5 ms·

Many of these points are not correct. I had an excellent Siemens SX66 (HTC BlueAngel) years before the iPhone was introduced. The screen was a nice 3.5" touchsc

by asnyder 17y ago

Many of these points are not correct. I had an excellent Siemens SX66 (HTC BlueAngel) years before the iPhone was introduced. The screen was a nice 3.5" touchscreen, had excellent wifi and unlimited internet (at about $10 less than it is now, with no 5gb cap), and allowed me to install thousands of third party applications. Not to mention that Microsoft had a pretty decent .NET PocketPc framework that made writing apps a breeze. While it's true that the iPhone did introduce some nifty features and concepts that changed the smartphone landscape, this list is overblown and incorrect.

asnyder 17y ago
Wow, all of my posts now being downmodded excessively. Hacker News is suppose to be one of the few places left for unbias and rational discussion. I guess that's not the case anymore, especially when it comes to apple products.
- unalone 17y ago
  You've been upvoted everywhere. Hacker News has some assholes who like downvoting, but there's more of us than there are of them. We do like downvoting people who complain about downvotes, so I hope you don't mind my bumping you down here.
- GHFigs 17y ago
  Complaining about voting reliably earns a downvote from me. Such comments add nothing to the discussion. Additionally, snarky jabs at the rest of the HN userbase for not providing unbiased and rational discussion are not a good way of getting unbiased and rational replies. It is more likely to perpetuate fanboy/hater bickering, which we can all at least try to keep to a minimum.
- shimi 17y ago
  Get use to it, I know I did :-)
rimantas 17y ago
Care to elaborate, which of the points are incorrect? How was using multitouch on that nice screen (half the resoliution of the iPhone and 35k colors only)? Was the WiFi integration seamless? How was browsing experience with mobile IE? Installing all those apps was an one click deal, right? Was distributing them a breeze too?
- mquander 17y ago
  Distributing a Windows Mobile application involves putting your CAB file on a webpage somewhere, as opposed to paying for a development license and submitting your software to Apple hoping to be eventually approved for inclusion in the App Store (if you want to be available to the non-jailbroken majority of users.) I don't think that particular comparison is very flattering to Apple.
  - roc 17y ago
    And downloading a windows mobile app involved users putting aside every shred of hard-won suspicion about random binaries from essentially unknown development shops. Now how about distributing a for-pay app? How easy was that?
    - mquander 17y ago
      Well, the Windows Mobile model is exactly identical to the established model of trusting, advertising, and distributing any other computer software. I have yet to be convinced that a different model for handhelds is better. If I had to choose between making development free and easy and making sales and advertisement easy, I'll take the easy development. There are always a lot of people who will create interesting things for free, but many of those people might not feel like creating interesting things in Objective-C after paying for a development license and then not being able to distribute their things if Apple doesn't approve of the thing they wrote.
      - swift 17y ago
        It seems pretty obvious that your hypothetical objections have not been a problem in practice; no other mobile device has an app ecosystem on the scale of the iPhone and iPod Touch.
rscott 17y ago
The point isn't that you had an exception to the rule in your pocket. The point is that these things are now, thankfully, mainstream and popular. Oh, and comparing the stylus touchscreens and the iPhone's capacitive touchscreen is kind of like saying processed bologna and ever-delicious bacon are the same because people call them both meat.
- dejb 17y ago
  So the iPhone was so great because it was so popular? Isn't that a bit self referential? Actually the stylus is pretty powerful. I'm considering getting one for my new Magic. Apart from being able to hand write it is quicker to type as well. > processed bologna and ever-delicious bacon are the same because people call them both meat. They're both just dead animals to me.
  - dejb 17y ago
    Seems like some people don't like being reminded of the truth. Every time you mention bacon it brings up images of animals being forced to spend their lives in cruel and squalid conditions. But it is better than the cognitive dissonance that consumers experience when you point this out. Bring it on.
    - unalone 17y ago
      Regarding your comment about the stylus, which was relevant: Any system that doesn't require an extra, easily-lost piece to use is good; I type faster than I handwrite; bullshit re:typing faster. It's far more efficient to use two fingers with no disconnect from your muscle memory than it is to use a single digit that's got a few inches disconnect. As for this little snipefest: Look, dejb, it's not that we don't understand where you're coming from about the animals. We do. The problem is that rscott is using bacon/balogna as a comparison, and you're taking him literally. Want me to take your counterpoint literally? When I see a stylus, I see electrons. Fuck this argument, fuck this site, fuck this existence, it's electrons. You can't argue, you're a bucket of electrons. There. Now I've shat on this whole debate. Let's all go home rather than contemplate the cognitive dissonance that humans experience when you point this out. "Bring it on"? You're a fucking commenter on a fucking Internet thread on a site that's about discussing fucking technology! I'm sorry, but I don't give a shit about your stance regarding animal rights when it's not relevant to this thread. Want my attention? Find a good article about what you think is interesting and submit it. I'd love to read more about this. I don't know a thing about it. But right now, we're discussing the iPhone, not fucking animals. For the record, I have no cognitive dissonance thinking about bacon. I've never seen a dead pig and so the concept is abstract to me. I don't care to make it any more physical because first off, I don't eat bacon, and second off, I don't really give a damn about pigs. It's not in me. Perhaps I'm a psychopath or some shit. But you're either misguided or trolling, and either way it's irritating and a teeny bit hurtful to the community. Cut it out.

