Do they really? I upgraded my phone only about a year and a half ago. That phone's no longer available at all through my carrier. You can't even get a refurbished one. And when I got it it'd been available for less than 6 months. So, less than 2 years from initial release to completely obsolete and unavailable.
I think customers expect their phone to function for the full length of the contract, but I don't think anybody expects it to actually be current for more than a year anymore. And I think the carriers depend on that, I don't think it's a coincidence that my carrier makes me eligible for an upgrade at 18 months after purchase or last upgrade despite the contract being for 24 months.
True that use to be an unreasonable expectation, but Apple has supported every iPhone for at least two years and the day a new OS is announced, everyone worldwide can upgrade their phone without waiting on the carrier. Just because the phone was discontinued doesn't mean support was stopped. Everyone buying an iPhone now will be able to upgrade to OS 4.0 and Apple definitely isn't going to be selling new phones after OS 4.0 is released with an outdated OS.
that Sprint will block the new HTC Evo 4G's hotspot capability, since they sell their Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot (a separate box) for $99.99? Wouldn't that be dumb of them? The Evo 4G is darn tempting, but I'm waiting to see if they block the hotspot feature. If they do block it, I'll be very glad I waited and will choose another carrier who doesn't.
So which carrier do you think is going to allow free unlimited tethering? Sprint has already announced their pricing for HTC 4G....
$69.99 -- standard price for their unlimited text, data, cell-to-cell calls (any carrier), 450 anytime minutes and free nights and weekends 7pm - 7am.
$10.00 -- 4G surcharge -- whether are not you're in a 4G area.
Web browsers existed on many phones, but the iPhone UI was superior.
Which phone had a real web browser with full standards support and full Javascript support with Ajax before the iPhone? I don't mean the sorry excuse for mobile browser that Blackberry had (and still has), the WAP browser of most cell phones, or the abomination of Pocket IE.
Listening to him intro the iPhone, you'd think there was no such thing as a mobile phone before the iPhone came along. If the audience wasn't filled with such fawning admirers, he would get openly laughed at for some of the outlandish hyperbole.
Was there a phone before it with a real web browser and a user interface as good as the iPhone before it was introduced? If you actually watched the keynote in 2007 (which I did recently as an example of the right way to do a "PowerPoint presentation"), he did talk about other phones and how the iPhone was better.
You totally misread that article. There's no NDK. That's not the same thing as preventing people from creating applications themselves. If they can figure out how to do it, and it passes inspection, Microsoft may carry it. Until they make a statement or perform an action indicating otherwise, you're just spreading FUD, which we call Trolling.
This is directly from the guy in charge of FireFox for mobile devices.....
While we think Windows Phone 7 looks interesting and has the potential to do well in the market, Microsoft has unfortunately decided to close off development to native applications. Because of this, we won't be able to provide Firefox for Windows Phone 7 at this time. Given that Microsoft is staking their future in mobile on Windows Mobile 7 (not 6.5) and because we don't know if or when Microsoft will release a native development kit, we are putting our Windows Mobile development on hold.
"Parmenter ['head honcho of mobile software development' for Firefox] laments at the lack of a native development kit that's available to developers, meaning that they are unable to create native applications for Windows Phone 7 Series."
True Microsoft doesn't "limit" you to a specific language, but in reality does it really matter if no matter what language you program in, it's just a front end for IL? I'd much rather be able to develop truly native apps
Here's what happened: On his Mac, Ryan pulled up a site called Eco Zoo. It is, seemingly, a pretty intense example of Flash development -- full of 3D rendering, rich interactions, and cute little characters. Then, he pulled up the same thing on his Nexus One. The site's progress bar filled in and the 3D world appeared for a few seconds before the browser crashed. Ryan said (paraphrasing), "Whoops! Well, it's beta, and this is an intense example -- let's try it again." He tried it again and got the same result. So he said to the audience, "Well, this one isn't going to work, but does anyone have a Flash site they'd like to see running?" Someone shouted out "Hulu." Ryan said, "Hulu doesn't work," and then wrapped up his demo, telling people if they wanted to try more sites they could find him later and he'd let them play with his Nexus One.
....
