3 ms·

I'm surprised you don't mention Windows Mobile. I'm not is the US. Can you guys actually use WinMo phones in the US? Do you have access to something like the '

by dejb 17y ago

I'm surprised you don't mention Windows Mobile. I'm not is the US. Can you guys actually use WinMo phones in the US? Do you have access to something like the 'HTC Touch HD' over there? This isn't a rhetorical question I just don't know. I'm not saying it is better. The iPhone UI is better and will be for some time. But I'm surprised you don't even mention it because in terms of another platforms with numerous apps available, WinMo is the main one in my 'rest of the world' view. Edit : ...and android Before the iPhone pretty much all mobile devices were intended as 'business' devices. By being the first ones to really design a smartphone from the ground up as a 'person oriented' device Apple were able to get ahead. But in my view that advantage is unlikely to persist for very long. When the UI gap is closed features such as 'being able to load programs faster' or 'being able to play a more realistic game' or 'being able to view a web pages the same as on a desktop' will start to be the differentiating factor.

potatolicious 17y ago
I didn't mention WinMo because I personally do not have much experience with them - the last time I played with a WinMo phone was very briefly, so I don't think it's wise to judge the user experience on it. Ditto for Android, though my short few-minutes experience with it was somewhat negative, but that's mostly due to the obtuse hardware design of the G1 (recessed touchscreen?). I do agree, though, that the UI gap is being closed at least somewhat - which is great news. It's about time that usability started being a buzzword in the tech industry and started being a real focus. Bear in mind, however, that "being able to load programs faster" and "being able to play more realistic games" are qualitative measures, which was one of the points I tried making with my original post: consumers care about qualitative things, not quantitative. The screen looks sharp? Great. Nobody cares about resolution. Likewise, the phone feels snappy? Awesome - still nobody cares about CPU speed.
- nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
  > ...the obtuse hardware design of the G1 (recessed touchscreen?). What are you talking about? The G1's touchscreen is perfectly flush with the bezel around it.
- dejb 17y ago
  I do get the point about qualitative vs quantitative. In the case of screen resolution and web browsing I think they come closer than in other cases. Most web pages are design to work on screens of 1024 so presumably this width on a phone would allow you to see the page exactly as intended. Admittedly it would be pretty small but I think of would still be a big advantage. I'd still like for someone to let me know if you can get WinMo phones in the US? Everything in this whole crazy iPhone saga would start to fall into place for me if that was the case. I can still remember watching that first Jobs speech and wondering what all the fuss was about when the trusty imate sitting in my pocket could already run arbitrary software.
  - axod 17y ago
    Wake up call: average users don't give a damn if a phone can run arbitrary software.
    - dejb 17y ago
      No just the particular software they want. Whatever they want. Why should anyone else be able to stop them? You don't agree with the concept of freedom axod? Who needs to wake up?
      - axod 17y ago
        WWW. Freedom. The web. Webapps. The web is the O/S. etc etc Downloadable, installable apps are a complete PITA. Who's going to care about downloadable software in the future???
        dejb 17y ago
        I think the popularity of the app store shows that people do care about downloadable apps. It is a good thing that it takes the hassle out of the process. But this doesn't necessitate not allowing technologies such as flash to be installed. Or what if you wanted to use a different browser? With web apps latency will always be a limiting factor.
  - 17y ago

by dejb 17y ago

potatolicious 17y ago

I didn't mention WinMo because I personally do not have much experience with them - the last time I played with a WinMo phone was very briefly, so I don't think it's wise to judge the user experience on it. Ditto for Android, though my short few-minutes experience with it was somewhat negative, but that's mostly due to the obtuse hardware design of the G1 (recessed touchscreen?). I do agree, though, that the UI gap is being closed at least somewhat - which is great news. It's about time that usability started being a buzzword in the tech industry and started being a real focus. Bear in mind, however, that "being able to load programs faster" and "being able to play more realistic games" are qualitative measures, which was one of the points I tried making with my original post: consumers care about qualitative things, not quantitative. The screen looks sharp? Great. Nobody cares about resolution. Likewise, the phone feels snappy? Awesome - still nobody cares about CPU speed.

nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
> ...the obtuse hardware design of the G1 (recessed touchscreen?). What are you talking about? The G1's touchscreen is perfectly flush with the bezel around it.
dejb 17y ago
I do get the point about qualitative vs quantitative. In the case of screen resolution and web browsing I think they come closer than in other cases. Most web pages are design to work on screens of 1024 so presumably this width on a phone would allow you to see the page exactly as intended. Admittedly it would be pretty small but I think of would still be a big advantage. I'd still like for someone to let me know if you can get WinMo phones in the US? Everything in this whole crazy iPhone saga would start to fall into place for me if that was the case. I can still remember watching that first Jobs speech and wondering what all the fuss was about when the trusty imate sitting in my pocket could already run arbitrary software.
- axod 17y ago
  Wake up call: average users don't give a damn if a phone can run arbitrary software.
  - dejb 17y ago
    No just the particular software they want. Whatever they want. Why should anyone else be able to stop them? You don't agree with the concept of freedom axod? Who needs to wake up?
    - axod 17y ago
      WWW. Freedom. The web. Webapps. The web is the O/S. etc etc Downloadable, installable apps are a complete PITA. Who's going to care about downloadable software in the future???
      - dejb 17y ago
        I think the popularity of the app store shows that people do care about downloadable apps. It is a good thing that it takes the hassle out of the process. But this doesn't necessitate not allowing technologies such as flash to be installed. Or what if you wanted to use a different browser? With web apps latency will always be a limiting factor.
- 17y ago