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Is this because the iPhone OS doesn't use paging? It seems like this could be handled from the software side of things: the HD is solid state, and though sacrif

by ihodes 16y ago

Is this because the iPhone OS doesn't use paging? It seems like this could be handled from the software side of things: the HD is solid state, and though sacrificing a second of time to switch to a web page that's been cached in the HD isn't Apple-gorgeous it's certainly faster and nicer to see than a blank white page and a twirling loading symbol.

DrSprout 16y ago
It's just the problem with the interface design paradigm that says a user should be able to do anything immediately without instruction. If you want to cache, you need to have an understanding of how the Internet works, so it's "too hard" for "most people" to understand or care about.
- ihodes 16y ago
  You're missing my point: the OS should be able to cache the (up to n) pages that haven't been explicitly closed by the user in the HD, and when there's a page fault in main memory when a user tries to access the ones the 256MB can hold, the OS should go to the disk and grab that page, and swap out another page that's currently in RAM with the requested page. Bam, no re-downloading the page. Should be over in under a second (depending on the memory used in the iPad.)
  - weaksauce 16y ago
    If they made an assumption on the usage pattern of the drive they could buy cheaper parts that were not expected to be used as often. If there is no wear leveling built into the drive then it could reduce the lifespan of the drive. I am all for swap but I think they chose to omit the swap space for some other reason that I cannot think of right now.
    - MWinther 16y ago
      The entire device doesn't have to use swap for Safari to save the state of a particular "tab" to disk.
thought_alarm 16y ago
Safari, like any modern web browser, simply uses a lot of memory. Remember that mobile Safari is (almost) always running in the background and on 128 MB devices it is always consuming most of the available RAM despite how aggressively it tries to flush things from RAM. Caching to disk alone isn't enough. All web browsers cache to disk, but most non-trivial web sites will still hit the network as they are rendered by the browser, even if the content is cached. And if the network is slow you'll be waiting a while for that "cached" page to appear. Safari would need some kind of off-line browsing mode, like what I think Firefox has.

by ihodes 16y ago

DrSprout 16y ago

It's just the problem with the interface design paradigm that says a user should be able to do anything immediately without instruction. If you want to cache, you need to have an understanding of how the Internet works, so it's "too hard" for "most people" to understand or care about.

ihodes 16y ago
You're missing my point: the OS should be able to cache the (up to n) pages that haven't been explicitly closed by the user in the HD, and when there's a page fault in main memory when a user tries to access the ones the 256MB can hold, the OS should go to the disk and grab that page, and swap out another page that's currently in RAM with the requested page. Bam, no re-downloading the page. Should be over in under a second (depending on the memory used in the iPad.)
- weaksauce 16y ago
  If they made an assumption on the usage pattern of the drive they could buy cheaper parts that were not expected to be used as often. If there is no wear leveling built into the drive then it could reduce the lifespan of the drive. I am all for swap but I think they chose to omit the swap space for some other reason that I cannot think of right now.
  - MWinther 16y ago
    The entire device doesn't have to use swap for Safari to save the state of a particular "tab" to disk.

thought_alarm 16y ago

Safari, like any modern web browser, simply uses a lot of memory. Remember that mobile Safari is (almost) always running in the background and on 128 MB devices it is always consuming most of the available RAM despite how aggressively it tries to flush things from RAM. Caching to disk alone isn't enough. All web browsers cache to disk, but most non-trivial web sites will still hit the network as they are rendered by the browser, even if the content is cached. And if the network is slow you'll be waiting a while for that "cached" page to appear. Safari would need some kind of off-line browsing mode, like what I think Firefox has.