I have an iPod touch and and HTC Magic ( T-Mobuile version - myTOuch).
The real difference is the design of the UI and the functionality of they UI and the smoothness of the UI interaction with the hardware. The Android needs to come with better UI widgets. Maybe there are better ones, but even Google's own apps suffer from lousy design use widgets. Not just lousily implemented functionality, but also look. I have seen way better from Google than what I see in 1.6.
Android 1.6 reminds of the linux distros from a few years ago and to some extent even now. The UI has a noticeable lag in 90% of the circumstances and often does not provide feedback that there may be activity in the app. The on-screen keyboard is too cramped and successful key-hit recognition is way lower than on the Touch/iPhone ( and I actually prefer the on-screen keyboard over a physical keyboard.) The browser is pretty much useless on the Android as compared to Safari. I haven't seen an advantage of being able to run multiple applications on the Android. after more than 4 or 5 apps running, it gets even more laggy. The iPod touch has never asked me if I should force quit an app or wait because it takes to long to get to the home screen, when quiting an app ( I always try to quit apps now ( but how to is not always apparent) - otherwise one has to frequently use very popular utilities like Taskman or TasKiller).
In general I like Google and use many of their apps on the net and on the PC. But the Android has left me underwhelmed.
Well as a newbie to Android I can use all the pointers for better usage I can.
Interestingly enough when I first went onto the Market under 1.5 amongst the top 5 apps listed on the first screen where Appmanager (free) and TaskManager. I took the hint and downloaded those 2 utilities first. Never needed something like that on the iphone. I did have something like that on Windows mobile.
But I took your advice and ran taskmanager and sure enough there where plenty off apps running. Not sure why most of those apps stay resident ( why would market or the browser of google maps stay active? It is not clear to me how to exit an application without it staying as an active task) But, only 5 apps are active now: gmail, home, phone, messaging, task manager ( However it does not seem to show the executing widgets ( wifi toggle, a calendar widget and of course the google search widget).
Usually apps open quickly enough, however when in gmail on selecting a particular item on the list result in a delaybefore the message is displayed. In a side by side comparion on my touch and the android, the difference has been very noticeable. But now that I have cleaned house, here is my reactivity test now: Click on gmail. it opens up, presents a list of e-mails. click on a message - and... ok, the response time has noticeably improved. The lag between click and response has been reduced significantly.
But this also re-iterates the point of mainstream usage. Should I, as a user, really have to worry about these things? That used to be ( and I gather still is on occasion) the problem on the windows ce/mobile platform. The things used to all of a sudden run out of memory - they device would tell you so, then promptly lock up (and this was running nothing more than the standard apps with the device).
If the Android exhibits the same behavior it won't make any inroads in the market. Granted, the Linux underpinnings here will keep this from happening as severely, but it seems it could happen.
Well the other difference between the Dream and the Magic is that the Magic has the better battery out of the box:)... I have gotten used to an on-screen keyboard with the touch, so a physical keyboard is not as important to me ( it was to my wife, another reason she went with the Blackberry instead of the Android).
Can't comment on the Nokia N900 , but i can talk about the iphone, Blackberry and Android platform, since between me, my wife and a coworker we have at least one or more of each. I started out using palms and windows mobile devices, but have given up on them over the years.
The iPhone is not popular because it has a cool factor. It is popular because it just works, works simply and most intuitively out of these 3 platforms. It also has the most wide target audience. Both my wife and I have a iPod Touch and like it for what it does and how it does it. We one Mac and several windows and a Linux machine at home, we only use the iPod Touch(es) with the Mac.
The Blackberry is great for business users. But my wife got it ( the 8900) for personal use because of its responsiveness ( over the myTouch Android platform).
When my wife got the Blackberry, I got the myTouch ( yes we are T-Mobile customers). In comparison to the iPhone and Blackberry platforms, the Android platform has been abysmal. I would have returned the device within the 2 week trial period, but the 1.6 update that downloaded the first nite I had the device, made the myTouch usable.
The Android reminds me a lot of using linux. One clicks and wonder if something is going to happen or not. Both the Blackberry and the iPhone give immediate feed back response. Too often, going back to the home screen from an application leaves one staring at a black screen for too long ( 15-20 seconds).
In the 2-3 years of owning the ipod touch, accumulating 90+ apps, the device/apps glitched on me less than 5 times. In 5 days of using the Android, I have had more force quits than that. I don't know if there are any UI guidelines for Android developers for touch screens, but some of the apps that come with the base platforms have poor widget choices for this form factor. Just setting the time for an appointment - incrementing/decrementing in individual minutes, and worse, when using the widget, the value one wants to see gets covered by your fingers. I do like the Android's spell/word recognition system way better than what is on the ipod. It at least gives me words that I need to use, usually the most obvious choice. I don't know what the iPod uses to figure out what word to present, but it is not base on normal English usage ( and English is my second language).
