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Throwing Out Software That Works
theodp writes "Just as the iPhone rendered circa-2007 smartphones obsolete, points out Marco Arment, the iPad is on the verge of doing the same to circa-2010 netbooks. Should this succeed, cautions Dave Winer, we may be entering an era of deliberate degradation of the user experience and throwing overboard of software that works, for corporate reasons. Already, Winer finds himself having to go to a desktop machine if he wants to view web content that's inaccessible with his iPhone and iPad. 'There was no bottleneck for software in the pre-iPad netbooks,' he writes. 'It matters. What I want is the convenient form factor without the corporate filter. It's way too simplistic to believe that we'll get that, but we had it. That's what I don't like — deliberate devolution.'"
Yeah my 2006 Blackberry is really obselete now. Going online, checking my mail, instant messaging, and god forbid calling people has never been a worse experience. But I guess I don't have a fart button app, time to throw it out.
The iPad causes all netbooks to disappear all of a sudden?
It's your own damn problem if you bought an iPad. Should have bought a netbook.
Writing this on my EeePC. I like a real keyboard.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
It must suck to have Steve Jobs break into your house, smash your netbook, and force you at gunpoint to buy an iPad.
I use a smartphone (non-iPhone) and a netbook pretty much every day. They are far from obsolete, as they do exactly what I need in a form factor that provides a good balance of size, weight and battery life.
If your iPad doesn't meet your needs how can you claim it makes other devices that DO meet your needs obsolete?
I still want an iPad, but more as a cool toy than to fill any need. Oh, and I do not want an iPhone.
"You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
I'm about ready to grab a sledgehammer and start forcibly tattooing this mantra into the heads of every internet commenter and Slashdot editor who has to complain about the evils of Apple's walled garden: If you don't like it, don't buy it. For Christ's sake, no one is holding a gun to your head and making you buy Apple products. There are, and always will be*, alternatives. Apple gives people a tradeoff: stability and easy of use at the cost of freedom and configurability. Just because you don't like that tradeoff, doesn't mean it's not useful and convenient for others, and when you whine about it, all you're really doing is revealing that you deeply desire an iPad. Put your money where your mouth is by shutting up and buying something is.
* And yes, I've heard all the FUD about how Apple's practices are going to tempt other manufacturers into doing the same thing they are. Give me a break.
Dislike the Electoral College? Lobby your state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
The iPad isn't crap. I'm by no means a fan of Apple, but the iPad is a very slick (if somewhat expensive) piece of hardware. Apps like Google Maps and some of the available games are very polished and work amazingly well. The problem isn't the iPad -- it's the Apple philosophy of our-way-or-no-way-at-all. Same for the iPhone; it looks like a very well-engineered piece of hardware (Grip-Of-Death issues notwithstanding), but it's horribly crippled by being tied to iTunes (which is, in my mind, has one of the worst user interfaces ever foisted on consumers -- made worse by the fact that it's rammed down our throats to use any Apple hardware.) I admire Apple's engineering, but their marketing policies have ensured that I would rather pay for a more open product (Samsung's Galaxy S series, for instance) than accept an Apple product for free.
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
You don't get it because you aren't the target demographic. The socially challenged male in his basement with 12 computers (all of which have been stripped to the bare plastic at least twice) and his Gentoo compiling microwave oven doesn't need an iPad.
My 80 year old mother and apparently everyone else in her Assisted Living place are in the iPad demographic and they are falling all over themselves (actually not very hard to do at 80) trying to buy one.
Get over it, dude. Go take something apart.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Often technology takes a step back to take a step forward. Remember when CDs-DVDs replaced floppies? Suddenly you either had to burn a -rw or waste a -r to copy files. Then USB drives hit the market and you had the best of both worlds, the size and the usability. Look at the Ipad as a stepping stone, once users see its flaws they will be ready to accept something that lacks those flaws.
Have you tried sitting around on the couch browsing the web, watching video, and looking through your pictures on an iPad and on your netbook? Because the iPad is just way better at those things.
I was in the market for a netbook, but I waited until the iPad came out to see what it was. You know what? It's really cool, but it doesn't meet my primary needs as well as a netbook. I often need to do things like commander whatever large monitor is available at someone else's house or workplace, plug it into my netbook, and edit a large spreadsheet. I also do a lot of typing, some with the machine on my lap, and the iPad just gets killed by netbooks. So I went with a Hackintosh Dell Mini 10v. For my needs, it kills the iPad. But I also recognize that my needs aren't everybody's needs, and I've played with the iPad, and for some things, it's a way better experience. Yes, netbooks can do nearly everything iPads do, plus much more, but iPads do certain things better. If those are the only thing you do...
