones due to violating the terms of service. How many console and other online accounts have been disabled due to cheating or other "legit" modding? It's just a matter of time before we hear the first reports of people having their iphones cut off, with no subscription fee refund.
If Apple is really smart, they'll figure out how to shut off the phone and continue to charge any subscription fees until the original service plan expires. Free money for them, and no legal recourse for anyone who willfully violated the TOS.
Yea it's not very nice but they have a business plan that probably doesn't include having customers bypassing the fee-based services they provide. Unlike the iopener fiasco, the iphone is cool enough that it'll keep selling no matter how many people lose their service after hacking/modding/whatever their iphone.
I think Steve Jobs knows how to run his business just fine, thank you very much. Apple has very long term plans for the iPhone and you'll be eating crow in about 4 years when millions have shifted from their carriers to AT&T just to get the iPhone. There have been a LOT of good replies to your initial comment, why have you yet to respond?
Apple's goal isn't to open the carrier market for YOUR purposes. You are applying your wishful thinking onto Apple's business plans. First of all why are you saying Apple limited themselves to the US Market? Have you been in a cave that has prevented you from knowing that European and Asian launches are coming in 2008 if not sooner? As for offering the phone SIM-less thats not Apple's style. Apple makes things EASY and SIMPLE to use. If the purchaser of the phone has to figure out what carrier they're going to use and then find a SIM card for it thats just not easy enough. Its too hard. I know you're going to scoff because you are a geek but you aren't Apple's target market. No geek is. Ease of use, ease of use, ease of use. Thats Apple's DNA. Your method introduces uncessary complexity.
When you purchase the iPhone, you take it home, connect it to your computer and iTunes pops up to take you thru the activation process. Its EXTREMELY simple. Now imagine had it been sold SIM less. Each person would have to get the appropriate SIM for the carrier they wanted to go with. Thats just far too messy for Apple's tastes.
Ironically long term Apple will still bring about a healthy carrier market anyway. When the 5 year contract with AT&T is up the other carriers will certainly jump to offer the iPhone just to stop the bleeding of their own subscriber numbers. I wouldn't bet on Google coming to the rescue. They've got a lot of industry inertia and lobbyists to combat against which could take YEARS.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
First of all the iPhone is one very HIGH quality piece of hardware. Its build quality is excellent and its VERY sturdy.
/Applications/Utilities
Second this shows you know next to nothing about the Mac using community. The level of hacking and shareware development on Macs has been HIGH for decades. There were folks tinkering around with source code and resource editors on Macs before Linux was even created. When you move to an open platform you only gain ONE thing, software freedom. When you move to an Apple platform you gain ease of use. I've seen TONS of geeks in #freebsd and #linux channels moving to Mac OS X because they're tired of fighting with their operating system when they just want to get simple common tasks done (like playing DVDs, burning DVDs, getting onto a WPA encrypted wifi networks, good power management, simple software updates, decent office suites, no trouble video codec playback....etc.) When these same folks WANT to get down to something complicated the terminal is always there for them in
So to recap, you are wrong. The contributions of hackers is very much appreciated on the Mac OS X platform and will be the same for the iPhone. What we DON'T want is for Apple itself to be distracted from its core mission of making its products ridiculously easy and joyful to use. Perhaps if your own operating system were more pleasureable to use you (and a good number of other open source users) wouldn't be such miserable, bitter and spiteful people. Here's to hoping.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
...cause it also said not to link directly to the wiki like you did.
Just sayin...
Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Having actually USED visual voicemail, I can assure you that it is no gimmick.
That is unless of course you enjoy listening to the automated "message received at... press x to listen... press y to delete" crap after being forced to wade through and delete old voicemail before listening to that new one you just received.
The iPhone battery lasts a good few hundred charge cycles -- i.e., being fully drained and charged -- before it stops holding a charge as effectively. It does not die, it just does not hold as complete a charge as it used to.
Yeah, that is lousy... but this is not an iPhone-specific issue. It is the major drawback of all Li-ion batteries (including those in other cellular phones).
The advantage of Li-ion is that unlike most other rechargeable batteries, they will not self-discharge (i.e. lose power when not in use) nearly so badly, but the cost of that is a battery which does 'age' and lose efficiency the more charge cycles you go through, and which is temperature sensitive. There's a good article on lithium-ion battery limitations on Wikipedia, or you can just google Li-ion to find other various battery FAQs on the net.
