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Someone is channeling their inner-John Gruber, apparently. The original iPhone had a mediocre display, a forgettable design, zero apps (and, contrary to the re

by ergo98 16y ago

Someone is channeling their inner-John Gruber, apparently. The original iPhone had a mediocre display, a forgettable design, zero apps (and, contrary to the revisionism that is now the rage, had zero plans on every having apps at inception. Apple and AT&T saw apps as a unnecessary risk, and web apps were the only solution), a terrible back-facing camera (and no front facing camera, which in those early days was considered an egregious oversight), and it was strangely 2G in a world that had already moved to 3G. It succeeded because it was Apple. To say that it was "Great since day one" should embarrass the speaker, and if Nokia, or Motorola, or anyone else released that phone it would have been panned. The latest iPhone needs to be cocooned inside a case lest you shatter the good-looking-but-bad-engineering glass back or touch the untouchable antenna. Great since day one? It has a video chat application that inexplicably only works between iPhone 4 users on WiFi, which to most other companies wouldn't even classify as "beta". Great since day one? It has a notification system that is horribly crippled by the most generous evaluation. Great since day one? The iPhone is a gorgeous, gorgeous phone. It is the new trendsetter. It is not without many flaws however, though it sits in that remarkable favored area where flaws are glossed over. Indeed, it's telling that Apple's flaws only become obvious to the faithful once the replacement is available. Suddenly, you'll note, every Apple-head is talking about how the iPhone 3GS is dated, feels plasticy and cheap, etc (Hey, I was saying that since it came out, but of course as the deliverance from Apple it was impossible that could be true, until the next deliverance). These sorts of cult-religious screeds are an embarrassment to technology. I mentioned Gruber earlier because this Marco guy is stealing his schtick.

ergo98 16y ago
Oh, add that iOS 4 cribs Android multitasking almost directly. And when it borrows from Android's notification system, replacing the terrible system it has now (they're already hiring in this space), at release people like Gruber and Marco will say "See, this is what makes Apple great: It's great since day one!" When you can look at the world like that, defining "day one" to be when the product is no longer second-rate, it's easy to say that. Android is "great since day one", so long as you ignore everything prior to 2.2.
thm76 16y ago
I think what Apple is doing usually, and I think that's one of the points Marco is making in the article, is that they only add features when they can get them working very well. They didn't have a use for a front facing camera, or could make it easy enough to use, so they didn't include one. Now they have one because they were finally able to implement video chat in an easy to use way (Face Time). They didn't have copy and paste until they figured out how to make it as elegant and easy to use as it is. They didn't include 3G in the original iPhone because it would have affected battery life too much. They only introduced the SDK once the API was in a usable state and they got the necessary documentation and infrastructure in place to support 3rd party developers. Face Time currently only works on WiFi, but from what I read about it it actually works for Joe Average. On other phones you have to be a geek to figure out which software to install and how to set it up. For some people it is certainly valuable to have barely working bleeding edge features on the phone, but for the 99% of users out there who're not interested in tinkering with their phone Apple's approach makes a lot more sense, IMO.
- ergo98 16y ago
  >On other phones you have to be a geek to figure out which software to install and how to set it up. What? No you don't. >They only introduced the SDK once the API was in a usable state and they got the necessary documentation and infrastructure in place to support 3rd party developers. I have an acquaintance who has this bizarre tic that when he can't afford or obtain something, and strangely feels defensive about it, he rationalizes his self-perceived inadequacy by claiming that he was intentionally putting off getting whatever he didn't have (girlfriend, BMW, leather couch...the list was endless) until he could have perfection. It is doubly effective, in his mind, because it also subtly denigrate people who did have what he didn't, insinuating that they settle for second best. Everyone, but apparently him, saw right through it, but it kept him feeling good I guess. I see this same rationalization with Apple. It essentially opines that if Apple isn't doing something, it isn't because Apple is behind the ball/lacking, it's somehow because everyone else is lacking.

by ergo98 16y ago

ergo98 16y ago

Oh, add that iOS 4 cribs Android multitasking almost directly. And when it borrows from Android's notification system, replacing the terrible system it has now (they're already hiring in this space), at release people like Gruber and Marco will say "See, this is what makes Apple great: It's great since day one!" When you can look at the world like that, defining "day one" to be when the product is no longer second-rate, it's easy to say that. Android is "great since day one", so long as you ignore everything prior to 2.2.

thm76 16y ago

I think what Apple is doing usually, and I think that's one of the points Marco is making in the article, is that they only add features when they can get them working very well. They didn't have a use for a front facing camera, or could make it easy enough to use, so they didn't include one. Now they have one because they were finally able to implement video chat in an easy to use way (Face Time). They didn't have copy and paste until they figured out how to make it as elegant and easy to use as it is. They didn't include 3G in the original iPhone because it would have affected battery life too much. They only introduced the SDK once the API was in a usable state and they got the necessary documentation and infrastructure in place to support 3rd party developers. Face Time currently only works on WiFi, but from what I read about it it actually works for Joe Average. On other phones you have to be a geek to figure out which software to install and how to set it up. For some people it is certainly valuable to have barely working bleeding edge features on the phone, but for the 99% of users out there who're not interested in tinkering with their phone Apple's approach makes a lot more sense, IMO.

ergo98 16y ago
>On other phones you have to be a geek to figure out which software to install and how to set it up. What? No you don't. >They only introduced the SDK once the API was in a usable state and they got the necessary documentation and infrastructure in place to support 3rd party developers. I have an acquaintance who has this bizarre tic that when he can't afford or obtain something, and strangely feels defensive about it, he rationalizes his self-perceived inadequacy by claiming that he was intentionally putting off getting whatever he didn't have (girlfriend, BMW, leather couch...the list was endless) until he could have perfection. It is doubly effective, in his mind, because it also subtly denigrate people who did have what he didn't, insinuating that they settle for second best. Everyone, but apparently him, saw right through it, but it kept him feeling good I guess. I see this same rationalization with Apple. It essentially opines that if Apple isn't doing something, it isn't because Apple is behind the ball/lacking, it's somehow because everyone else is lacking.