5 ms·

It kills me how powerful the iPhone is and I can't play Quake or emulated games on it.. really makes you feel like you're like a second class user. Also my iPh

It kills me how powerful the iPhone is and I can't play Quake or emulated games on it.. really makes you feel like you're like a second class user. Also my iPhone could easily power a great desktop experience if the software wasn't so locked down. Very sad, 15 billion transistors in my pocket and I can barely use them to their potential. What kind of future is this?

rad_gruchalski 3y ago
But you knew about all of that when you bought it, and you still paid for it.
- TaylorAlexander 3y ago
  Something can be a good choice and still have room for improvement. This is how we think about how things can be better.
  - rad_gruchalski 3y ago
    The original premise of an iPhone was that closed experience. It was an improvement over the mobile market that existed back then. I remember because I had my fair share of Philips, Alcatel, Nokia, and ipaqs. What I’m afraid of is that some actions and reactions of a—let’s be honest—insignificant number of power users who want to root their phone is going to break the experience for the majority of the regular users. Progress is welcomed but let’s not forget: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
    - kevinh 3y ago
      The original iPhone had no App Store and thus no way to get third-party native apps at all. I don't know that the original premise is at all relevant now.
    - wiseowise 3y ago
      > The original premise of an iPhone was that closed experience. Ah, I remember the pitch by Jobs, truly a visionary.
- amelius 3y ago
  Simple reason. Lack of choice. When I bought my first iPhone it was the first product that I paid a large chunk of my savings for and which I really hated in several ways, but I needed in other ways. It's a necessary evil.
  - memefrog 3y ago
    Android is another choice. It may not have been around when you bought your first iPhone, but that was 16 years ago.
    - amelius 3y ago
      Frankly. it's like having to choose between one shitty thing and another slightly less shitty thing. The market is really broken here.
      - rad_gruchalski 3y ago
        There are alternatives. The market is open. Maybe it’s just no so easy to come up with a “less shitty”alternative that would appeal to the mass consumer?
        Jetrel 3y ago
        The reality is that nobody wants the alternative. Another commenter was replying to you pitching a mobile debian version, and went on to explain that said mobile debian version isn't usable ... and that's probably because the size of the community of people actually interested in it is so vanishingly tiny that they can't sustain development. It's like watching the stillborn OpenPandora or GP2x, and discovering that "devices bought almost exclusively to pirate SNES/SEGA games" have no devs writing games for their market because ... well ... you know ... ——— Woke: using OSS as a dev model because it's inherently more efficient/effective and leads to better software Broke: using OSS because "muh rights".
        memefrog 3y ago
- munk-a 3y ago
  Well it depends. Personally I was a flip phone user until my last one finally kicked the bucket and the Canadian telecom monopoly presented me the choice of purchasing a new "network compatible" flip phone for 250$ and paying 25/mo or getting a leased to own phone on a 40/mo plan. I need a phone - I got a smart phone because it was the only sane fiscal decision... and when I got that phone I was presented with the options of iOS or locked down Android. This may just be a Canadian thing but I think it's important to not present this as a completely free choice. If you're on a budget and you need a phone to occasionally communicate with the outside world you're going to be forced into getting a smart phone - the only choice is Android vs. iOS.
  - willsmith72 3y ago
    Why was the only flip phone choice $250?
    - sweetjuly 3y ago
      The market for flip phones isn't primarily the elderly or other people who want/need simplified interfaces. This means they're usually very low volume and have much less price competition. That, and most flip phones are just running android with a highly customized skin, which ups software development costs
- tomcam 3y ago
  Do you feel that all (or the vast majority of)consumers who purchase an iPhone are aware of these limitations?
  - giobox 3y ago
    Kids who like games often do know about the Apple App store stance on emulation - they find out immediately when their Android using friends have access to a massive library of emulation easily that they don't. I've never owned an Android anything, and this annoys me on long flights where I'd love to just stock up on some old emulated games to pass the time without having to pack another device.
- bottlepalm 3y ago
  Ah I forgot that when you buy something that you're not allowed to complain about it. Good point.
  - BeFlatXIII 3y ago
    I still wonder why leaving such utter garbage comments, such as the one you replied to, is so popular. It's not clever and won't change anyone's mind.
- wiseowise 3y ago
  I buy a lot of things and provide even more feedback on customer channels. That’s how products improve goddamnit, by listening to customers.
theamk 3y ago
So why did you buy it then? There are plenty of other phones which can do this, pretty much any moden Android phone will do. And Samsung phones even have "desktop mode" (DEX) which give a desktop experience. This is like complaining: "my tractor has 600 HP and yet it cannot even reach 80MPH. Very sad.", or "My Ferrari has 600 HP, why can't it tow that 30 ton trailer. What kind of future is this?"
- everfree 3y ago
  > "My Ferrari has 600 HP, why can't it tow that 30 ton trailer. What kind of future is this?" If it has the hardware to do it, why should it be locked in software? Why should I need to buy two cars just because of software?
- bottlepalm 3y ago
  Not really, because the limitation is arbitrarily imposed by Apple; not intrinsic to the hardware like it is with tractors and Ferraris.
- dnissley 3y ago
  The iPhone is capable of playing plenty of mobile games downloaded through the app store, but can't play a mobile game that came through some other channel, so the closer analogy is "my Ferrari has 600hp and can go 200mph down interstate A/B/C, since they were inspected by Ferrari, but is prevented from driving on interstates D through Z because they didn't jump through the hoops to get inspected by Ferrari".
eropple 3y ago
> I can't play Quake https://github.com/tomkidd/Quake-iOS https://github.com/tomkidd/Quake-iOS > or emulated games on it. https://docs.libretro.com/guides/install-ios/ https://docs.libretro.com/guides/install-ios/ You can build and deploy IPAs yourself, or you can use AltStore and similar. > Very sad, 15 billion transistors in my pocket and I can barely use them to their potential. What kind of future is this? One where it is comparatively very difficult to drain your full store of data and your wallet by installing shitware.
- Jetrel 3y ago
  This person gets it.
- bottlepalm 3y ago
  There's decades worth of software out there and I have to jump through hoops like this to even get a fraction of it working. A15 is probably the best mobile chip in the world, and I can run barely anything on it. The future is sad.
- Panzer04 3y ago
  You can't remotely compare how hard it is to get some things on apple hardware vs pretty much anything else. You can get emulators for pretty much everything on android, the same doesn't exist on iPhone. I don't get the point you make about data retention. On android.i can install myriad blockers, browsers and apps to protect myself.on iPhone, I get whatever apple has deigned to grant their users.
- wiseowise 3y ago
  Both require side loading. Ironic, isn’t it? > One where it is comparatively very difficult to drain your full store of data and your wallet by installing shitware. God forbid we treat other people with respect and not consider your average person is a complete idiot that’s being protected by dystopian big brother knowing better than you.
  - eropple 3y ago
    > God forbid we treat other people with respect and not consider your average person is a complete idiot that’s being protected by dystopian big brother knowing better than you. Except that, in the specific case of operating and maintaining a computer system, they are complete idiots. People have other things to care about and computers only matter insofar as what they want out of them. If that includes (as it did in the 00s) screensavers that will keylog their hardware, they will download the keylogger. And to be clear that's not a value judgment; there are many things about which I am a complete idiot. I don't try to replace my own brakes in my car. I probably could do it. The cost of doing a bad job would be very high. So I stay within my lane. In computer-related fields specifically, education rarely sticks. Ask anyone who's ever been tasked with educating users about technological opsec. In one ear, out the other. The only sane path forward is to default to high and thick walls. That doesn't mean that you can't opt out, with more or less difficulty. That is the signaler that yes, you have a clue and are prepared to deal with the consequences, and that's great if you are. People are, for the most part, not, and optimizing for you, while hanging the overwhelmingly outnumbering group of normal people in the breeze, is bad.

