As much as i hate apple for their approval policies, some level of QA is probably a plus (and apple is taking it way to far)
The approval process is not so much about QA as it is about making sure your app doesn't compete with Apple's. Yes, they do check to make sure you're not using any undocumented APIs and that the app doesn't blatantly crash, but there is some real trash out there. They'll gladly let anything through, no matter how useless, including those that make a mockery of their own HIG.
Apple does that by restricting production. It might work.
No it doesn't work. Have a 10 minute conversation to any app store developer and they'll tell you how hard it is for people to find your app due to the shear amount of crap floating out there. The featured lists and top 100 are kingmakers in the app world due to this; almost no one looks elsewhere for quality apps.
If android has this problem it's not a matter of closed or open; it's a matter of a lack of search and filtering
I find the main difference between college grads and high school grads is that college grads know what they don't know. When I left college I had no idea how big the world was, and how much I didn't understand.
My degree is in physics, but I've had introductions to philosophy, psychology, British literature, logic, electronics, mechanical engineering, genetics, robotics, computer science, industrial design, business, finance, and economics. Even though I don't have an in depth knowledge of these areas, I know enough to find what I need and go from there.
As a high school grad, I wouldn't know where to start if you asked me about prepositional calculus or Pareto efficiency. As a college grad, I know where these terms come from and where I can find more information.
In my Ph.D. work I've found the most innovative ideas come from combining concepts in disparate fields in unique ways. My favorite example of this is using artificial physical forces to control swarms of robots, a technique known as physicomimetics.
If all the knowledge your workers have was obtained through you, then I don't think you can ever expect this kind of idea generation to happen. However, if you are confident all you'll ever need them to do has already been done, then this might be a fine route for you.
I can't speak to your experience but the homework in my upper level physics courses was crucial to understanding the material. Basically the assumption was if we could do the homework, we could do the exams, which I found was the case for the most part.
The exams themselves also tended to be modified homework problems; although not exact, they would require the same thought and techniques the homework did.
That and when he started the exam he pointed out he'd written it himself (doing the answers) with full work in about 2h50, and we had 3h to complete it.
It only gets worse in college. I had a professor who wrote a test, took it himself, and realized it was too hard for him to do. He then gives it to us anyway because he ran out of time to make another one.
Then there was another occasion I had a professor who wrote a test, took it, and gave himself a B because he didn't like his answers. Guess how he felt about our answers.
Exactly. I think the problem of cheating can be solved by proper test design. People cheat on tests either because they don't know the material enough or cheating guarantees a higher grade. Design tests such that even if you know every question on the test before hand you'll fail unless you have a deep understanding of the material.
I studied physics in school, and I had a professor who would let us use the book for the test. He would tell us "If you have to open this, you don't know the material." Needless to say on the first test, people went in and used the book as a crutch. The average grade was around a C. On the next test, people prepared much more and learned how to use the material, rather than what the material was. I remember only a few people even brought their books, and the average was a B+.
The key to designing tests like this is to use questions students have seen before, but include variations. If the student knows the material, he will be able to accomodate the variations easily. If the student has simply memorized the solution to a previous problem, or doesn't know the material well enough to recognize subtleties, he will not get the problem correct, even if he has it in advance of the test time.
The sentence is fine. If we read it explicitly: While genocide and other pressing problems relentlessly advance, it would seem that Project 10^100 does not relentlessly advance.
Reworded: "While the problem advances the solution does not advance" This sentence structure does not imply that the solution is a problem.
I'd say over 75% of the apps on the app store are either cookie cutter, functionally useless, don't work as advertised or completely ignore Apples HIG. Apple doesn't mind this, however, because they enjoy putting out press releases touting they now however many hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store.
[quote]I have never noticed any impact on call quality or even 3G speed[/quote]
Well there are certainly plenty of instances on youtube demonstrating diminished 3G speeds when holding the iPhone 4, and even dropped calls, just by touching the side. Whats more is these effects are completely reproducible.
What about it do you like? Despite an approval process, the app store is saturated with buggy, poorly designed, applications. Not to mention the spammers, who somehow get hundreds of cookie cutter apps approved daily.
The only the the app store approval process does is make sure apps don't interfere with Apple's business interests. It has nothing to do with quality of apps.
I have an iPad and I'm generally happy with it aside for two things: lack of flash and lack of multitasking.
Due to the lack of flash, I always have to carry around a backup laptop to watch flash videos. A lot of my course content is in flash, and I'd rather not tether myself to a computer lab. This supposedly will never be rectified until this content supports HTML5.
Secondly, the lack of multitasking is a glaring issue. Working in one app and having to close it out to reply to an IM or email is extremely frustrating. This was apparent within the first few hours of using the device. What's even worse is that very few apps save your state in the way you'd expect when you exit the app. I'm looking forward to iOS 4 fixing this, however.
Other than that, there are a few little gripes I have with the device, such as an out of date, intrusive notification system. Also, even with a filtered approval process, the general quality of apps in the appstore is very poor. Apps are usually very poorly designed and not well thought out, or buggy, and finding the gems out there can be difficult.