by asnyder 17y ago

asnyder 17y ago

Wow, all of my posts now being downmodded excessively. Hacker News is suppose to be one of the few places left for unbias and rational discussion. I guess that's not the case anymore, especially when it comes to apple products.

unalone 17y ago
You've been upvoted everywhere. Hacker News has some assholes who like downvoting, but there's more of us than there are of them. We do like downvoting people who complain about downvotes, so I hope you don't mind my bumping you down here.
GHFigs 17y ago
Complaining about voting reliably earns a downvote from me. Such comments add nothing to the discussion. Additionally, snarky jabs at the rest of the HN userbase for not providing unbiased and rational discussion are not a good way of getting unbiased and rational replies. It is more likely to perpetuate fanboy/hater bickering, which we can all at least try to keep to a minimum.
shimi 17y ago
Get use to it, I know I did :-)

rimantas 17y ago

Care to elaborate, which of the points are incorrect? How was using multitouch on that nice screen (half the resoliution of the iPhone and 35k colors only)? Was the WiFi integration seamless? How was browsing experience with mobile IE? Installing all those apps was an one click deal, right? Was distributing them a breeze too?

mquander 17y ago
Distributing a Windows Mobile application involves putting your CAB file on a webpage somewhere, as opposed to paying for a development license and submitting your software to Apple hoping to be eventually approved for inclusion in the App Store (if you want to be available to the non-jailbroken majority of users.) I don't think that particular comparison is very flattering to Apple.
- roc 17y ago
  And downloading a windows mobile app involved users putting aside every shred of hard-won suspicion about random binaries from essentially unknown development shops. Now how about distributing a for-pay app? How easy was that?
  - mquander 17y ago
    Well, the Windows Mobile model is exactly identical to the established model of trusting, advertising, and distributing any other computer software. I have yet to be convinced that a different model for handhelds is better. If I had to choose between making development free and easy and making sales and advertisement easy, I'll take the easy development. There are always a lot of people who will create interesting things for free, but many of those people might not feel like creating interesting things in Objective-C after paying for a development license and then not being able to distribute their things if Apple doesn't approve of the thing they wrote.
    - swift 17y ago
      It seems pretty obvious that your hypothetical objections have not been a problem in practice; no other mobile device has an app ecosystem on the scale of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

rscott 17y ago

The point isn't that you had an exception to the rule in your pocket. The point is that these things are now, thankfully, mainstream and popular. Oh, and comparing the stylus touchscreens and the iPhone's capacitive touchscreen is kind of like saying processed bologna and ever-delicious bacon are the same because people call them both meat.

dejb 17y ago
So the iPhone was so great because it was so popular? Isn't that a bit self referential? Actually the stylus is pretty powerful. I'm considering getting one for my new Magic. Apart from being able to hand write it is quicker to type as well. > processed bologna and ever-delicious bacon are the same because people call them both meat. They're both just dead animals to me.
- dejb 17y ago
  Seems like some people don't like being reminded of the truth. Every time you mention bacon it brings up images of animals being forced to spend their lives in cruel and squalid conditions. But it is better than the cognitive dissonance that consumers experience when you point this out. Bring it on.
  - unalone 17y ago
    Regarding your comment about the stylus, which was relevant: Any system that doesn't require an extra, easily-lost piece to use is good; I type faster than I handwrite; bullshit re:typing faster. It's far more efficient to use two fingers with no disconnect from your muscle memory than it is to use a single digit that's got a few inches disconnect. As for this little snipefest: Look, dejb, it's not that we don't understand where you're coming from about the animals. We do. The problem is that rscott is using bacon/balogna as a comparison, and you're taking him literally. Want me to take your counterpoint literally? When I see a stylus, I see electrons. Fuck this argument, fuck this site, fuck this existence, it's electrons. You can't argue, you're a bucket of electrons. There. Now I've shat on this whole debate. Let's all go home rather than contemplate the cognitive dissonance that humans experience when you point this out. "Bring it on"? You're a fucking commenter on a fucking Internet thread on a site that's about discussing fucking technology! I'm sorry, but I don't give a shit about your stance regarding animal rights when it's not relevant to this thread. Want my attention? Find a good article about what you think is interesting and submit it. I'd love to read more about this. I don't know a thing about it. But right now, we're discussing the iPhone, not fucking animals. For the record, I have no cognitive dissonance thinking about bacon. I've never seen a dead pig and so the concept is abstract to me. I don't care to make it any more physical because first off, I don't eat bacon, and second off, I don't really give a damn about pigs. It's not in me. Perhaps I'm a psychopath or some shit. But you're either misguided or trolling, and either way it's irritating and a teeny bit hurtful to the community. Cut it out.