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I have to wonder how much of this is due to the limited capabilities of the iPhone, and how much is just the psychology of "physically" interacting with your ap

• netcan 17y ago
  I don't think it is primarily about the touch screen. It's probably a combination of things many of them related to limited capabilities. For example, the app store. Sure, they could allow some other channel for installing apps that isn't restricted. Some apps would be available only for this alternative channel because it's easier or freeier or better somehow. They give instructions on how to install it. It's complicated. A user might try to get something running on her iphone and fail. She might get her daughter to help. The app has some quirks (that's why it isn't allowed in the app store) When she uses someone else' iphone it's complicated and difficult because it belongs to a"power user". This adds up to the feeling that the iphone is complicated and hard and breakable and you need to know what you're doing with it. It's naive to say "don't install unapproved apps" or stay in the non-power user world. If it exists, people will be exposed to it. Think of the early days of GUI. Lots of non computer people where shown how to do something until it stopped working for whatever reason. At that point they asked for help. The helper immediately opens up the command line and demonstrates how you really need to know a little bit about the command line to get some things done.