The problem is that the "nerds", tweakers, and hackers usually push the state of the art for other "nerds", tweakers, and hackers. Very rarely have they done so so in a way that benefits "ordinary folks". Look at the state of Linux on the desktop. It's great for us, but despite what anybody says, it doesn't have the level of usability (different from eyecandy, looks, etc) that would prevent tech support calls to me from my mom. Therefore, we have two different markets with varying degrees of overlap. Nothing is wrong with that.
Your intelligent post leads me to believe that you're really close to understanding why Apple does what they do without realizing it. The scanning for wifi and tethering are _also_ geeky when you really think about it (and tethering is officially available, just not on AT&T). Not the way you or I might, but the way your local baker does. Apple limits what geeks do so that the phone works with minimal failure for ordinary people. For the vast majority of people, what the iPhone does is very enabling because they're not even aware of what it can't do. If Apple started letting people use private APIs (which is why the WiFi scanners got pulled), and they changed the private API someday, it would break the user experience. Would your baker understand "oh, the developer used a private API subject to change" or would they instead say "this damned iPhone (and people will equate apps with the device) is crashing"? The bottom line is that different devices make different tradeoffs. They're not right or wrong, but different and make different people happy.
Wow, an intelligent post that understands there really are system level tradeoffs other than "control" and other nebulous but nevertheless impressive sounding reasons. Expect to get modded down shortly.
Tell me about it. iPhone owners want to run Sendmail on the iphone they purchased and ssh into it from their laptop.
Oh wait, maybe it actually does do what they want, just not what _you_ want. Is it possible that the N900 is right for you and the iPhone right for others?
This is the rationale Microsoft uses for maintaining cruft in IE's rendering engine. Why should apple put extra code into their firmware because someone else's firmware doesn't follow standards?
If it were competing with laptops, Apple wouldn't sell it. After all, they sell laptops. Why do people find it so hard to understand that maybe the iPad doesn't need to be compared with anything? You try it, and if you like it and can afford it, you buy it. Simple.
Why is Beethoven a better composer than your boss? You'd be hard pressed to explain why. Why does a dry aged high quality steak taste better than gristle? You'd be hard pressed to explain that too. The bottom line is that the human sensory experience can't be explained with a few specs - but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And that sensory experience drives almost all human behavior other than the bare necessities of food and shelter. I'm going to go ski this weekend. Why? For some intangible adrenaline rush. I can't argue that case or explain it other than "fun".
Re:As the "computer guy" for a large circle of peo
on
Apple iPad Reviewed
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· Score: 1
For most people, listening to music is listening to the thousands of songs they already have. You are not in the majority to be using last.fm. Most people would rather not take the battery life hit to be streaming and running flash while they read an iBook. Most people would, in fact, not understand why their battery life was shorter.
The first 3 of those are handled by a the notification system. Before calling people names, it might help to get your facts straight. Oh wait, this is Slashdot.
He didn't say that Theora will win if it's technically better, only that it would lose if it weren't. There's a big difference, and I'm inclined to agree. People care even less about the ideology openness than technical merits, especially among people who aren't technical to begin with.
Without secrets, the Normandy invasion would have failed, and the Allies could very well have lost World War II. The breaking of the Nazi Enigma Machine also directly contributed to our victory.
That many slashdotters have no idea of the realities of the world doesn't change things. China isn't going to open source their wartime strategies. People who post classified information to WikiLeaks (like the aforementioned document itself) should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Leaking of classified information can and does lead to severe negative consequences for our nation, up to and including the loss of human life. It's not a game, and it's not as simple as
A good New York pizza is made with a good starter (need the lactobacilli and yeast to get flavor), flour, water, and salt only. No need for the sugar, olive oil, or instant yeast.
It ensures there are no daemons running, making it nearly impossible to have a botnet of iPhones. With multitasking, how do you know that a thread doesn't get spawned off that now runs and listens on an arbitrary port for incoming connections?
Why would they want another app in the background using the phone's resources to duplicate the functionality of MobileMe? Good question. It's not like this app would be functional if it only ran in the foreground. Yet another guy whining because he has a shitty concept for an app with no user benefit that has been rejected. That there exist other shitty apps on the app store doesn't make his any better or warrant an exception by Apple.
I consider it a feature the IB doesn't do code generation - the NIB files that are generated remain part of the app bundle and can even be changed at runtime. I think that's a far more elegant solution.
Closed software is only taboo in the society that is the OSS movement. So, no, I will choose not to adapt and enjoy both closed and open software is it fits my needs.
Not everybody who thinks outside the box wants to write software that doesn't fit the iPhone developer agreement. Don't confuse the real end user, who might be an architect or a doctor, with the exceedingly small group of people who want to run Sendmail on their iPhone but not pay the $100 to join the developer program which allows them to do so.
I think you're missing the point - telling a retailer what to sell is stripping them of their rights. By your rationale, you can pass a law to tell any store X to sell product Y, and arbitrarily declare any group of people a protected class.
They did break an already known Apple rule. It just took a while for Apple to figure it out. It has always said right up front that apps aren't allowed to use private APIs. It's not like you can accidentally use a private API thinking it's public.
No, it's simple. If you have an idea, and it fits the terms of service, you're fine. OTOH, if your idea _requires_ the use of private APIs, then maybe you should buy some beer instead.
Except that it actually takes _work_ to expose APIs to the public. It means documentation, support, and the baggage of not breaking it in the future. Did you consider that they just don't feel that it's worth the effort?
