Keep in mind that those other apps offered functionality that Apple's did not provide--namely turn-by-turn directions. Now that Apple's app provides these, watch these other apps start to receive "static" from Apple.
Think back to the Kindle app. When Apple released iBooks, they didn't kick Kindle off the store. Of course, you could no longer buy books from within your Kindle app. You couldn't even be sent to a web page where you could buy books. So I wouldn't be surprised to see anybody who tries to improve their app to suddenly start getting flak from Apple--y'know, finding that they're violating some obscure part of the App Store terms of service or having the TOS change so that these people are essentially wiped out.
Personally, if I were Google, I would do a press release telling everybody that, "Nope. Sorry. We can't do a version for the iPhone because our lawyers say it would not be allowed. We already went down that route with Google Voice, spending the time and effort to develop the app only to have Apple nix it. We won't waste our shareholders' money again on such ventures. If iPhone users would like a Google Maps application, let Apple know and they will hopefully allow us to do so. Otherwise, you can use our Safari-optimized web page."
They are doing exactly the same thing they did when Steve Jobs left the first time. They have become scared, call minor change 'innovation' and loosing focus on the product.
From the historical standpoint, I disagree.
Apple innovated plenty after Steve Jobs left. Or did we forget about the Macintosh II? 32-bit color? Multiple display support? Hypercard? QuickTime?
That said, I'm talking about the historical standpoint. I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying about Apple today.
Actually, I have to admit one thing about NFC that has nothing to do with payments but I think is pretty cool.
Bumping Phones.
There's a Samsung ad that demonstrates this. I take a picture of the group. I then go and touch each phone with my phone and you have the picture. Doink. Done. No syncing with The Cloud and having people subscribe to my photo stream or any of that. No "pairing phones" over Bluetooth. Bump. There's the picture. Done.
Now it's an ad, I will grant you, and "Lies, Damned Lies, and Advertising" apply. So perhaps in practice it isn't that simple. It might also be a Samsung thing, so it won't work with my friend's Droid.
But, in theory, the sheer simplicity is appealing.
Samsung has some very slick stuff in the Samsung Galaxy S3 software. Things like what I mentioned. Things like not dimming the screen if you're looking at it. Very "Apple" ideas.
While I agree with what you're saying, it's actually an entertaining "Ask Slashdot" and I'm glad he asked it.
I'm one of those people who dreams of getting a sailboat and sailing around the world. I will probably never do it, granted, but it's one of those "Retirement Fantasies." So it is interesting to read some of the answers. At the very least, it will probably give him a place to start. I wouldn't necessarily take these answers as the be-all and end-all, you're right. I'd seek more expert advice. But if people were saying, "Oh, don't bother with ATA" or something, that might be a good question to ask an experienced person. If people were saying, "Check out Garmin's line of equipment," I'd consider looking at them over someone else's.
You're right--the answer does not lie with the Slashdot crowd. But the road to the answer can easily start with some advice from people here.
Indeed. Although I would expect that this would obligate Apple to also nix all of the assorted GPS apps that are also on the iPhone.
Well, remember, it's Apple's store. They can do whatever they want.
Also, what's to say that Apple won't nix all of the assorted navigation apps? It would only affect the US (since Turn-by-Turn Navigation is not available outside the US). Or they may just start putting silly limitations ("You must use our maps") on these developers until they give up. Think of the Kindle app.
It's less about saving Apple than it is being considerate to end users who bought a phone only to have previously existing functionality ripped from it after the purchase.
Well, perhaps those users will consider getting a phone that supports better mapping than Apple provides the next time around.
Don't get me wrong--I think this would be stupid (and potentially evil) for Google to do. As long as Apple will accept the app, there's no reason for Google to not do it. The more platforms that Google is on, the more money they make. So it'd be silly for Google to not do it. Still, I gotta admit that Apple is removing pretty much all Google properties from iOS and Mac OS X (no more default link to YouTube in Safari, no more Google Maps in iPhoto, etc) so I'd love to see Google respond in kind. It'd be interesting to see if customers start walking away or not.
The loss of maps feature will not only stop some people from updating [...]
Oh, I think people will update. But when they discover that their Maps application sucks and there's no YouTube app, they'll think twice about updating to iOS 7.
