[Slight OT] TDPL in Russia

[Nick Sabalausky]

"Steven Schveighoffer" <schveiguy at yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:op.vieozxaleav7ka at localhost.localdomain...
> On Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:53:41 -0400, Nick Sabalausky <a at a.a> wrote:
>
>>
>> The pre-release iterations are completely irrelevant. If the end result 
>> is
>> something with nearly-zero tactile feedback, super-ultra-hyperly-modal
>> interface, and can't be turned off with the "power" button, but only by
>> holding "Up" for five seconds, or has tiny ui elements that can't be
>> accessed with a stylus or fingernail but is far too small to do reliably
>> with a finger, or is a closed-locked-down-platform, or is branded as 
>> being a
>> PDA-like device but still doesn't support something as basic as 
>> copy-paste
>> that PalmOS devices already had nearly ten years prior even in smartphone
>> form (Handspring Treo), then yes, the polish is crap no matter how much
>> crappier the early iterations were. Apple's "polish" exists as nothing 
>> more
>> than aesthetic-oriented graphic design, and it fools most people.
>
> Love my iPhone.  Love it.  My last two phones were a Palm Treo and a 
> Samsung touch-screen (w/stylus) smartphone with Windows mobile 6.  They 
> are absolute garbage compared to this.  Granted, I started with the 3gs, 
> and upgraded to iOS4 about a month after I got it, so my phone is the 
> result of 3 years of polish, but I feel apple has the right focus for it.
>
> iPhone is hands down the best phone I've ever used.  I thought when I got 
> it, I would have a hard time accessing small things like the on-screen 
> keyboard keys, but I'm surprised at how accurate I am with it, even after 
> only having it for a few months.  I regularly go to webnews on digitalmars 
> and can click the minuscule links pretty accurately.
>
> You can not like them if you want, you are entitled to your opinion, but 
> it seems like you have a very negative view of almost everything :)  I bet 
> your glass is half empty, huh...
>

I'm a "technical-ist": The glass is half-empty and half-full at the same 
time. Problem is, most glasses I've seen are only a quarter full and with 
overly-sweetened content (or three-quarters empty if you prefer ;) ).

I just have standards.

A. Search "you're holding it wrong".

B. Closed platforms are evil (not to be confused with closed source).

C. Gatekeeping is evil. See also http://www.paulgraham.com/apple.html

D. Service provider lock-in is evil. My phone works with *any* service 
provider (and didn't become uselessly obsolete after a year or two): 
http://www.uniden.com/products/productdetail.cfm?product=EXAI398  And I 
really do like this phone a lot.

E. A die-hard Apple fan I know recently showed me his beloved iPad. 
Accurately setting the text-cursor was nearly impossible. But that would 
have been an incredibly simple fix: Use a screen that worked with a stylus 
or fingernail. There's millions of them out there. Even if that would have 
prevented multi-touch (and I don't know that it would or would not have), 
after using the multi-touch, I felt it added no real value other than a 
"gee-whiz" gimmick factor. Stylus/fingernail support would have added at 
least some real value.

F. Like all Apple software, the software on the iPad/iPhone are appallingly 
slim on settings/options.

G. A *phone* without tactile dial buttons is just plain wrong. What is it 
with Apple's long-standing war against tactile feedback? It detracts from 
usability and the only thing it adds is high-tech-gee-whiz-gimmick.

H. What's there to protect the highly-prominent screen?

I. I don't give a crap how thin they can make it. But Apple seems to think I 
should care. Heck, I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on something 
that I'll constantly feel I'm about to accidentally snap in half. But that's 
exactly how I felt with the iPad.

That's a lot of issues for something that's supposedly well-polished.