A demo that crashes on everything it tries is not an effective way to gain confidence that you, as a company, are getting close to a polished product. The bottom line is that those of us who attended FlashCamp got a demo of Flash running on an Android phone, indeed -- and it wasn't impressive. We never saw an example of a site that worked without crashing under this beta version of Android. So if I were Adobe, I may choose not to demo this thing until it's really solid.
You fail at basic statistics, you cite that a few people are making money therefore many people must be making money. This does not work when you put actual economic thinking into the mix, the Iphone is a flooded market that is set up to cater to the large developers.
And you said that because no one you know is making money...no one is making money. Just looking at the Top 100 Paid iPad apps. About 30% of them come from what I would consider known major developers (PopCap, EA, Capcom, etc.)
Hate to tell you this, but nothing is set up for the little indy artist/developer/author. You can't just put an app on the iTunes store and hope to make millions. But if you write a good app and market it, you get to sell your stuff at the same place that EA does.
As someone who plays the guitar, I can confirm that this analogy is terrible and you should be ashamed of making it. People don't get into bands because they want to make money, they get into them because they like playing music.
That's very idealistic of you, but how many artists dream of getting noticed and making it big?
The money isn't there, people just think it is. I've yet to meet an Iphone developer who has even managed to break even with the US$99 a year fee, let alone the cost of buying a Mac. The Iphone market is overcrowded and Apple's restrictions prevent you from creating anything that could be considered new and innovative.
Developing an app for the iPhone is not much different from being a musician or an actor. Most won't make a lot of money but a few will. How many indy artist playing at local pubs can quit their day jobs?
Do you really believe that the top 100 in each category aren't making money? Do you think major developers would be developing for the iPhone if there were no profit in it?
What I don't understand is why people aren't doing just that. Most of us program because it's fun, but it's just not fun when you're limited. Yes, when I program for fun it is all about me, and damnit, I deserve to be able to do what I want. That's why I use Linux:)
I program because it puts food on my table.
So... why are you people still developing for iPhone? Put your money where your mouth is.
That's exactly what they are doing...they are going where the money is.
But why are so many techies defending Flash "programmers". Isn't that about like defending people who could only program in VB6?
How ironic that Apple would be the one to deny others the power to create custom web interfaces for their businesses.
Webkit based browsers that are used by Apple, Android, Palm, some Nokias, and soon BlackBerry's all allow you create custom web interfaces with HTML5, Canvas, and CSS. Flash is quickly becoming the HyperCard of the web (or for the young whippersnappers VB6). Today, no mobile phone does Flash well.
Don't you think it would be better to create a mobile optimized site with your menu, pictures of your entrees, and even a link to external reviews?
As a small restaurant/club owner, I spent a lot of time creating a Flash-based website so that it would be more appealing to customers than an HTML site.
What makes you think Flash would be more appealing to people visiting your website? When I go to a restaurant's web site I want to see a menu, the hours of operations, and maybe a picture of some of their entrees.
It's also possible that MS is privy to more accurate sales figures (and profit margins) from the iPad than the rest of us, and they decided it wasn't worth their time. And that could be because hardware margins are razor thin and the potential profit was not worth the investment,
You can accuse Apple of a lot of things, but selling products with a "razor thin profit margin" is not one of them.
You do have to take iSuppli's analysis with a grain of salt, but it's the best we have....
And nothing's wrong with renting, but we aren't talking about renting. I admit I haven't checked, but it was my understanding that iTunes does not do video rentals, only video sales.
Apple has done video rentals for at least two years. While I agree that I would never buy a movie from iTunes because I could get a much cheaper, much more versatile used DVD cheaper, I would buy a rental in a pinch.
It's just kind of hypocritical to take a moral stand against buying DRM'd video from iTunes and then go by a DVD. Let's just be honest, it's not DRM that/.er's are opposed to -- it's hard to circumvent DRM. It's not about a moral stance at all.
But I won't be buying downloaded movies from apple or anyone else until the sell DRM-less versions just like the music now. They might as well, people just convert and upload the DVDs/Blu-Ray without problems as it is.
So you buy DVD's and Blu-Ray disc....which also have DRM.
But what's wrong with renting video with DRM? You know in advanced that you're not buying it.
