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It's not hard to "get", in that their policy decision is clear and understandable. However, are you saying that the iPhone is incapable of being a general purp

by erdevs 10y ago

It's not hard to "get", in that their policy decision is clear and understandable. However, are you saying that the iPhone is incapable of being a general purpose computer? That it would be difficult to have it more open/accessible for tuning? If so, you'd have to explain. The point is that the iPhone / iOS devices could be more open (to user control and modification at the OS level, to third-party peripherals, to third-party software distribution and installation, etc)... but, due to fiat policy rather than any significant technical constraint, it is not. Is that hard to "get"?

oldmanjay 10y ago
The part that is hard to "get" is the constant complaining. You could complain once and then let it go, but the favored technique seems to be to beat it to death, accompanied by mock surprise that not every person gives the same priority to things. It's boring, frankly.
- erdevs 10y ago
  I am pretty sure that this is the first time, or at most one of the few times, I personally have made any note of this general issue. Are you perhaps displacing? Do you think it's actually fair to take the view that because other people may have made note of an issue repeatedly in the past, it is therefore to be frowned upon if any new person also makes note of it from their own perspective? I guess you'd also tell Alan Kay, who made the actual comment under original discussion here, to muzzle it because his thought is boring? In any case, by your own logic, shouldn't you not have replied at all because no doubt many, many other people have replied to this issue as you are here, given that it is apparently such well-trod ground? Aren't you then being hypocritical? And do you actually think it's fair-minded to call what I specifically wrote a "complaint"?
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  Advocacy or evangelism, and repetition, go hand in hand. Your complaint makes little sense, and has no foundation.
Volt 10y ago
Sounds like you don't get it. And I'm not being facetious. Well, maybe a little. Just because something can be done doesn't necessarily mean it should be done, does it? This is not a commentary on the iPhone as a computer, but about products in general. Lots of things have general purpose computer parts, but serve a very specific purpose. What did Steve Jobs pitch the iPhone as again? A phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator? I don't remember "personal computer" being one of those things. So yes, this is the thing that Apple wants to make. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

by erdevs 10y ago

oldmanjay 10y ago

The part that is hard to "get" is the constant complaining. You could complain once and then let it go, but the favored technique seems to be to beat it to death, accompanied by mock surprise that not every person gives the same priority to things. It's boring, frankly.

erdevs 10y ago
I am pretty sure that this is the first time, or at most one of the few times, I personally have made any note of this general issue. Are you perhaps displacing? Do you think it's actually fair to take the view that because other people may have made note of an issue repeatedly in the past, it is therefore to be frowned upon if any new person also makes note of it from their own perspective? I guess you'd also tell Alan Kay, who made the actual comment under original discussion here, to muzzle it because his thought is boring? In any case, by your own logic, shouldn't you not have replied at all because no doubt many, many other people have replied to this issue as you are here, given that it is apparently such well-trod ground? Aren't you then being hypocritical? And do you actually think it's fair-minded to call what I specifically wrote a "complaint"?
dredmorbius 10y ago
Advocacy or evangelism, and repetition, go hand in hand. Your complaint makes little sense, and has no foundation.

Volt 10y ago

Sounds like you don't get it. And I'm not being facetious. Well, maybe a little. Just because something can be done doesn't necessarily mean it should be done, does it? This is not a commentary on the iPhone as a computer, but about products in general. Lots of things have general purpose computer parts, but serve a very specific purpose. What did Steve Jobs pitch the iPhone as again? A phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator? I don't remember "personal computer" being one of those things. So yes, this is the thing that Apple wants to make. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.