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The problem is that the "nerds", tweakers, and hackers usually push the state of the art for other "nerds", tweakers, and hackers. Very rarely have they done so so in a way that benefits "ordinary folks". Look at the state of Linux on the desktop. It's great for us, but despite what anybody says, it doesn't have the level of usability (different from eyecandy, looks, etc) that would prevent tech support calls to me from my mom. Therefore, we have two different markets with varying degrees of overlap. Nothing is wrong with that.
Your intelligent post leads me to believe that you're really close to understanding why Apple does what they do without realizing it. The scanning for wifi and tethering are _also_ geeky when you really think about it (and tethering is officially available, just not on AT&T). Not the way you or I might, but the way your local baker does.
Apple limits what geeks do so that the phone works with minimal failure for ordinary people. For the vast majority of people, what the iPhone does is very enabling because they're not even aware of what it can't do. If Apple started letting people use private APIs (which is why the WiFi scanners got pulled), and they changed the private API someday, it would break the user experience. Would your baker understand "oh, the developer used a private API subject to change" or would they instead say "this damned iPhone (and people will equate apps with the device) is crashing"?
The bottom line is that different devices make different tradeoffs. They're not right or wrong, but different and make different people happy.
Wow, an intelligent post that understands there really are system level tradeoffs other than "control" and other nebulous but nevertheless impressive sounding reasons.
Expect to get modded down shortly.
Tell me about it. iPhone owners want to run Sendmail on the iphone they purchased and ssh into it from their laptop.
Oh wait, maybe it actually does do what they want, just not what _you_ want. Is it possible that the N900 is right for you and the iPhone right for others?
This is the rationale Microsoft uses for maintaining cruft in IE's rendering engine.
Why should apple put extra code into their firmware because someone else's firmware doesn't follow standards?
If it were competing with laptops, Apple wouldn't sell it. After all, they sell laptops.
Why do people find it so hard to understand that maybe the iPad doesn't need to be compared with anything? You try it, and if you like it and can afford it, you buy it. Simple.
Why is Beethoven a better composer than your boss? You'd be hard pressed to explain why. Why does a dry aged high quality steak taste better than gristle? You'd be hard pressed to explain that too.
The bottom line is that the human sensory experience can't be explained with a few specs - but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And that sensory experience drives almost all human behavior other than the bare necessities of food and shelter.
I'm going to go ski this weekend. Why? For some intangible adrenaline rush. I can't argue that case or explain it other than "fun".
For most people, listening to music is listening to the thousands of songs they already have. You are not in the majority to be using last.fm. Most people would rather not take the battery life hit to be streaming and running flash while they read an iBook. Most people would, in fact, not understand why their battery life was shorter.
The first 3 of those are handled by a the notification system.
Before calling people names, it might help to get your facts straight.
Oh wait, this is Slashdot.
He didn't say that Theora will win if it's technically better, only that it would lose if it weren't. There's a big difference, and I'm inclined to agree.
People care even less about the ideology openness than technical merits, especially among people who aren't technical to begin with.
You clearly have never worked with classified information, and are therefore not in a position to comment on what is kept secret most of the time.
Without secrets, the Normandy invasion would have failed, and the Allies could very well have lost World War II. The breaking of the Nazi Enigma Machine also directly contributed to our victory.
That many slashdotters have no idea of the realities of the world doesn't change things. China isn't going to open source their wartime strategies.
People who post classified information to WikiLeaks (like the aforementioned document itself) should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Leaking of classified information can and does lead to severe negative consequences for our nation, up to and including the loss of human life. It's not a game, and it's not as simple as
A good New York pizza is made with a good starter (need the lactobacilli and yeast to get flavor), flour, water, and salt only. No need for the sugar, olive oil, or instant yeast.
Butter and lard make for much tastier baked goods than ones made with vegetable shortening. But your point is taken nevertheless.
It ensures there are no daemons running, making it nearly impossible to have a botnet of iPhones.
With multitasking, how do you know that a thread doesn't get spawned off that now runs and listens on an arbitrary port for incoming connections?
Why would they want another app in the background using the phone's resources to duplicate the functionality of MobileMe? Good question.
It's not like this app would be functional if it only ran in the foreground.
Yet another guy whining because he has a shitty concept for an app with no user benefit that has been rejected. That there exist other shitty apps on the app store doesn't make his any better or warrant an exception by Apple.
I consider it a feature the IB doesn't do code generation - the NIB files that are generated remain part of the app bundle and can even be changed at runtime. I think that's a far more elegant solution.
Closed software is only taboo in the society that is the OSS movement. So, no, I will choose not to adapt and enjoy both closed and open software is it fits my needs.
Must have been a long time ago. I used a non-Apple SCSI hard drive with my Apple IIgs, end every Mac I owned.
Not everybody who thinks outside the box wants to write software that doesn't fit the iPhone developer agreement. Don't confuse the real end user, who might be an architect or a doctor, with the exceedingly small group of people who want to run Sendmail on their iPhone but not pay the $100 to join the developer program which allows them to do so.
I think you're missing the point - telling a retailer what to sell is stripping them of their rights. By your rationale, you can pass a law to tell any store X to sell product Y, and arbitrarily declare any group of people a protected class.
Your argument is the strawman here.
I'd bet you'd be making a lot more money paying Apple their 30% and letting them distribute it for you.
They did break an already known Apple rule. It just took a while for Apple to figure it out. It has always said right up front that apps aren't allowed to use private APIs. It's not like you can accidentally use a private API thinking it's public.
No, it's simple. If you have an idea, and it fits the terms of service, you're fine. OTOH, if your idea _requires_ the use of private APIs, then maybe you should buy some beer instead.
Except that it actually takes _work_ to expose APIs to the public. It means documentation, support, and the baggage of not breaking it in the future.
Did you consider that they just don't feel that it's worth the effort?