rad_gruchalski 3y ago

But you knew about all of that when you bought it, and you still paid for it.

TaylorAlexander 3y ago
Something can be a good choice and still have room for improvement. This is how we think about how things can be better.
- rad_gruchalski 3y ago
  The original premise of an iPhone was that closed experience. It was an improvement over the mobile market that existed back then. I remember because I had my fair share of Philips, Alcatel, Nokia, and ipaqs. What I’m afraid of is that some actions and reactions of a—let’s be honest—insignificant number of power users who want to root their phone is going to break the experience for the majority of the regular users. Progress is welcomed but let’s not forget: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
  - kevinh 3y ago
    The original iPhone had no App Store and thus no way to get third-party native apps at all. I don't know that the original premise is at all relevant now.
  - wiseowise 3y ago
    > The original premise of an iPhone was that closed experience. Ah, I remember the pitch by Jobs, truly a visionary.
amelius 3y ago
Simple reason. Lack of choice. When I bought my first iPhone it was the first product that I paid a large chunk of my savings for and which I really hated in several ways, but I needed in other ways. It's a necessary evil.
- memefrog 3y ago
  Android is another choice. It may not have been around when you bought your first iPhone, but that was 16 years ago.
  - amelius 3y ago
    Frankly. it's like having to choose between one shitty thing and another slightly less shitty thing. The market is really broken here.
    - rad_gruchalski 3y ago
      There are alternatives. The market is open. Maybe it’s just no so easy to come up with a “less shitty”alternative that would appeal to the mass consumer?
      - Jetrel 3y ago
        The reality is that nobody wants the alternative. Another commenter was replying to you pitching a mobile debian version, and went on to explain that said mobile debian version isn't usable ... and that's probably because the size of the community of people actually interested in it is so vanishingly tiny that they can't sustain development. It's like watching the stillborn OpenPandora or GP2x, and discovering that "devices bought almost exclusively to pirate SNES/SEGA games" have no devs writing games for their market because ... well ... you know ... ——— Woke: using OSS as a dev model because it's inherently more efficient/effective and leads to better software Broke: using OSS because "muh rights".
        memefrog 3y ago
munk-a 3y ago
Well it depends. Personally I was a flip phone user until my last one finally kicked the bucket and the Canadian telecom monopoly presented me the choice of purchasing a new "network compatible" flip phone for 250$ and paying 25/mo or getting a leased to own phone on a 40/mo plan. I need a phone - I got a smart phone because it was the only sane fiscal decision... and when I got that phone I was presented with the options of iOS or locked down Android. This may just be a Canadian thing but I think it's important to not present this as a completely free choice. If you're on a budget and you need a phone to occasionally communicate with the outside world you're going to be forced into getting a smart phone - the only choice is Android vs. iOS.
- willsmith72 3y ago
  Why was the only flip phone choice $250?
  - sweetjuly 3y ago
    The market for flip phones isn't primarily the elderly or other people who want/need simplified interfaces. This means they're usually very low volume and have much less price competition. That, and most flip phones are just running android with a highly customized skin, which ups software development costs
tomcam 3y ago
Do you feel that all (or the vast majority of)consumers who purchase an iPhone are aware of these limitations?
- giobox 3y ago
  Kids who like games often do know about the Apple App store stance on emulation - they find out immediately when their Android using friends have access to a massive library of emulation easily that they don't. I've never owned an Android anything, and this annoys me on long flights where I'd love to just stock up on some old emulated games to pass the time without having to pack another device.
bottlepalm 3y ago
Ah I forgot that when you buy something that you're not allowed to complain about it. Good point.
- BeFlatXIII 3y ago
  I still wonder why leaving such utter garbage comments, such as the one you replied to, is so popular. It's not clever and won't change anyone's mind.
wiseowise 3y ago
I buy a lot of things and provide even more feedback on customer channels. That’s how products improve goddamnit, by listening to customers.