Absolutely nothing. About the only advantage you get with the native application is you don't see advertising. That said, you also see fewer videos (ie, only the ones that don't have advertisements). Personally, I switched to using the web interface and put an alias to it in my launcher.
What's somewhat interesting is that there is no longer a YouTube app sitting front and center. So I look at that Galaxy S3 which has a YouTube app and I look at the iPhone which doesn't and I think, "I can't watch YouTube on the iPhone."
I wonder how many people are going to upgrade to iOS and say, "Hey, where's my YouTube app?"
Apple's generally gotten pretty much everybody to update
This is actually an interesting point.
Apple does make it easy to update and most people do. The reason that they do this is that updates provide better functionality. In this case, not so much.
Which means lots of people might upgrade and then get pissed that the new Maps applications sucks. And Maps is one of those things that everybody uses. How many people do you think are going to update and then wonder where their YouTube app went? "I can't watch YouTube clips anymore!"
So when iOS 7 rolls around, they'll think twice about upgrading.
Google will doubtless have their own version of Google Maps, so this is not much of a big deal.
This assumes that Apple will allow them to do this. Of course, the only reason I can see for Apple not allowing this is the ol' "Duplicate Functionality" argument. On the other hand, this is the same Apple that nixed the Google Voice and Google Latitude applications because they could possibly replace "Core Functionality" of the iPhone.. And Maps is considered Core Functionality (which is why Google Latitude got nixed.)
I gotta admit, if I were Google, I'd consider not releasing Google Maps for iOS. Apple made their bed--let them lie in it. Why should Google come along and save them?
If things just scaled with resolution, then targets would be too small for easy selection on a retina display.
I think you're confused.
The original iPhone had a 480 x 320 pixel screen @ 163 dpi. The iPhone 4's "Retina Display" was 960 x 640 @ 326 dpi. So pixel doubling would work fine. In fact, I'm pretty sure that when you ran an app that did not support the "Retina Display," it did just that. So the UI can scale just fine.
The problem is that bit-mapped graphics don't scale so well. So an image that looked good at 163 dpi will look blurry when doubled. The rule of thumb from my old days with bitmaps was that scaling anything more than 25% will start to show artifacts. So 200% will look ugly. The fact that the pixels are twice as close together, though, will remove the "ugly" and just make it look blurry.
So, other than bitmap graphics, scaling works fine. And there are plenty of ways to set things up so that different shapes work fine, as well. Heck, Apple does this with Cocoa--you can define where controls are placed in the window respective to the edges and to other controls so that if the user resizes the window, the controls move around appropriately.
That said, this assumes that you are using standard Cocoa-touch controls in your iOS app. Of course, most iOS apps are games which take over the screen, draw their own controls, etc., and they have to be sensitive to the shape of the screen. I'd imagine that most of them are not which is why the iPhone 5 will place those apps in a box that pretends it's 960 x 480.
I have a patent. You wish to use my patent. I will charge you one million dollars to use my patent. Now, cash is fine, but what I really want is access to a couple of your patents. I figure those two patents are worth $999,999.97. So let me use those patents and pay me 3 cents and we'll call it even.
Apple now comes along and says, "No, you can't use our patents and paying one million dollars isn't fair because other people are only paying 3 cents."
I use my iPhone outside all the time--I have it mounted to my bike as a bike-computer. If I ride at the wrong time--say, 1 o'clock or so--the sun makes it unreadable unless I futz with the angle.
But it's a worthwhile point--much like cameras, the best e-reader is the one that you have with you.
Slashdot Mirror
Y'see, I wonder about this.
I have an older version of iPhoto. It has a feature where it will show where photos are taken on a map--provided by Google Maps. Very cool.
With the latest release of iPhoto, this stopped working. The latest version of iPhoto doesn't use Google Maps, it uses OpenStreetMap.
So what's the say that my Maps application will continue to work on iOS 5?
4. Try to have it auto update your position. Find out it doesn't work.
5. Go buy a phone with Google Maps.
Does Google Earth do routes?
Keep in mind that those other apps offered functionality that Apple's did not provide--namely turn-by-turn directions. Now that Apple's app provides these, watch these other apps start to receive "static" from Apple.
Think back to the Kindle app. When Apple released iBooks, they didn't kick Kindle off the store. Of course, you could no longer buy books from within your Kindle app. You couldn't even be sent to a web page where you could buy books. So I wouldn't be surprised to see anybody who tries to improve their app to suddenly start getting flak from Apple--y'know, finding that they're violating some obscure part of the App Store terms of service or having the TOS change so that these people are essentially wiped out.