So if you don't "get it," seriously, have you ever tried doing the thing the iPad's good at on an iPad? Because I don't see how you could try it and not enjoy it, it's really smooth. I mean, the iPhoto experience on the iPad just kills my netbook.
The "article" is an absurd troll. The popularity of the iPad is not going to destroy the netbook category. Macs and iPhones are both selling really well too, but no one's complaining that they're about to destroy all other phones or computers. iPads for some, netbooks for others. Get what you want, nothing to see here.
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
The problem we see in all these opinion-pieces is that they look at the issue from the geek point of view. If a whole boatload of people are buying the iPad instead of a netbook it's probably because it works for them. Yes, people are stupid (No post is truly good if it's not condescending), but still - the iPad does what they need. :) ). My dad has a full set of tools and about 20 different screwdrivers, because that's what he needs. Same thing with the iPad and other Apple hardware. They all cater for the average user not the ubergeek.
For us geeks there are other alternatives, but does not mean there is a "deliberate degeneration of the UI". If anything, the iOS brought a UI that was more appealing to the average Joe.
Just as in any profession, there are different levels of tools for different levels of users. I have in my house one simple screwdriver and it's enough for all my needs (opening the computer case and changing cards
Whenever in an argument, remember this.
Let us know when your iPad can do all that. Heck, let us know when you can run Flash.
It won't because that's not what it's meant to do. If your needs call for multiple USB ports, twin internal drives with 640 GB of storage, then the iPad is NOT FOR YOU.
I could say "My truck provides a much better experience (than your economy car, for example). I can carry a thousand pounds of cargo or tow a big trailer. I can go off-road, drive through deep snow or mud and not get stuck." If those activities are what you do, then of course an economy car is not the right vehicle.
As always, it's a case of the right tool for the right job. Why is this simple fact lost on so many people? Is the desire to bash Apple so strong that it blocks rational thought? Is this the Reality Distortion Field's anti-Apple twin?
Government's idea of a balanced budget: take money from the right pocket to balance...oh who am I kidding?
That should be Apple's new motto. Most people do not like to have to decide on an item out of a large selection.
Does it weigh less than two pounds?
Yes
Can you just turn it off with a single button and toss it on the couch or chair without worrying about hard disk damage?
SSD, so yes.
How well does it work with just touching the screen as an input device.
Why would I want smudges all over my screen when I could type on a physical keyboard with tactile feedback and control it without tiring my arm?
No, you are comparing laptops to tablets, like comparing a Cessna 172 to a Boeing 737.
"Yea, but you can't fly from Anchorage to Portland nonstop with 137 people, so it's not really an airplane..."
No, its more like comparing a roller coaster to an airplane. You are in the air, and it's kinda cool but entirely useless, and in the end you cant choose where you're going and end up back where you started.
Yea, right now I'm on my laptop because I'm running BT and yep, my iPad won't BT, but since I've gotten my iPad it's used for about 85% of my casual surfing and my other laptop, the 17" gaming rig sits alone because I don't want 8 pounds on my lap.
Im Guessing those other 15% have flash?
There are, and always will be*, alternatives
For 20 years, we have been stuck with a near-monopoly on desktop operating systems, because of marketing and network effects. We don't want to repeat that experience, blindly sliding into an iOS monopoly for portable devices.
Apple spends hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing their devices every year, often lying and misrepresenting their products and their history. It is reasonable for geeks to present an opposing view so that buyers can make an informed decision, know what they are getting, and understand the consequences of their purchases.
Put your money where your mouth is by shutting up and buying something is.
Why then doesn't Apple "shut up" and stop marketing their products? Why do you think that all the information we should ever get about products should come from the PR and marketing departments of companies selling those products?
Also, what if I don't care about the relative price of an iPad and a netbook? You know what's even cheaper than a netbook? Just using the computer I already have. What if saving a few dollars and running Windows or Linux aren't my goals?
What if I want to read web sites without sitting at a desk in front of a computer?
This is the same whiney argument I hear from gamers who think the Wii is the devil. The slate computers that are coming out now are focused on the non technical and a certain segment of the geek community feels slighted. Many seem to be offended that in the end the lack of usb, memory card slots, camera and whatever features geeks cried about didn't really matter, couple that with the lack of a "real OS" being seen as a plus by the majority of people actually buying the devices and suddenly the "geek" is out of the support loop. Many geeks talk about their utopian society where everyone is technically adept and support requirements are minimal but very few actually want it.
There is no one to really blame but ourselves, just like hardcore gamers, our demands and expectations made us an unfavorable market, catering to the "casual" is less expensive, less demanding and far more profitable.
This.
A netbook can do anything an ipad can do. It's cheaper. It's just about as portable.
And it is YOURS. You have root on it and can do whatever you bloody well please on it. It's a complete computer, with a modern multitasking O/S and the ability to do anything your desktop computer can do -- except slower.