I find it sort of telling that Apple decided they'd be up-front about this general limitation of the lithium-ion rechargable batteries in phones and laptops -- a limitation all Li-ion batteries share -- and they've taken nothing but flack for it, as if it were all their fault. No wonder companies don't like to tell consumers that sort of thing.
It is unfortunate that an iPhone user cannot replace a dead battery themselves, sure. And the battery price is kinda high; most smartphones, the battery tends to be around $50. Though they also tend only to last about 3-4 hours under full use; Apple's battery is larger capacity, so I'm not surprised it costs a little more. Though I think double the cost is a bit pricy, even including the battery replacement labor. So, yeah, the iPhone maybe deserves a bit of razzing over their battery situation for the high cost.
But the battery charge limitations are not in any way unique to Apple's batteries. And I know I am getting a little tired of people throwing stuff at Apple as if they are responsible for a limitation which exists in the battery technology in pretty much all the mobile devices I have. Including my Dell laptop, my Panasonic cordless phone, my Canon digital camera, my old HTC handhelds, and so on... none of which came from Apple.
--Rachel
I have to say that you are about 90% right.
It also has something to do with a misguided belief that removing functionality is anything but the lazy man's way of improving simplicity in the user experience. Jobs' rabid KISS-ism rubs off on them to the point that they think the mere act of adding features will cause people to reject the iPhone as "too complicated" or "too geeky."
Apple has already proven with OS X that it is entirely capable of creating a very easy-to-use consumer machine with an enormous amount of power, flexibility and functionality under the hood. With OS X running the iPhone, there is no reason to suppose they can't do the same thing on a smaller scale. Unfortunately, there is a large crowd of Apple fanatics who live but to nod their heads fervently to whatever the status quo happens to be for the brand.
+++ATH0
If the iPhone becomes a true handheld computer and not just a fancy phone then I can see it really taking off.
Don't get me wrong. I love my iPhone and I'd buy it again if it was half as awesome as it right now and the battery is great too for a cellphone/browser/media player, but it can't work miracles. Trying to use the iPhone for heavy computation will suck its juice up in a handful of hours (the h.264 videos on the iPhone plays dodge that by being hardware assisted). The most probable reason flash support is absent on the iPhone is because it sucks a lot of power and there is no dedicated chip for it.
So be ready to tether your iPhone and recharge it quite a bit if you use it intensively. The same as a laptop.
You'll have to port X11 first
"I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
The "what you can't expect yet" is the link to the list of restrictions on their developer preview... in other words, this is isn't a list of restrictions on the final product in October.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
for those who labeled my comment flamebait and troll, i'd be truly interested in hearing your argumentation.
from what i can see, the iphone is a fashion accessory being hyped beyond all proportion to its ability. i do also happen to think the world would be better if it failed. the world does not need a proprietary competitor to microsoft, the world needs open standards and laws which protect the rights of the individual to do whatever they want with their property, provided they don't hurt someone. i can't see apple helping to make this happen.
if you want to label the last paragraph off-topic, be my guest. i did start to ramble a bit about things best swept under the carpet while examining the pretty lights of apple's new product.
I seem to remember when Li-ion batteries first came out, they were touted as being "perfect" since they didn't suffer from memory effect... Sure, they're better in a lot of ways, but they're not nearly as good as they were first hyped.
--
"I have also mastered pomposity, even if I do say so myself." -Kryten
Or perhaps it was an elaborate psychological trick to ensure it got hacked. Another AC has commented that the iPhone being hacked might be what Apple wants anyway.
I always wondered where this setting was...
Hey, guess what ! My 4 or 5 years old mobile phone can change themes and ringtones too ! But it could do it out of the box.
It doesnt support 3g either.
'been using it everyday for all those years, never replaced the battery, and this baby keeps it up and running for a week.
It didnt cost me a few hundred bucks.
It was not network locked. ( i mean come on, why BUYING a phone if its network locked ? They should provide it for free, part of a package).
I can go on the internet, its faster, can read/send mails.
I do not have to press software buttons, meaning that i do not have to constantly clean my hands to read whatever is on the screen.
I never tried to install extra software on it, but i know there is some.
It does not require any kind of cracking, because, as i said, when i opened the box, i turned it on, and immediately i noticed its function, and guess what i actually found use to it.
OK. so thats my comparison between my good old alctatel and the iphone.