I will keep the Android. I am a Google fan. I don't want a Blackberry, and I don't want to go to the extra expense of having the family on different carriers ( have 4 lines on a family plan). Could I afford the split I would get and use the iPhone.
Back in the 80s when I was in college we used to get German exchange students getting drivers licenses here in the US, which they then could convert in Germany, without all the lessons. One of the later years, I vaguely recall that they might not be able to do that anymore. Just curious if that loophole was closed.
People keep saying that the plans (voice and data) are more expensive at AT&T, however every time I look at other carriers, the voice and data plans have been close to the same (+-$5/month)
Sorry, I don't see any equivalent phones to the iPhone at T-Mobile.
From my perspective, all the other offerings are inferior. I am a T-Mobile customer and I use an Ipod touch, so I still have 2 devices that the iPhone would do in one.
Like the Palm's Datebook, or my favorite Palm app from way back when - Iambic's Agendus. Apple needs to make a single datastore available for this to work. The great thing about the various palm organizers was that they used the same data store, so that you could try out different apps without having to re-enter data or export/import.
I would love to make an appointment for my doctor/kids doctor/plumber by just looking the name up instead of having to type it.
You are starting to show that you may have an inkling as to what the problem is with DRM.
1. Why have DRM at all. Used to be able to play any CD on any CD Player. Then some manufacturers came up with some lame protection ( a from of DRM) that did not allow some players to play the CD.
2. When I pick up a CD/DVD how the hell am I supposed to know what kind of DRM has been embedded on the DVD, and even if it is labeled, am I supposed to remember all the different types I may or may not have available on the player - well more specifically on the OS since we are talking In the Context of Windows in the article. I don't recall the details, but wasn't the Plays for Sure scheme not functional on some MS device ( Zune), much to the chagrin of the people using said device?
3. Hell, if manufacturers can't get their act together and get DRM working harmoniously through something as simple as a cable/connector spec, what chance does a more complex system have when it has to decipher multiple specs.
4. Only active when DRM content is playing... Well, things go wrong often enough that services continue to run purposefully or erroneously. Just the nature of software, unless it is extremely well written. DRM just hasn't got that reputation of quality.
Funny, I am in the east as well, and the only area I have had issues with coverage is in the backcountry of Vermont. Granted in the same area there was marginal AT&T coverage (friend had AT&T phone), and this was several years ago. Other than that where I have needed coverage, from Rhode Island to Maryland, T-Mobile coverage has been better than Verizon ( comparing friends and family's Verizon service experience in same areas), so I am sorely annoyed when their ads show up when wife watches TV.
From my experience, AT&T has the best coverage, T-Mobile next and Verizon the least. That may not be what the coverage maps show, but until I get other experiences I will stick to my anecdotal evidence...
Obviously these girls train and compete at a young age already, so In my mind there had to be more to htis as well. The commentators mentioned that at the younger ager they are less aware of all the pressure on them. So when they compete they tend to have fewer things to worry about, allowing them to concentrate on the routine.
any slashdotter's takes or opinions - maybe with the exception of New York Country Lawyer's. Prince may have his issues and oddities, but I would wager his musical artist and business acumen surpasses that of any of us here.
I have seen taht too - but big difference is that the buggy roller is not powered, iirc
I dont recall this as a standar Borland license
on
Who Owns Software?
·
· Score: 1
Perhaps it was the one contorversial one that was in existence only briefly.
However you may be more correct in the case of Microsoft's license in development tools.
1. No there will be a zillion apps for Android, but most will be minor variations of one another. Pretty much like all the things that come with a Linux distro. Or worse, like all the "apps" from any widget scene. How many freaking version of a weather widget, UPS tracking, or gmail checker does one need? Just because one develops one for oneself as a learning tool does not mean it needs to be published.
Some would claim that competition is good - but the plethora of availability will just be confusion.
2. After people install tons of apps and have them all multitasking that is a very good possibility.
3. Hmm - no disagreement there.
4. Only linux geeks will hang out in these. How many of those are on/.?
5. That is still a high number - I do not think that this is a deterrent.
6. No harder than current linux apps.
I like the idea of Android. But I beleive in the end only IT professionals will end up finding good use for this platform. Would I get one? Sure. I currently use an iPod touch, and a dedicated separate phone. Maybe when my phone contract is up ( almost 2 years) there will be some clarity in the market as to Androids capabilities, and some stability on this platform.
