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We've been developing for desktop/laptop computers for years now. They also give developer plenty of space to play with. From your comment I conclude that devel

by nazar 15y ago

We've been developing for desktop/laptop computers for years now. They also give developer plenty of space to play with. From your comment I conclude that developing for desktop must be the hardest thing ever, not talking about the 27' iMacs.

danilocampos 15y ago
> developing for desktop must be the hardest thing ever Among the hardest challenges you could ask for UX-wise, definitely. That's why so much desktop software has been shit since the 80's. As a guy who specializes in mobile, desktop stuff is horrifying. You have to consider all kinds of screen resolutions, interactions with other apps, huge variations in system performance, printing... On and on. No constraints to speak of. I mean, Office only recently (last five years) emerged from mediocrity into something decent. And even then, it's not awesome. Though I'll always have a place in my heart for Excel. What a great product. Meanwhile, look at Skype. The latest Skype for Mac is utter shit. This is not easy work.
bigiain 15y ago
Well, the quality of the "typical website" (aimed at desktop browsers) certainly seems to support that conclusion... There's certainly a very different mindset you adopt when developing for a phone sized screen, and the constraints require super tight focus on the site goals and processes that is often missing from the planning and requirements stage of less-constrained web development. Google the "mobile first" movement, and pay particular attention for the writing of Luke Wroblewski - while not fully subscribing to "mobile first" myself, I'm seeing some _strong_ benefits from at least considering it at the very early planning stages of any new web project.
anko 15y ago
I think the GP is saying it's hard to do well. Interfaces for big screens generally waste a lot of space or become really cluttered. He/She is arguing that the prevelance of good UIs will win the tablet battle, rather than simply the presence of apps. I'm not sure how I feel about that aspect, but I agree that tablet uis are harder to do RIGHT than phone UIs.

by nazar 15y ago

danilocampos 15y ago

> developing for desktop must be the hardest thing ever Among the hardest challenges you could ask for UX-wise, definitely. That's why so much desktop software has been shit since the 80's. As a guy who specializes in mobile, desktop stuff is horrifying. You have to consider all kinds of screen resolutions, interactions with other apps, huge variations in system performance, printing... On and on. No constraints to speak of. I mean, Office only recently (last five years) emerged from mediocrity into something decent. And even then, it's not awesome. Though I'll always have a place in my heart for Excel. What a great product. Meanwhile, look at Skype. The latest Skype for Mac is utter shit. This is not easy work.

bigiain 15y ago

Well, the quality of the "typical website" (aimed at desktop browsers) certainly seems to support that conclusion... There's certainly a very different mindset you adopt when developing for a phone sized screen, and the constraints require super tight focus on the site goals and processes that is often missing from the planning and requirements stage of less-constrained web development. Google the "mobile first" movement, and pay particular attention for the writing of Luke Wroblewski - while not fully subscribing to "mobile first" myself, I'm seeing some _strong_ benefits from at least considering it at the very early planning stages of any new web project.

anko 15y ago

I think the GP is saying it's hard to do well. Interfaces for big screens generally waste a lot of space or become really cluttered. He/She is arguing that the prevelance of good UIs will win the tablet battle, rather than simply the presence of apps. I'm not sure how I feel about that aspect, but I agree that tablet uis are harder to do RIGHT than phone UIs.