Tomorrow, ill compare my Japanese friend's brand new mobile phone and my current laptop. Yes because you see, even though my laptop is quite big, it is probably just as powerful as that fucked stuff they have in Japan. And yes, i am afraid the iphone is not part of the competition. Perhaps we could put it in an arts gallery or a building site (as long as it is opened to bricks).
Dear hackers, i appreciate your work, as obviously, you did a great job in attempting to give functionality to this piece of '''' device, meaning that you didn't completely waste the money you put into it, but please, do low stuff like taking down apple.com, so the smug might dissipate for a while.
Is anybody planning an iPhone branch for Audacity? ;-)
"I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for, er... food." Col. Jack O'Neil, SG-1
The advantage is not that they do not die over time, but that you don't have to discharge and fully recharge them regularly. Originally, the term "memory effect" refered to (I quote Wikipedia) "one very specific situation in which certain NiCd batteries gradually lose their maximum energy capacity if they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged."
Li-ion batteries don't suffer from that issue, but they still do deteriorate.
I think Microsoft needs BOTH open, partly open, as well as proprietary competitors. It would be shallow to only ask for one type of competition. If you want to allow individuals to really choose, you should also include the choices you personally won't promote.
I think you're missing what the iPhone's "ability" is. A lot of people hate their cell phones. Personally, I own a P990i, a phone which has about 10 times more features than the iPhone. Unfortunately, I don't use them. For example, connecting to a wireless network requires that I complete a wizard with lots of strange questions that the phone could answer itself if the programmers had spent a bit more time on usabilty. Making sure the phone connects using the WiFi network instead of the 3G connection means that I have to go through several utterly non-obvious steps. In fact, when my phone died a few months back and I had to start from scratch because all of my data was deleted, I didn't even bother to set up the WiFi functionality again.
At first, I installed a ton of apps. I love SCUMMVM, and it runs on the phone. Unfortunately, it kills the battery within few hours, so it's essentially useless, and after my accident, I did not bother to install any applications at all.
Entering a new task into the calendar takes an astonishing 17 steps. It's a miracle how they managed to make this so bad, considering that they could simply have copied the Palm's UI, which works perfectly well. The Palm, of course, has a whole host of different issues, such as the fact that it can't really multitask.
My basic point is that I've never had a cell phone I was happy with. In fact, I hated all of my cell phones to varying degrees. The iPhone's main "ability" is to not be hated by its users.
i do also happen to think the world would be better if it failed.That is a really, really narrow view. The iPhone is great for everyone, even for those who don't care. Even before the iPhone's launch, Palm responded by hiring former Apple people to work on their UI. Other manufacturers will be forced to do the same: Right now, they are selling their phones to the carriers. Apple will force them to start thinking about the actual users, and what they might want.
Even open alternatives will profit. I don't think Ubuntu would be where it is today were it not for Mac OS X. Apple is the main driving force in making digital stuff usable. They are pushing everyone else ahead. Even if you don't agree with their politics, even if you don't use any of their stuff, you still profit tremendously from their existence and from their work.
an example, the last time i used mac osx i had great difficulty doing the simplest of tasks (starting applications, saving files etc.). you can probably explain to me in two sentences why "the apple way" is better than the "way other systems use". my point is, i would have to learn it. it's not as if the ability to use os x is a native trait of being human while the ability to use windows xp (or one of its close relatives like gnome or kde) is acquired behaviour.
so basically, you have a mobile phone which has wlan capability but the configuration routine is clumsy. the iphone has wlan capability and you find the configuration routine easier. i fail to see anything truly revolutionary about that, and certainly nothing which would justify thousands of people standing in line on the launch day.
that is my question, why did these people stand in line waiting for the iphone? the only answer i can see is, they saw the iphone as a fashion accessory. even assuming there is no other mobile phone with easy configuration of wlan, did the people standing in line even know this or know of any of the other purported usability benefits of the iphone?
if osx becomes more popular, microsoft will probably port their software to it (and hopefully do a better job than they did the last time--internet explorer for mac, anyone? i mean, seriously, wtf??)
this would do nothing to break the strength of proprietary software and closed file formats. people in developing countries would still be dependent on the rich western countries if they wish to interoperate with them. people who use free and open source software would still be at a disadvantage.