In the mean time we will be developing apps of the touch for internal business use. My main developer has become to appreciate the Apple SDK for both OS X and now the touch platform.
I still am stuck in Delphi development, trying to pick up python. My hope is that Apple will develop a python interpreter and library to interface with the API, but I won't be devastated if they do not.
We will also check out the Android platform when it comes out, and it may turn out to be useful as well. But until we see the hardware and development environments it obviously won't impact us. I do suspect that a lower price than the iphone/touch may provide a corporate incentive for some internal development.
Going to Europe, buying a prepaid SIM card there to get a local number requires an unlock of the phone first. So there are restrictions, somehow, and as another reply pointed out, not all carriers do that.
interesting point. Are current Snopes visitors always the cautious/suspicious kind? Or has Snopes become / starting to become part of the common culture? I don't know.
Of course, I did not see any ads not having Javascript on by default.
I was born and grew up in Germany. ( my mom is American, my faterh German). We travelled internationally quite frequently, primarily in Europe, during the time when terrorism was a fairly constant threat ( 1970's). Going to school as 6, 7, 8,9,10 year olds past Liftfasssaulen with the equivalent of wanted posters for terrorists in retorspective is kind of surreal, but didn't register too much with us. Even after mom remarried and we came to the US we travelled back to Europe occasionally. Heck, my American born little sister ( 14 years younger!) even got married in Prague a few years ago.
I detest the idea of this national ID. As others point out it does not promote safety in any sense ( nor did it back then in germany even though papers/IDs where required as well).
All it does allow is for the potentail wholesale abuse by agents of the federal government of its citizenry. The US has certainly shown this in the past, never mind the local governments abuse.
back then it was used for AI and her expertise was pattern recognition in some kind of geological graphical data of some sort. The idea was to identify patterns that would lead to oil fields. Apparently she was doing it all in LISP at the time...
Slashdot Mirror
I have an iPod touch and and HTC Magic ( T-Mobuile version - myTOuch).
The real difference is the design of the UI and the functionality of they UI and the smoothness of the UI interaction with the hardware. The Android needs to come with better UI widgets. Maybe there are better ones, but even Google's own apps suffer from lousy design use widgets. Not just lousily implemented functionality, but also look. I have seen way better from Google than what I see in 1.6.
Android 1.6 reminds of the linux distros from a few years ago and to some extent even now. The UI has a noticeable lag in 90% of the circumstances and often does not provide feedback that there may be activity in the app. The on-screen keyboard is too cramped and successful key-hit recognition is way lower than on the Touch/iPhone ( and I actually prefer the on-screen keyboard over a physical keyboard.)
The browser is pretty much useless on the Android as compared to Safari.
I haven't seen an advantage of being able to run multiple applications on the Android. after more than 4 or 5 apps running, it gets even more laggy. The iPod touch has never asked me if I should force quit an app or wait because it takes to long to get to the home screen, when quiting an app ( I always try to quit apps now ( but how to is not always apparent) - otherwise one has to frequently use very popular utilities like Taskman or TasKiller).
In general I like Google and use many of their apps on the net and on the PC. But the Android has left me underwhelmed.
Well as a newbie to Android I can use all the pointers for better usage I can.
Interestingly enough when I first went onto the Market under 1.5 amongst the top 5 apps listed on the first screen where Appmanager (free) and TaskManager.
I took the hint and downloaded those 2 utilities first. Never needed something like that on the iphone. I did have something like that on Windows mobile.
But I took your advice and ran taskmanager and sure enough there where plenty off apps running. Not sure why most of those apps stay resident ( why would market or the browser of google maps stay active? It is not clear to me how to exit an application without it staying as an active task) But, only 5 apps are active now: gmail, home, phone, messaging, task manager ( However it does not seem to show the executing widgets ( wifi toggle, a calendar widget and of course the google search widget).
Usually apps open quickly enough, however when in gmail on selecting a particular item on the list result in a delaybefore the message is displayed.
In a side by side comparion on my touch and the android, the difference has been very noticeable.
But now that I have cleaned house, here is my reactivity test now:
Click on gmail. it opens up, presents a list of e-mails. click on a message - and... ok, the response time has noticeably improved. The lag between click and response has been reduced significantly.
But this also re-iterates the point of mainstream usage. Should I, as a user, really have to worry about these things? That used to be ( and I gather still is on occasion) the problem on the windows ce/mobile platform. The things used to all of a sudden run out of memory - they device would tell you so, then promptly lock up (and this was running nothing more than the standard apps with the device).