Personally, if I were Google, I would do a press release telling everybody that, "Nope. Sorry. We can't do a version for the iPhone because our lawyers say it would not be allowed. We already went down that route with Google Voice, spending the time and effort to develop the app only to have Apple nix it. We won't waste our shareholders' money again on such ventures. If iPhone users would like a Google Maps application, let Apple know and they will hopefully allow us to do so. Otherwise, you can use our Safari-optimized web page."
They are doing exactly the same thing they did when Steve Jobs left the first time. They have become scared, call minor change 'innovation' and loosing focus on the product.
From the historical standpoint, I disagree.
Apple innovated plenty after Steve Jobs left. Or did we forget about the Macintosh II? 32-bit color? Multiple display support? Hypercard? QuickTime?
That said, I'm talking about the historical standpoint. I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying about Apple today.
Don't fuck where you eat.
Who cares how it looks? A good design is a good design. And I thought people claimed iOS users were just buying for the looks...
But how will people know I upgraded if it looks the same?
Seriously, Samsung. Update those ads to the S3....
Actually, I have to admit one thing about NFC that has nothing to do with payments but I think is pretty cool.
Bumping Phones.
There's a Samsung ad that demonstrates this. I take a picture of the group. I then go and touch each phone with my phone and you have the picture. Doink. Done. No syncing with The Cloud and having people subscribe to my photo stream or any of that. No "pairing phones" over Bluetooth. Bump. There's the picture. Done.
Now it's an ad, I will grant you, and "Lies, Damned Lies, and Advertising" apply. So perhaps in practice it isn't that simple. It might also be a Samsung thing, so it won't work with my friend's Droid.
But, in theory, the sheer simplicity is appealing.
Samsung has some very slick stuff in the Samsung Galaxy S3 software. Things like what I mentioned. Things like not dimming the screen if you're looking at it. Very "Apple" ideas.
True. But you need a $99 adapter to do that.
This.
I had it on my iPhone 3GS. It is not there on my iPhone 4S.
So much for the "consistent interface"...
I don't see the option on iOS 5.1.1 on AT&T.
While I agree with what you're saying, it's actually an entertaining "Ask Slashdot" and I'm glad he asked it.
I'm one of those people who dreams of getting a sailboat and sailing around the world. I will probably never do it, granted, but it's one of those "Retirement Fantasies." So it is interesting to read some of the answers. At the very least, it will probably give him a place to start. I wouldn't necessarily take these answers as the be-all and end-all, you're right. I'd seek more expert advice. But if people were saying, "Oh, don't bother with ATA" or something, that might be a good question to ask an experienced person. If people were saying, "Check out Garmin's line of equipment," I'd consider looking at them over someone else's.
You're right--the answer does not lie with the Slashdot crowd. But the road to the answer can easily start with some advice from people here.
Or along Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the countries along the Mediterranean, Australia, etc.
According to the US State Department, places to avoid include the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, Venezuela, and parts of Malaysia.
That leaves a great big world out there that you can visit if you don't insist on bringing along a penis extender.
Indeed. Although I would expect that this would obligate Apple to also nix all of the assorted GPS apps that are also on the iPhone.
Well, remember, it's Apple's store. They can do whatever they want.
Also, what's to say that Apple won't nix all of the assorted navigation apps? It would only affect the US (since Turn-by-Turn Navigation is not available outside the US). Or they may just start putting silly limitations ("You must use our maps") on these developers until they give up. Think of the Kindle app.
It's less about saving Apple than it is being considerate to end users who bought a phone only to have previously existing functionality ripped from it after the purchase.
Well, perhaps those users will consider getting a phone that supports better mapping than Apple provides the next time around.
Don't get me wrong--I think this would be stupid (and potentially evil) for Google to do. As long as Apple will accept the app, there's no reason for Google to not do it. The more platforms that Google is on, the more money they make. So it'd be silly for Google to not do it. Still, I gotta admit that Apple is removing pretty much all Google properties from iOS and Mac OS X (no more default link to YouTube in Safari, no more Google Maps in iPhoto, etc) so I'd love to see Google respond in kind. It'd be interesting to see if customers start walking away or not.