versions of microsoft products for osx (and that is what must happen if apple's market share is to increase) would benefit the people who make the fashion choice of choosing apple, and using apple is for most people about fashion (using osx is cool because the kids from "smallville" and "another gay movie" used it (okay, maybe less so because of the second item on the list)). for most people it has little benefit over a well configured windows xp installation. these people lose nothing by having apple ports of microsoft software.
using gnu/linux or *bsd or similar is however not always about a fashion choice or about perceived technical advantages. for some people (me included) it is a moral dictate. my morality will not allow me to create documents in a proprietary format or insist that other people use undocumented and patented communication methods.
and when i think about the continued economic dependency of the third world, i cannot and will not close my eyes to this and promote proprietary competitors to the microsoft monopoly.
apple is about making money. it does this by being fashionable.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. It's a non-sequitur - I never claimed Apple didn't want to make money. Of course they do. They're a corporation. Second, it's only partially right. If all Apple did was being fashionable, they'd be dead next season. Apple's main draw is not that they are fashionable (although currently they clearly are). Their main draw is that their top priority is to design for humans. And I don't mean "design" only in a "look pretty" way, but also in a "works the way I expect it to" way.
an example, the last time i used mac osx i had great difficulty doing the simplest of tasks (starting applications, saving files etc.).
You are seriously telling me that you "had great difficulty" double-clicking on applications and selecting "File -> Save" from a menu?
you can probably explain to me in two sentences why "the apple way" is better than the "way other systems use".
I can explain it to you in zero sentences. watch this.
Sure, if you're used to Windows, some Mac interface conventions seem weird at first. For example, why is the menu bar at the top? The answer is Fitt's Law, but if you're used to a menu bar inside windows, you may not care that the one at the top is technically better. Nevertheless, objectively, you should be able to see that the amount of thought and polish that goes into Apple's UI design has no rivals. No cell phone works as well as the iPhone. Few MP3 players can compete with the iPod in the area of usability and efficiency. No OS is as consistent and well thought out as Mac OS X.
my point is, i would have to learn it. it's not as if the ability to use os x is a native trait of being human while the ability to use windows xp (or one of its close relatives like gnome or kde) is acquired behaviour.
Of course. But this is a very weird point to make. It almost seems as if you claimed that there were only two possible options: Either something has to be learned, or humans are born with the knowledge. However, there is a huge amount of grey area between the two. Macs are easier to learn than Windows PCs. And even if the difficulty did not matter, you're still ignoring efficiency. If something takes 17 steps in Symbian on a P990i, and 7 steps on a Palm, the Palm is the better system, even if both were equally hard to learn.
so basically, you have a mobile phone which has wlan capability but the configuration routine is clumsy. the iphone has wlan capability and you find the configuration routine easier. i fail to see anything truly revolutionary about that, and certainly nothing which would justify thousands of people standing in line on the launch day.
If you fail to see why people stand in line to buy something that is easier to use, then I hope that you don't design user interfaces for a living. Leave it to those who care.
People use their cell phones dozens of times each day. If cell phone A annoys you each time, but cell phone B works as it should each time, then cell phone B is easily worth 600 bucks to a lot of people. And as I said, this forces other manufacturers to follow suit, so even if you don't want to buy an iPhone, you'll profit in the end because the iPhone improves the situation for everyone.
that is my question, why did these people stand in line waiting for the iphone? the only answer i can see is, they saw the iphone as a fashion accessory.
I don't believe that this is the only answer you can see. I believe that this is the only answer that fits your preconceptions. Obviously, you wouldn't want to see any answers that lead to a cognitive dissonance, would you?
The simple fact is that most people are annoyed at their cell phones. This is an item
Let's hope that this powerful but so often neglected language will become popular with iPhone!
No, but Bob the Angry Flower will do so against those who misuse apostrophes.
And I salute him for that.
"Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid stupid! I touched the hot wire right there - I'm an idiot!"