If the Android exhibits the same behavior it won't make any inroads in the market. Granted, the Linux underpinnings here will keep this from happening as severely, but it seems it could happen.
Well the other difference between the Dream and the Magic is that the Magic has the better battery out of the box :)... I have gotten used to an on-screen keyboard with the touch, so a physical keyboard is not as important to me ( it was to my wife, another reason she went with the Blackberry instead of the Android).
Can't comment on the Nokia N900 , but i can talk about the iphone, Blackberry and Android platform, since between me, my wife and a coworker we have at least one or more of each. I started out using palms and windows mobile devices, but have given up on them over the years.
The iPhone is not popular because it has a cool factor. It is popular because it just works, works simply and most intuitively out of these 3 platforms. It also has the most wide target audience. Both my wife and I have a iPod Touch and like it for what it does and how it does it. We one Mac and several windows and a Linux machine at home, we only use the iPod Touch(es) with the Mac.
The Blackberry is great for business users. But my wife got it ( the 8900) for personal use because of its responsiveness ( over the myTouch Android platform).
When my wife got the Blackberry, I got the myTouch ( yes we are T-Mobile customers). In comparison to the iPhone and Blackberry platforms, the Android platform has been abysmal. I would have returned the device within the 2 week trial period, but the 1.6 update that downloaded the first nite I had the device, made the myTouch usable.
The Android reminds me a lot of using linux. One clicks and wonder if something is going to happen or not. Both the Blackberry and the iPhone give immediate feed back response.
Too often, going back to the home screen from an application leaves one staring at a black screen for too long ( 15-20 seconds).
In the 2-3 years of owning the ipod touch, accumulating 90+ apps, the device/apps glitched on me less than 5 times. In 5 days of using the Android, I have had more force quits than that.
I don't know if there are any UI guidelines for Android developers for touch screens, but some of the apps that come with the base platforms have poor widget choices for this form factor. Just setting the time for an appointment - incrementing/decrementing in individual minutes, and worse, when using the widget, the value one wants to see gets covered by your fingers.
I do like the Android's spell/word recognition system way better than what is on the ipod. It at least gives me words that I need to use, usually the most obvious choice. I don't know what the iPod uses to figure out what word to present, but it is not base on normal English usage ( and English is my second language).
I will keep the Android. I am a Google fan. I don't want a Blackberry, and I don't want to go to the extra expense of having the family on different carriers ( have 4 lines on a family plan). Could I afford the split I would get and use the iPhone.
Back in the 80s when I was in college we used to get German exchange students getting drivers licenses here in the US, which they then could convert in Germany, without all the lessons.
One of the later years, I vaguely recall that they might not be able to do that anymore. Just curious if that loophole was closed.
People keep saying that the plans (voice and data) are more expensive at AT&T, however every time I look at other carriers, the voice and data plans have been close to the same (+-$5/month)
Sorry, I don't see any equivalent phones to the iPhone at T-Mobile. From my perspective, all the other offerings are inferior. I am a T-Mobile customer and I use an Ipod touch, so I still have 2 devices that the iPhone would do in one.
Like the Palm's Datebook, or my favorite Palm app from way back when - Iambic's Agendus.
Apple needs to make a single datastore available for this to work. The great thing about the various palm organizers was that they used the same data store, so that you could try out different apps without having to re-enter data or export/import.
I would love to make an appointment for my doctor/kids doctor/plumber by just looking the name up instead of having to type it.
Since I watch Joost shows sometimes on the Mac without having silverlight installed, I assume that it is not a requirement there either.
Just saying...
You are starting to show that you may have an inkling as to what the problem is with DRM.
1. Why have DRM at all. Used to be able to play any CD on any CD Player. Then some manufacturers came up with some lame protection ( a from of DRM) that did not allow some players to play the CD.
2. When I pick up a CD/DVD how the hell am I supposed to know what kind of DRM has been embedded on the DVD, and even if it is labeled, am I supposed to remember all the different types I may or may not have available on the player - well more specifically on the OS since we are talking In the Context of Windows in the article. I don't recall the details, but wasn't the Plays for Sure scheme not functional on some MS device ( Zune), much to the chagrin of the people using said device?
3. Hell, if manufacturers can't get their act together and get DRM working harmoniously through something as simple as a cable/connector spec, what chance does a more complex system have when it has to decipher multiple specs.
4. Only active when DRM content is playing... Well, things go wrong often enough that services continue to run purposefully or erroneously. Just the nature of software, unless it is extremely well written. DRM just hasn't got that reputation of quality.
