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.'"

Comments

Re:Yeah nothing works anymore

[jewishbaconzombies]

uh yes you do actually - several in fact:

http://www.berryreview.com/2009/02/04/phoneyfart-the-inevitable-farting-app-for-blackberry/
http://crackberry.com/best-blackberry-fart-app-yet-ibee-farting
http://www.mobihand.com/150//product.asp?id=24413
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3699
http://forums.crackberry.com/f35/free-fart-app-joy-154538/


and there's plenty more.

Got anymore bullshit or is your talking points script all tuckered out?

Re:Too scared to say that the iPad sux, I guess ..

[jedrek]

I'm interested by what metric 'many of the new smartphones are better'.

I bought an HTC Android phone that was released under 12 months ago. Compared to the 3 year old iPhone 3G I got after it, it's slower, the software is buggier, most Android apps don't run on it and I can't upgrade it past Android 1.6 - even though there is an update, but the update is carrier-locked.

So yeah, I'm curious.

Re:Not Junk... Really

[joocemann]

Its not a netbook and shouldn't really be compared to one.

Since its uses are parallel to those of a netbook, I completely disagree.

For any place/purpose you could use an iPad, a netbook can do it. Additionally, there are things that the netbook can do that the iPad cannot.

The *ONLY* think a netbook can't do that your iPad can do is be an iPad. Once you've come to realize you bought an ornament it will make more sense to you why people compare it to netbooks.

Its a netbook with less options.
Its a netbook without a keyboard.
Its a netbook with limited space.
Its a netbook that doesn't run Flash.
Oh... and its a netbook by Apple, and so it has an 'i' in its name. Cool huh?

Lol. Apple. Lol.

Re:Other smartphones obsolete?

[joocemann]

Which planet do you live on?

Other smartphone are not obsolete by a long shot.

I stopped reading after the first sentence.

I agree. The Iphone is whats obsolete. I have an HTC Touch Pro 2 and its way better than even the newest iphone -- and thats because it actually does what I want, not what it wants me to do. To me, and others who prefer options and versatility, Apple is perpetually obsolete.

There are apparently 3 types of people involved in these 'apple issue' debates, but only one type is actually having the problem:

1) Apple fanboys - these people love apple stuff and the image they get for owning it so much that nothing matters, these people are never upset by apple. I understand. We're all fanboys of something.
2) Technology realists - these people look at the core and peripheral values of the technology they consider, they see the shortcomings of the iPad and iPhones and are usually swayed enough to buy the better tech out there. They weigh out the actual options and decide (usually not apple) what to buy.

But the people that always seem afflicted and are the source of all this drama are 3) Trendy Consumers - they don't know WHAT they really want. They follow marketed trends and hardly look at the tech they are buying until they are using it. This often leads to a post-purchase realization that their trendy product may not be as cool as they wanted. Some of these people are still cool with the object trendyness, and some come here on slashdot to produce articles attempting to blame Apple for their own skewed attempt at interacting with life.

The lesson to be learned is to quit being trendy and attempt to actually be in control of yourself.

Re:I Bought an iPad Two Weeks Ago

[Reservoir Penguin]

So you are a middle aged Apple loving geek wannabe who jerks off to Maxim? EPIC FAIL!

Re:I Bought an iPad Two Weeks Ago

[hellop2]

Yeah, but does it run Linux?

That's what I thought... Epic Fail.

~

Re:Wait for Google then...

[hairyfeet]

Hey, nice to see you iTrolls are consistent, what with the not bothering to read the parent and telling bold faced lies and all. If you would have bothered to read the parent post the iTroll was the one throwing insults, I simply answered his question, even if it was rudely put.

And if you weren't lying and had actually bothered to read my previous posts regarding Apple I have said many times "If you don't mind paying a premium, have NO desire to use the device in any way not already approved by Apple, and at the end of the day want a "plug and play" device where it just does what is advertised, buy Apple. with the exception of the latest iPhone they really make good kit". Yep, that sounds like a bunch of "hate and antagonism "" against Apple users there.

You see, unlike those that worship the iSteve or have drank the Redmond or Linus Koolaid, I frankly don't give a shit WHICH product you use, they all have good and bad points: Apple-Control freak for a CEO, likes DRM WAAAAY too much, but has really nice designs and his products tend to last. MSFT-Ballmer wants to be Jobs so bad it hurts, wasting time with crap outside their core business like Zune, but at least listens to customers, see replacing Vista with 7. Linux- runs to CLI at the first sign of problems, waaaay too many fanatics that take the pointing out of any problem as an insult, lack of a stable driver ABI and troubleshooting GUIs make it hard for the average Joe, but it rocks on servers.

There you go, according to your thinking I've probably managed to insult the entire planet with a single post! Yay me! Or maybe, just maybe, dealing with customers 6 days a week has let me try just about everything out there and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. With regards to Apple I happen to live less than 5 blocks from an Apple centric college, and have watched dumbfounded when guys can tell you to the penny what their iStuff cost, but can't give a reasonable answer as to what makes it better than product y. I even watched two college students nearly get to blows over which was better, the Mac Air or the Mac Pro, and pretty much the entire argument was over price and which one was more "exclusive".

So you can pretend their aren't average Joes that are buying these based on high price, but I've seen plenty of them with my own eyes. Don't get me wrong, Apple makes some nice designs, but if they dropped their prices to Acer levels you'd watch their sales plummet. Same thing happened to Porsche BTW when they tried to offer an entry level boxer for under 30k. Humans like to feel "better" than their fellow man, and being able to outspend him makes one better, at least in the "keep up with the Joneses" types.

Re:Wait for Google then...

[hairyfeet]

So accusing someone of "talking out their ass" isn't an insult? Does that mean if I tell you to blow me that I'm mearly offering a closer relationship? Strange way with words Mr iTroll, and the reason I pointed out you and the other poster were iTrolls is this: It doesn't matter how badly iSteve screws you over (see banning cross compilation or patenting ways to fuck your phone even after you jailbreak) you find excuses as to why its a good thing. At least the windows guys know Ballmer is an asshole.

As for the "bling factor" are you saying I'm blind now? Or that I don't even know my own father, who still hasn't figured out how to work his CD player in his truck or get the clock on his microwave to stop blinking? Or that I just imagined standing there waiting at the lead contractor's house to pick up their laptop for service and watching $5000 worth of designer clothes get tossed in the trash? Maybe if you took your head out of the sand and talked to someone in your average coffee shop instead of the insulated circle you deal with now, you might actually learn something. My dad can't even work the basic features on the phone he has now and his only reason for wanting an iPhone is because the contractors that control much of this city have them. That's it. And talking to several of them most can't even figure out how to do more than call with the things, but they can tell you to the last penny how much it costs.

I suggest you read up on the phrase Keeping up with the Joneses or learn what Conspicuous consumption is, because apparently these concepts are completely foreign to you. Or perhaps you should go to the nearest college and ask one of the kids there flashing an iPhone while playing on his Macbook Pro "what makes it better than other products?" and see how quick you hear words like "exclusive" or find out how much it costs. It isn't like I'm the only one that has noticed this. Hell look up "people buy Apple because its expensive" on Google and you'll get 13 BILLION hits, most porn stars don't get THAT many hits. But I guess we're all just delusional for not drinking the iKoolaid, huh?