theamk 3y ago

So why did you buy it then? There are plenty of other phones which can do this, pretty much any moden Android phone will do. And Samsung phones even have "desktop mode" (DEX) which give a desktop experience. This is like complaining: "my tractor has 600 HP and yet it cannot even reach 80MPH. Very sad.", or "My Ferrari has 600 HP, why can't it tow that 30 ton trailer. What kind of future is this?"

everfree 3y ago
> "My Ferrari has 600 HP, why can't it tow that 30 ton trailer. What kind of future is this?" If it has the hardware to do it, why should it be locked in software? Why should I need to buy two cars just because of software?
bottlepalm 3y ago
Not really, because the limitation is arbitrarily imposed by Apple; not intrinsic to the hardware like it is with tractors and Ferraris.
dnissley 3y ago
The iPhone is capable of playing plenty of mobile games downloaded through the app store, but can't play a mobile game that came through some other channel, so the closer analogy is "my Ferrari has 600hp and can go 200mph down interstate A/B/C, since they were inspected by Ferrari, but is prevented from driving on interstates D through Z because they didn't jump through the hoops to get inspected by Ferrari".

eropple 3y ago

> I can't play Quake https://github.com/tomkidd/Quake-iOS https://github.com/tomkidd/Quake-iOS > or emulated games on it. https://docs.libretro.com/guides/install-ios/ https://docs.libretro.com/guides/install-ios/ You can build and deploy IPAs yourself, or you can use AltStore and similar. > Very sad, 15 billion transistors in my pocket and I can barely use them to their potential. What kind of future is this? One where it is comparatively very difficult to drain your full store of data and your wallet by installing shitware.

Jetrel 3y ago
This person gets it.
bottlepalm 3y ago
There's decades worth of software out there and I have to jump through hoops like this to even get a fraction of it working. A15 is probably the best mobile chip in the world, and I can run barely anything on it. The future is sad.
Panzer04 3y ago
You can't remotely compare how hard it is to get some things on apple hardware vs pretty much anything else. You can get emulators for pretty much everything on android, the same doesn't exist on iPhone. I don't get the point you make about data retention. On android.i can install myriad blockers, browsers and apps to protect myself.on iPhone, I get whatever apple has deigned to grant their users.
wiseowise 3y ago
Both require side loading. Ironic, isn’t it? > One where it is comparatively very difficult to drain your full store of data and your wallet by installing shitware. God forbid we treat other people with respect and not consider your average person is a complete idiot that’s being protected by dystopian big brother knowing better than you.
- eropple 3y ago
  > God forbid we treat other people with respect and not consider your average person is a complete idiot that’s being protected by dystopian big brother knowing better than you. Except that, in the specific case of operating and maintaining a computer system, they are complete idiots. People have other things to care about and computers only matter insofar as what they want out of them. If that includes (as it did in the 00s) screensavers that will keylog their hardware, they will download the keylogger. And to be clear that's not a value judgment; there are many things about which I am a complete idiot. I don't try to replace my own brakes in my car. I probably could do it. The cost of doing a bad job would be very high. So I stay within my lane. In computer-related fields specifically, education rarely sticks. Ask anyone who's ever been tasked with educating users about technological opsec. In one ear, out the other. The only sane path forward is to default to high and thick walls. That doesn't mean that you can't opt out, with more or less difficulty. That is the signaler that yes, you have a clue and are prepared to deal with the consequences, and that's great if you are. People are, for the most part, not, and optimizing for you, while hanging the overwhelmingly outnumbering group of normal people in the breeze, is bad.