2 ms·
The point is still that "traditional" computer UIs don't work on a phone sized screen; the XP applications (you talked about originally) just needs to be rewrit
by 10ren 18y ago
The point is still that "traditional" computer UIs don't work on a phone sized screen; the XP applications (you talked about originally) just needs to be rewritten. Which would take away much of the advantage of getting XP on them.
Ah, now I understand what you're saying. Yes, some apps need 17" screens; but most don't. Many older apps were designed with small screens in mind (an extreme example is VGA). And some don't use a UI at all such as compilers, TCP/IP implementations, databases - you might say they're pointless to have in an iPhone, but I think partly that's because an iPhone can't yet do them well. Having access to all that is part of the value of a platform. I think the few apps that would need to be rewritten are apps that you wouldn't want to use on a iPhone display anyway (or, you would plug the iPhone into a HD display when you wanted to use them - I do this with my eee PC).
But my counter to this still holds true: netbooks with tiny screens have been wildly successful with Windows XP. One solution the eee PC uses is to scroll across a larger area (iPhone does this too). It's awkward, but it works. However, it's very uncommon to have to do it (in my experience). It's still a minus, and you wouldn't want to run photoshop on it.
Another solution is finer resolution - so that the device size remains small. Of course, you need good eye-sight.
But the obvious solution is projectors. There's already a couple of handheld ones (I think maybe one's in a phone?). Resolution and battery life are issues; I don't know how long they'll take to improve enough (batteries don't follow Moore's Law). Arguably, this would be a different category of device from a "phone" in terms of uses, so maybe it's not reasonable to compare.
Head-mounted display could work too, but it seems one of those very cool ideas known for a very long time but which don't seem to be popular even when we have the tech (like video conferencing).
BTW: A spellchecker wouldn't catch not vs. nut.
- berntb 18y agoOf course I'd want a compiler and bash in my iPod Touch! But that won't sell any large number of phones. (Netbooks have keyboards and much larger screens. Different niche.)
- 10ren 18y agoyou might say they're pointless to have in an iPhone, but I think partly that's because an iPhone can't yet do them well. I meant that you might say they're pointless for iPhone sales. It's not just for developers, but also for the products that are easier to create with them (if you had a database sitting there, extensive libraries etc). Imagine if you could use an iPhone as a desktop PC, in the same way that many people dock laptops dock into a display and keyboard, and it was powerful enough to run all the apps that most people use. I'm thinking of how the mainframe was replaced by the mini, by the workstation, by the PC... But I didn't realize the size difference was quite so dramatic. The display of the smallest netbook is almost 50% larger than a whole iPhone in both directions. netbook display 93 x 153 iPhone 62 x 115
- berntb 18y agoI don't know if the term "netbook" even applies to that. Link? Even if you got VGA, there is readability and control of the few inches (mouse contra big fingers which needs big buttons and backtracking because there will be errors). Again: It is a different world, which needs either a new paradigm for use (iPhone) -- or new interface mechanisms. I'd love a good chording keyboard and an EyeTap. Sigh, maybe in five years. Nice chatting, but I have to finish another page of code today... :-)
- 10ren 18y agoLink? You mean the netbook specs? I couldn't find them online, so I just measured my eee PC (dimensions are just the display, not the whole thing.) Yeah, the form factor is an issue. Just BTW, MS has a cool idea of a seen-through case: it's touch-sensitive on the back, and the position of your fingers appears on the display. Kind of bizarre, I don't know it will work (how to differentiate between position and "click"?), but it's a cool idea.