I believe you can do this at the Apple Store. It's GSM-only and $549 for the iPhone 4S.
The loss of maps feature will not only stop some people from updating [...]
Oh, I think people will update. But when they discover that their Maps application sucks and there's no YouTube app, they'll think twice about updating to iOS 7.
Absolutely nothing. About the only advantage you get with the native application is you don't see advertising. That said, you also see fewer videos (ie, only the ones that don't have advertisements). Personally, I switched to using the web interface and put an alias to it in my launcher.
What's somewhat interesting is that there is no longer a YouTube app sitting front and center. So I look at that Galaxy S3 which has a YouTube app and I look at the iPhone which doesn't and I think, "I can't watch YouTube on the iPhone."
I wonder how many people are going to upgrade to iOS and say, "Hey, where's my YouTube app?"
Apple's generally gotten pretty much everybody to update
This is actually an interesting point.
Apple does make it easy to update and most people do. The reason that they do this is that updates provide better functionality. In this case, not so much.
Which means lots of people might upgrade and then get pissed that the new Maps applications sucks. And Maps is one of those things that everybody uses. How many people do you think are going to update and then wonder where their YouTube app went? "I can't watch YouTube clips anymore!"
So when iOS 7 rolls around, they'll think twice about upgrading.
Google will doubtless have their own version of Google Maps, so this is not much of a big deal.
This assumes that Apple will allow them to do this. Of course, the only reason I can see for Apple not allowing this is the ol' "Duplicate Functionality" argument. On the other hand, this is the same Apple that nixed the Google Voice and Google Latitude applications because they could possibly replace "Core Functionality" of the iPhone.. And Maps is considered Core Functionality (which is why Google Latitude got nixed.)
I gotta admit, if I were Google, I'd consider not releasing Google Maps for iOS. Apple made their bed--let them lie in it. Why should Google come along and save them?
Lightfoot.
They'll have Clint Eastwood interviewing it at the unveiling.
If things just scaled with resolution, then targets would be too small for easy selection on a retina display.
I think you're confused.
The original iPhone had a 480 x 320 pixel screen @ 163 dpi. The iPhone 4's "Retina Display" was 960 x 640 @ 326 dpi. So pixel doubling would work fine. In fact, I'm pretty sure that when you ran an app that did not support the "Retina Display," it did just that. So the UI can scale just fine.
The problem is that bit-mapped graphics don't scale so well. So an image that looked good at 163 dpi will look blurry when doubled. The rule of thumb from my old days with bitmaps was that scaling anything more than 25% will start to show artifacts. So 200% will look ugly. The fact that the pixels are twice as close together, though, will remove the "ugly" and just make it look blurry.
So, other than bitmap graphics, scaling works fine. And there are plenty of ways to set things up so that different shapes work fine, as well. Heck, Apple does this with Cocoa--you can define where controls are placed in the window respective to the edges and to other controls so that if the user resizes the window, the controls move around appropriately.
That said, this assumes that you are using standard Cocoa-touch controls in your iOS app. Of course, most iOS apps are games which take over the screen, draw their own controls, etc., and they have to be sensitive to the shape of the screen. I'd imagine that most of them are not which is why the iPhone 5 will place those apps in a box that pretends it's 960 x 480.
One thing to keep in mind is that the phone is still the same width. So you can actually hit most of the buttons with one hand.
I don't watch TV anymore, and watching that reminded me precisely why.
Wait. You don't watch TV anymore, but you watched that?
Why?
Depends.
I have a patent. You wish to use my patent. I will charge you one million dollars to use my patent. Now, cash is fine, but what I really want is access to a couple of your patents. I figure those two patents are worth $999,999.97. So let me use those patents and pay me 3 cents and we'll call it even.
Apple now comes along and says, "No, you can't use our patents and paying one million dollars isn't fair because other people are only paying 3 cents."
I use my iPhone outside all the time--I have it mounted to my bike as a bike-computer. If I ride at the wrong time--say, 1 o'clock or so--the sun makes it unreadable unless I futz with the angle.
But it's a worthwhile point--much like cameras, the best e-reader is the one that you have with you.
True. But you still can't sit in the sunshine and read a book on it.
the contemporary "Zombie" as portrayed in movies, at the receiving end of a chainsaw or shotgun, looks and acts very much like a hungry person would?
Not all of them...