Once they are sold to distributors, Apple no longer owns them. Revenue is booked when they are sold to the distributor (as does every other company). But if there are shortages causing Apple to delay an international roll out, as well as to delay shipping to US customers, what would be the purpose of stuffing the channel?
The first 300,000 went to cover pre-orders so I doubt there are that many sitting in warehouses.
What are iPad's sales figures like? I haven't seen any. I can see a use for the iPad for certain people, but I'm on the side of the fence that says it won't do particularly amazing.
You slashdotters out there: did you first get into computing and technology in order to consume more advertising and to have someone else tell you which software to run?
So do you really think that Google is supporting Android for any other reason than to supply advertising? Their whole business strategy is based on ads. Microsoft is even placing ads in their bundled apps for the Zune.
Re:Sigh...not this shit again
on
iPad Jailbroken
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· Score: 1
They are already facing some serious time in court over the hoopla with VOI>P and it is only going to get more ugly before the Feds step in and regulate them.
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True that use to be an unreasonable expectation, but Apple has supported every iPhone for at least two years and the day a new OS is announced, everyone worldwide can upgrade their phone without waiting on the carrier. Just because the phone was discontinued doesn't mean support was stopped. Everyone buying an iPhone now will be able to upgrade to OS 4.0 and Apple definitely isn't going to be selling new phones after OS 4.0 is released with an outdated OS.
So which carrier do you think is going to allow free unlimited tethering? Sprint has already announced their pricing for HTC 4G....
$69.99 -- standard price for their unlimited text, data, cell-to-cell calls (any carrier), 450 anytime minutes and free nights and weekends 7pm - 7am.
$10.00 -- 4G surcharge -- whether are not you're in a 4G area.
$29.99 -- unlimited 4G WiFi hotspot.
$109/mo is not bad compared to AT&T and Verizon.
The latest version is a port of WebKit and definitely came out after the iPhone. Did a version that came out in 2006 have full CSS support? Ajax?
Which phone had a real web browser with full standards support and full Javascript support with Ajax before the iPhone? I don't mean the sorry excuse for mobile browser that Blackberry had (and still has), the WAP browser of most cell phones, or the abomination of Pocket IE.
Was there a phone before it with a real web browser and a user interface as good as the iPhone before it was introduced? If you actually watched the keynote in 2007 (which I did recently as an example of the right way to do a "PowerPoint presentation"), he did talk about other phones and how the iPhone was better.
This is directly from the guy in charge of FireFox for mobile devices.....
http://blog.pavlov.net/2010/03/22/stopping-development-for-windows-mobile/
While we think Windows Phone 7 looks interesting and has the potential to do well in the market, Microsoft has unfortunately decided to close off development to native applications. Because of this, we won't be able to provide Firefox for Windows Phone 7 at this time. Given that Microsoft is staking their future in mobile on Windows Mobile 7 (not 6.5) and because we don't know if or when Microsoft will release a native development kit, we are putting our Windows Mobile development on hold.
How much clearer can it be?
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1597631/no-firefox-windows-mobile
"Parmenter ['head honcho of mobile software development' for Firefox] laments at the lack of a native development kit that's available to developers, meaning that they are unable to create native applications for Windows Phone 7 Series."
True Microsoft doesn't "limit" you to a specific language, but in reality does it really matter if no matter what language you program in, it's just a front end for IL? I'd much rather be able to develop truly native apps
Actually, Microsoft is banning all other environments other than .Net from WinMo 7. That was the reasob cited for FireFox not to create a port for it.
http://jeffcroft.com/blog/2010/may/08/android-flash-demo-flashcamp-seattle/
And you said that because no one you know is making money...no one is making money. Just looking at the Top 100 Paid iPad apps. About 30% of them come from what I would consider known major developers (PopCap, EA, Capcom, etc.)
Hate to tell you this, but nothing is set up for the little indy artist/developer/author. You can't just put an app on the iTunes store and hope to make millions. But if you write a good app and market it, you get to sell your stuff at the same place that EA does.
That's very idealistic of you, but how many artists dream of getting noticed and making it big?
Developing an app for the iPhone is not much different from being a musician or an actor. Most won't make a lot of money but a few will. How many indy artist playing at local pubs can quit their day jobs?
