[OT] "The Condescending UI" (was: Do we need Win95/98/Me support?)

[Steven Schveighoffer]

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:43:15 -0500, Nick Sabalausky <a at a.a> wrote:

> "Steven Schveighoffer" <schveiguy at yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:op.v8melay5eav7ka at localhost.localdomain...
>>
>> I read that post.  I don't think you used it enough.  The swiping *is  
>> not*
>> the only interface to the photos.  You can scroll rapidly through a list
>> of "albums" (using swiping, but it has a "throw and catch" feel to it,
>> unlike swiping individual photos),
>
> Yea, I didn't like the "throw and catch" feel. Too timing-sensitive.

It's an acquired skill.

>
>> or the thumbnails of an album (or all  photos), and while in the
>> single-photo view, tapping once on the screen  brings up left and right
>> buttons so you can quickly advance or go back  through photos (including
>> holding down the button to have it go through  extremely fast).
>
> Shit, now that you mention it, I do seem to have a vague memory of  
> breifly
> noticing that and then completely forgetting...My official excuse is  
> "It's
> been awhile" ;)

hehe :)

>> The only issue I have with it is that iTunes' interface is completely
>> useless when it comes to selecting photos to load.  On my PC, I have all
>> my photos organized into folders named after the date they were taken.   
>> So
>> in iTunes, in order to let's say, load photos from the last 2 years on  
>> my
>> iPad, I have to go through and check every *single* folder that I want  
>> to
>> copy.  And better yet, there's no way to select a *range* of folders.  I
>> don't know how it is on mac, maybe it has better integration with  
>> iPhoto.
>> But it's utterly useless on the PC unless your entire photo catalog fits
>> on your device (not the case for me).
>>
>
> That bring up one of the things I hate about Apple's (and everyone's  
> really)
> mobile devices: There's no reason the data shouldn't be accessible like  
> any
> other USB drive. But everyone would rather try to force lock-in.

I can plug in my iPhone to my linux laptop, and see all the photos as a  
USB drive.  However, I don't think it's writable.

I think even Linux has the ability to play music from it.

>> FWIW, I have not always been an apple fan.  My first real apple product
>> was my iPhone, purchased in 2010.  Now I have a macbook, and I have to  
>> say
>> I'm very impressed with it (it does have a quad-core i7, so that may be  
>> a
>> good reason).  So maybe it's just post-iPhone apple I'm more impressed
>> with :)
>>
>
> Heh, I haven't always been an Apple hater. My very first computer was an
> Apple IIc, and I still think the world of it. I guess I'm just more a Woz
> fan than a Jobs one. Then I got a 486 and forgot about Apple (just like  
> most
> of the world did) until OSX came along.
>
> I was very intrigued by OSX at the time and got an eMac (10.1) to play
> around with. It was fully my intention to switch to it as my primary  
> system,
> and that's how I used it for about a year or so. Aside from the Dock  
> being a
> sub-par version of the Taskbar, I was genuinely impressed with it at  
> first.
> But then I slowly started having problems with it: Technical problems,
> irritating restrictions, some things that I just couldn't get used to  
> even
> though I had been convinced I would get used to, etc. But Windows has  
> never
> been perfect either, so I was still more or less happy with it and  
> intended
> to stick with it.
>
> Then 10.2 came out and everyone I talked to raved that it "fixes all of
> 10.1's problems!" So I got it. And learned that people are filthy liars  
> ;)
> It barely fixed a damn thing. A small handful of partial-fixes here and
> there, but that was it. The problems kept up and somewhere in the second
> year I found myself using it less and less (just to get things done), and
> using my "secondary" XP system more and more. And then OSX's issues and
> Apple's arrogance just started to annoy me more and more, and my eMac
> basically died (and would have been quickly abandoned by Apple even if it
> hadn't died), and that was the end of me and Apple. By the time 10.3 came
> out, and people made the same claims about it that they had made about
> 10.2...Well, "fool me twice"...

I hope I *don't* have that same experience...

I do like the idea that any time I can pop up a terminal and use my  
favorite unix commands :)  I know you can do that on Windows with cygwin  
or something similar, but the fact that it's built-in and expected is much  
nicer.  I haven't yet come across things that I miss.  The way apps stay  
"active" even when you close takes some getting used to.  But the thing  
fires up and shuts down in less than a minute.

I must rave about the trackpad on the macbook pro.  The interface is so  
damned good, I hate going back to my linux laptop (which I must do for  
work).

-Steve