Wouldn't the people with good impulse control and self discipline be dead - shot by those who don't?
Just asking.
Funny, I am in the east as well, and the only area I have had issues with coverage is in the backcountry of Vermont. Granted in the same area there was marginal AT&T coverage (friend had AT&T phone), and this was several years ago.
Other than that where I have needed coverage, from Rhode Island to Maryland, T-Mobile coverage has been better than Verizon ( comparing friends and family's Verizon service experience in same areas), so I am sorely annoyed when their ads show up when wife watches TV.
From my experience, AT&T has the best coverage, T-Mobile next and Verizon the least.
That may not be what the coverage maps show, but until I get other experiences I will stick to my anecdotal evidence...
Turning on Roaming profiles and having a lot of crap on the desktop will affec this as well.
Obviously these girls train and compete at a young age already, so In my mind there had to be more to htis as well.
The commentators mentioned that at the younger ager they are less aware of all the pressure on them. So when they compete they tend to have fewer things to worry about, allowing them to concentrate on the routine.
is perfect - immediate gratification as well as using APIs.
any slashdotter's takes or opinions - maybe with the exception of New York Country Lawyer's.
Prince may have his issues and oddities, but I would wager his musical artist and business acumen surpasses that of any of us here.
I have seen taht too - but big difference is that the buggy roller is not powered, iirc
Perhaps it was the one contorversial one that was in existence only briefly.
However you may be more correct in the case of Microsoft's license in development tools.
at least one - there may be others.
http://www.patent-commons.org/ Check on Groklaw.net as well..
1. No there will be a zillion apps for Android, but most will be minor variations of one another. Pretty much like all the things that come with a Linux distro. Or worse, like all the "apps" from any widget scene. How many freaking version of a weather widget, UPS tracking, or gmail checker does one need? Just because one develops one for oneself as a learning tool does not mean it needs to be published. Some would claim that competition is good - but the plethora of availability will just be confusion. 2. After people install tons of apps and have them all multitasking that is a very good possibility. 3. Hmm - no disagreement there. 4. Only linux geeks will hang out in these. How many of those are on /.?
5. That is still a high number - I do not think that this is a deterrent.
6. No harder than current linux apps.
I like the idea of Android. But I beleive in the end only IT professionals will end up finding good use for this platform. Would I get one? Sure. I currently use an iPod touch, and a dedicated separate phone. Maybe when my phone contract is up ( almost 2 years) there will be some clarity in the market as to Androids capabilities, and some stability on this platform.
In the mean time we will be developing apps of the touch for internal business use. My main developer has become to appreciate the Apple SDK for both OS X and now the touch platform.
I still am stuck in Delphi development, trying to pick up python. My hope is that Apple will develop a python interpreter and library to interface with the API, but I won't be devastated if they do not.
We will also check out the Android platform when it comes out, and it may turn out to be useful as well. But until we see the hardware and development environments it obviously won't impact us. I do suspect that a lower price than the iphone/touch may provide a corporate incentive for some internal development.
Going to Europe, buying a prepaid SIM card there to get a local number requires an unlock of the phone first.
So there are restrictions, somehow, and as another reply pointed out, not all carriers do that.
interesting point.
Are current Snopes visitors always the cautious/suspicious kind?
Or has Snopes become / starting to become part of the common culture?
I don't know.
Of course, I did not see any ads not having Javascript on by default.
But he does say that since people trust Snopes that the software appears to be enorsed by Snopes. Which would lead people to go ahead and install it.
I was born and grew up in Germany. ( my mom is American, my faterh German). ,9 ,10 year olds past Liftfasssaulen with the equivalent of wanted posters for terrorists in retorspective is kind of surreal, but didn't register too much with us.
We travelled internationally quite frequently, primarily in Europe, during the time when terrorism was a fairly constant threat ( 1970's). Going to school as 6, 7, 8
Even after mom remarried and we came to the US we travelled back to Europe occasionally. Heck, my American born little sister ( 14 years younger!) even got married in Prague a few years ago.
I detest the idea of this national ID. As others point out it does not promote safety in any sense ( nor did it back then in germany even though papers/IDs where required as well).
All it does allow is for the potentail wholesale abuse by agents of the federal government of its citizenry. The US has certainly shown this in the past, never mind the local governments abuse.
So no, your suspicion is way wrong.
back then it was used for AI and her expertise was pattern recognition in some kind of geological graphical data of some sort. The idea was to identify patterns that would lead to oil fields.
Apparently she was doing it all in LISP at the time...