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/09/indie-developer/
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/33212/iPhone-key-for-EA-this-year
(Just to be honest)
http://www.edibleapple.com/ifart-developer-makes-40000-in-2-days/
Do you really believe that the top 100 in each category aren't making money? Do you think major developers would be developing for the iPhone if there were no profit in it?
I program because it puts food on my table.
That's exactly what they are doing...they are going where the money is.
But why are so many techies defending Flash "programmers". Isn't that about like defending people who could only program in VB6?
Do you buy DVD's?
Webkit based browsers that are used by Apple, Android, Palm, some Nokias, and soon BlackBerry's all allow you create custom web interfaces with HTML5, Canvas, and CSS. Flash is quickly becoming the HyperCard of the web (or for the young whippersnappers VB6). Today, no mobile phone does Flash well.
Don't you think it would be better to create a mobile optimized site with your menu, pictures of your entrees, and even a link to external reviews?
What makes you think Flash would be more appealing to people visiting your website? When I go to a restaurant's web site I want to see a menu, the hours of operations, and maybe a picture of some of their entrees.
You can accuse Apple of a lot of things, but selling products with a "razor thin profit margin" is not one of them.
You do have to take iSuppli's analysis with a grain of salt, but it's the best we have....
http://www.isuppli.com/News/Pages/Mid-RangeiPadtoGenerateMaximumProfitsforApple,iSuppliEstimates.aspx
The 16GB iPad was estimated to cost $229 and sells for $499.
The 64GB GSM iPad sells for $829 and has an estimated cost of around $350
Apple has done video rentals for at least two years. While I agree that I would never buy a movie from iTunes because I could get a much cheaper, much more versatile used DVD cheaper, I would buy a rental in a pinch.
It's just kind of hypocritical to take a moral stand against buying DRM'd video from iTunes and then go by a DVD. Let's just be honest, it's not DRM that /.er's are opposed to -- it's hard to circumvent DRM. It's not about a moral stance at all.
So you buy DVD's and Blu-Ray disc....which also have DRM.
But what's wrong with renting video with DRM? You know in advanced that you're not buying it.
Once they are sold to distributors, Apple no longer owns them. Revenue is booked when they are sold to the distributor (as does every other company). But if there are shortages causing Apple to delay an international roll out, as well as to delay shipping to US customers, what would be the purpose of stuffing the channel?
The first 300,000 went to cover pre-orders so I doubt there are that many sitting in warehouses.
Apple announced 300,000 iPads sold on launch day (including pre-orders) -- April 3
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/apple-sells-over-300-000-ipad-tablets-on-us-launch-day/
Apple announced 450,000 sold the following Thursday -- April 8
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362390,00.asp
They announced 500,000 sold today.
http://www.gearlog.com/2010/04/apple_breaks_500000_ipad_barri.php
So do you really think that Google is supporting Android for any other reason than to supply advertising? Their whole business strategy is based on ads. Microsoft is even placing ads in their bundled apps for the Zune.
The lastest version of Firefox does not run on '98
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/system-requirements.html
The latest version of IE does not run on '98
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/support/system-requirements.aspx
The latest version of Opera does not run on '98
http://www.opera.com/support/kb/view/386/
So let's see where to start with your "informed comparison" with the Sony Walkman ($99) and the iPod Touch ($199)
--a lower resolution (240x320) compared to the Touch (480x320)
--No Wifi
--No 3rd party apps
--No support for lossless
--No Bluetooth
So you think if people were "truly informed" they would by a Sony instead of Touch even though the Sony has no WIFI and no 3rd party app support?
But even if you're comparing it to the Nano....
The Sony has no support for lossless, no video out, and can I control it from the head unit of my car?
http://www.mp3-music-player.com/news/06_08/Apple_IPod_Integration.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/06/atandt-now-allowing-iphone-voip-calls-over-3g/
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/iphone/
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/185433/vonage_offers_unlimited_intl_calling_for_iphone_blackberry.html
http://www.truphone.com/applications/devices/iphone/
http://www.fring.com/default.php
A 5 year old article -- yes that is a first gen iPod introduced in 2005. That effected "fewer than a tenth of 1% of all Nanos shipped".
But where are all of these cheaper better alternatives to the iPod? Especially the Touch?