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As much as i hate apple for their approval policies, some level of QA is probably a plus (and apple is taking it way to far)
The approval process is not so much about QA as it is about making sure your app doesn't compete with Apple's. Yes, they do check to make sure you're not using any undocumented APIs and that the app doesn't blatantly crash, but there is some real trash out there. They'll gladly let anything through, no matter how useless, including those that make a mockery of their own HIG.
Apple does that by restricting production. It might work.
No it doesn't work. Have a 10 minute conversation to any app store developer and they'll tell you how hard it is for people to find your app due to the shear amount of crap floating out there. The featured lists and top 100 are kingmakers in the app world due to this; almost no one looks elsewhere for quality apps.
If android has this problem it's not a matter of closed or open; it's a matter of a lack of search and filtering
I'm sorry, the app store is already flooded with developer who are unable to create software.
I find the main difference between college grads and high school grads is that college grads know what they don't know. When I left college I had no idea how big the world was, and how much I didn't understand.
My degree is in physics, but I've had introductions to philosophy, psychology, British literature, logic, electronics, mechanical engineering, genetics, robotics, computer science, industrial design, business, finance, and economics. Even though I don't have an in depth knowledge of these areas, I know enough to find what I need and go from there.
As a high school grad, I wouldn't know where to start if you asked me about prepositional calculus or Pareto efficiency. As a college grad, I know where these terms come from and where I can find more information.
In my Ph.D. work I've found the most innovative ideas come from combining concepts in disparate fields in unique ways. My favorite example of this is using artificial physical forces to control swarms of robots, a technique known as physicomimetics.
If all the knowledge your workers have was obtained through you, then I don't think you can ever expect this kind of idea generation to happen. However, if you are confident all you'll ever need them to do has already been done, then this might be a fine route for you.
The exams themselves also tended to be modified homework problems; although not exact, they would require the same thought and techniques the homework did.
That and when he started the exam he pointed out he'd written it himself (doing the answers) with full work in about 2h50, and we had 3h to complete it.
It only gets worse in college. I had a professor who wrote a test, took it himself, and realized it was too hard for him to do. He then gives it to us anyway because he ran out of time to make another one.
Then there was another occasion I had a professor who wrote a test, took it, and gave himself a B because he didn't like his answers. Guess how he felt about our answers.
Why is that a problem? If you ask me the same question twice, you're going to get the same answer twice.
Exactly. I think the problem of cheating can be solved by proper test design. People cheat on tests either because they don't know the material enough or cheating guarantees a higher grade. Design tests such that even if you know every question on the test before hand you'll fail unless you have a deep understanding of the material.
I studied physics in school, and I had a professor who would let us use the book for the test. He would tell us "If you have to open this, you don't know the material." Needless to say on the first test, people went in and used the book as a crutch. The average grade was around a C. On the next test, people prepared much more and learned how to use the material, rather than what the material was. I remember only a few people even brought their books, and the average was a B+.
The key to designing tests like this is to use questions students have seen before, but include variations. If the student knows the material, he will be able to accomodate the variations easily. If the student has simply memorized the solution to a previous problem, or doesn't know the material well enough to recognize subtleties, he will not get the problem correct, even if he has it in advance of the test time.
With finalists like "making engineering and science 'cool'" I'd love to see what ideas didn't make the cut.
The sentence is fine. If we read it explicitly: While genocide and other pressing problems relentlessly advance, it would seem that Project 10^100 does not relentlessly advance. Reworded: "While the problem advances the solution does not advance" This sentence structure does not imply that the solution is a problem.
No one can accurately describe the platform for the Republican or Democrat parties in one sentence and have it be true for the majority of candidates.
Actually, both parties have the same platform: "Oppose what the other party supports"
I'd say over 75% of the apps on the app store are either cookie cutter, functionally useless, don't work as advertised or completely ignore Apples HIG. Apple doesn't mind this, however, because they enjoy putting out press releases touting they now however many hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store.
Part of the appeal of the iPhone is how thin and elegant it is. Why should I accept the solution of "put it in a case" when I'm buying it for looks?
[quote]I have never noticed any impact on call quality or even 3G speed[/quote] Well there are certainly plenty of instances on youtube demonstrating diminished 3G speeds when holding the iPhone 4, and even dropped calls, just by touching the side. Whats more is these effects are completely reproducible.
What about it do you like? Despite an approval process, the app store is saturated with buggy, poorly designed, applications. Not to mention the spammers, who somehow get hundreds of cookie cutter apps approved daily. The only the the app store approval process does is make sure apps don't interfere with Apple's business interests. It has nothing to do with quality of apps.
I have an iPad and I'm generally happy with it aside for two things: lack of flash and lack of multitasking. Due to the lack of flash, I always have to carry around a backup laptop to watch flash videos. A lot of my course content is in flash, and I'd rather not tether myself to a computer lab. This supposedly will never be rectified until this content supports HTML5. Secondly, the lack of multitasking is a glaring issue. Working in one app and having to close it out to reply to an IM or email is extremely frustrating. This was apparent within the first few hours of using the device. What's even worse is that very few apps save your state in the way you'd expect when you exit the app. I'm looking forward to iOS 4 fixing this, however. Other than that, there are a few little gripes I have with the device, such as an out of date, intrusive notification system. Also, even with a filtered approval process, the general quality of apps in the appstore is very poor. Apps are usually very poorly designed and not well thought out, or buggy, and finding the gems out there can be difficult.