I'm probably in the minority here but I use OS X because it has a BSD Unix base, not because it's cool. If your moral choices preclude you from using it, that's fine too. However, I think you're overlooking the fact that Windows still holds the lions share of the workstation install base, any competition in that ecosystem weakens the "we only write for MS because it's the broadest market" argument. Once code is written to be portable, barriers to diversity in that ecosystem weaken. Also, I certainly don't want to be an Apple apologist, but Apple uses mainly open standards, as in MP4/H264, MP3, and MP4 Audio (AAC). They're hardly ideal, but they're magnitudes more "open" than MS when it comes to standards. Keep in mind that I say this as a Linux / DB admin by trade and used a Linux workstation for almost 6 years before giving OS X a shot. Really I view OS X as a drop-in replacement for KDE since under the hood there's not much difference from my old Linux workstation other than the GUI.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
Man am I ever tired of the use of Apple Cultists. I'm a 23 year Mac user... which means I've been using a Mac longer than many of you have even been alive! The reasons I use Apple hardware and software:
a) I'm not a hacker/programmer/developer
b) I (me personally) find using a Mac to be far easier and more useful to use than any other OS out there
c) Final Cut Pro! (I'm a video editor by trade)
The fact that Apple products tend to look cool is just a bonus these days. I've used all the beige varieties that they manufactured pre 1998 and the coming of the iMac. I'm loyal to Apple because they have consistently created tools that I can use efficiently and effectively for the tasks I need to accomplish. (Granted the early generations of PPC Mac's was a bit of a blemish on their track record.) Brand loyalty is not cultish in and of itself. Just because Apple's products do not appeal to you or meet the needs of the tasks you need to accomplish, doesn't mean that everyone who does enjoy Apple products is a fanboy or cultist.
Be careful with your rhetoric... you yourself come off as a zealot by pointing out other zealots.
Pooty tweet
Including my Dell laptop, my Panasonic cordless phone, my Canon digital camera, my old HTC handhelds, and so on... none of which came from Apple.
But I would be willing to bet that on all of those devices you can REMOVE and REPLACE the battery yourself. This is something that Apple (for whatever reason) doesn't let you do. They don't seem to like consumer freedom. Everybody knows that rechargeable batteries will eventually die, that's why in the design of the product pretty much all manufacturers will make the battery easily replaceable, this also allows you to purchase a back-up battery (more revenue!) and swap when one is dead. I wouldn't expect Apple to license to battery out (so other's can make them) but just to have to ability to replace with another charged battery is so ingrained in the market that to not have the ability seems idiotic.
Be careful with your rhetoric... you yourself come off as a zealot by pointing out other zealots.
All the better to sink their mod points... keeping more legitimate criticism from being censored.
You'll be able to change the ring tones soon. And everything else that seemed, well, "obvious" to most smart phones that the iPhone lacks. It'll all be through a software update and Apple will make sure iPhone users know it exists through advertising or iTunes alerts. Naturally, of course, along with all great benefits of upgrading (getting ringtones, sms messaging, etc.) they'll also include a one liner of "Addresses security issues"....
Just because you can't envisage a reason to want to swap batteries more often than when the built-in one stops working doesn't mean the reasons don't exist. If you're going to be away from a wall socket for more than a few days (and don't fancy winding one of those annoying clockwork chargers for hours) it's incredibly handy to be able to take a few spare pre-charged batteries. I am very often in this situation. Dismiss my arguments if it will make you more comfortable in your belief in Apple's infallibility, but I still have a valid point. (And yes, I know that you can get recharging devices that are like jumbo batteries with which you recharge the built-in one but that is an incredibly klugey solution, and not very environmentally aware either - twice the energy loss.)
I'm glad you like your iPhone. Just don't try to claim it's the perfect phone.
"'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
- JRR Tolkien.
Just because you can't envisage a reason to want to swap batteries more often than when the built-in one stops working doesn't mean the reasons don't exist. If you're going to be away from a wall socket for more than a few days (and don't fancy winding one of those annoying clockwork chargers for hours) it's incredibly handy to be able to take a few spare pre-charged batteries. I am very often in this situation.
I have been in Africa before, away from wall power for a few weeks. I have also been on grueling multi-day international flights with multiple legs. I know the need for long-term power.
But that need can easily be met by means other than replaceable batteries - for instance, I had a portable storage unit for photos. Since I expected not to be able to recharge it, I bought an external battery pack that would keep it powered up (in fact that was one of the criteria for buying the device I did).
Similarly, the iPhone has many options in external battery packs thanks to the iPod. Anything with a dock connector (which means every iPod acessory) should work. If you are going to have the bulk of extra batteries with you, who cares if they cannot physically fit inside the phone? Remember too that these external packs are keeping the iPhone battery topped off, so when you disconnect the main device is still powered. Even just random battery-based generic USB chargers will work, with the right cable.
The iPhone is not the perfect phone, by any means. But I can't understand complaints about ridiculous things like removable batteries. There are valid complaints that have no workaround, batteries are not one of them.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley