Posts by Giles Jones 2536 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Dec 2006
Why should the iPhone get loads of lazily coded, poor quality applications written in some bloated high level code and then translated to native code.
It's not control freakery to have high standards. Just look at Java midlets and mobile Java, it never really took off and was rather crap to look at. Do you really want such trash on your phone?
Tablets running Windows have been out since 2001, they flopped. Bill Gates predicted it would become the most popular portable computer form factor. He was wrong, it's a tiny percentage of portable computer sales.
The fact is, you can't easily add extensions that convert a touch screen to behave like a mouse and keyboard. Even if it works you still have the problem of double click, moveable windows etc.
Also, you don't really want tiny multiple windows, small popup dialogs which go to the back of the stack if you attempt to click on and miss.
A WIMP GUI OS on a small touch screen is crap, it's lazy crap. Just get a laptop.
If you want a tablet machine then decide if the iPad does what you want or wait for some alternatives that run a 100% touch screen based OS. Android tablets will appear I'm sure of it, I'm sure Microsoft will come up with some Zune table running Windows Phone 7. Although they probably won't release it in the UK as usual.
Yes, they can knock them out. But can they design a good phone? they also insist on producing their own user interface for android.
I would much sooner Android had a standard brilliant UI than have OEMs all producing their own lame front ends. It's as bad as Windows Mobile and all the shoddy hacks that used to have dumped on it by OEMs.
I remember reading how on the HTC hero you had to restart touchflo after running a GPS app (i think it was copilot) as the UI locks up. Why do people put up with such lame software? honestly on the iPhone people would be ranting and raving about such poor software, but if it's Android or WinMo people will let it go?!
The problem with the Palm phone is there's just not enough handsets with it on. The Pre is okay, but the keyboard is a bit naff.
Palm are too small in the market to be able to make a couple of average phones and not market them. They need to licence the OS to others, it's a great OS with no user base.
I also think Palm were a bit cheeky to try to make it work with iTunes, that has backfired. They should have produced a really good alternative to iTunes which can be used regardless of if you use the Pre or not.
I don't really know what use a monthly statistic is when contracts are 18-24 months on average. You really need an annual summary.
How is it an iPod touch if it has an Apple CPU? sure, it's an ARM core but so is almost every single mobile phone out there. The iPod touch uses a much slower core, the 3GS has the fastest CPU of all the iPhones or iPods.
If they used an x86 core then they would need emulation to run iPhone apps, why bother when it doesn't need to run x86 code.
What's wrong with it running the UI as the iPhone or iPod touch? it is designed 100% for touch. Not like some half baked touch -> mouse/keyboad hack that Microsoft installed on Windows.
If you want a big touch screen device with 100% touch UI then get an iPad. If you want Windows on the move get a laptop. If you want a 100% touch screen UI version of Windows then dream on. Have a look at HP Slate if you want a laugh.
I'm pretty sure a giant Windows Phone 7 will appear, from a Windows OEM at some point.
Thing is, I don't understand all the whinging about multitasking. WIndows Mobile's X close button didn't close applications, it put them in the background. Users were always moaning that the close button should close the application.
The fact that the Windows Mobile task manager was hidden away probably added to that frustration.
What people generally want on a phone isn't multitasking, they want state preservation. So that when the application is revealed it remains in the same state as when they closed it. Only a few applications really benefit from multitasking, IM and music players. Most people will just Apple's iPod player and that multitasks.
There's other media players like Spotify, SIDPlayer, ModPlayer, but these are often battery or CPU hogs.
You're obviously have no imagination.
I bet you aspire to owning a Ferrari or other fast car? that's pointless given how awful the UK roads are and you can't drive it fast legally anywhere.
Oh but it looks nice? sure it does, so do Apple products. So why is it wrong to want a "pointless" device that looks good?
Haven't you worked out yet that Windows 7, XP or Vista simply aren't touch capable? by that I mean every single aspect of the OS isn't designed for a touch screen.
Read the article "Microsoft's creative destruction" (google it), you'll see how attempts within Microsoft to create a touch screen version of Office and other apps were thwarted by childish project managers who as they put it "preferred to use a keyboard and mouse".
Windows + touch = bad user experience = failure. Windows tablets have been around since 2001 and they're a flop. Even Bill Gates was wrong saying they would be the most popular mobile PC device in a few years time (back in early 2000s).
The problem is that Apple and others mostly just use off the shelf parts.
An accelerometer is hardware, this chip isn't an Apple invention. Nintendo and others use them. All these companies are doing is using the hardware.
If there was a patent case against Intel processors you would file against Intel, not everyone using their chip. The software running on the processor isn't important if the patent is about the hardware.
Given how most politicians seem to be in the pockets of big business, it's refreshing to see a party that represents the people and may finally restore some balance.
If things carry on the way they are then people won't be able to look at someone else's newspaper, "they should buy their own copy" will be the cries from the publishing firms.
I'm amazed that renting DVDs and Blu-ray isn't illegal yet.
People want features, even if they're not all that useful. But the more features, the more code there is and that's where problems occur. Features take time to test, features take time to abuse and see if they create security problems.
Microsoft likes to boast about lines of code in Windows, it is probably the worst metric to quote when it comes to software.
If this thing doesn't have custom chips then what is the point?
Commodore was all about custom silicon that blew away the competition, from the C64 SID chip that was a 3 note poly hybrid synthesizer (digital oscillators, analog filter) to the ground breaking chips in the Amiga.
This is just another PC in a odd looking box.
Why do HTC need to release so many smartphones?
They should create one decent phone, spend time engineering it well, good industrial design, decent brand name and then advertise it well.
Instead of producing a new handset every 6-12 months, making it butt ugly with a stupid name and not advertising it.
The difference with fuel is that we're still drilling it out of the ground and one day it will run out or the balance of supply and demand will move such that the price will skyrocket. We're getting there already with China demanding so much more.
If you want to do you bit then look at reducing your fuel usage with a more efficient car. Don't complain that you're not being allowed to burn off the world's natural resources at a vastly accelerated rate.
You don't hear people moaning that they have been forced to insulate their house, you don't hear of people leaving all their windows open to let heat out then complain that gas is too expensive.
Given the awful road conditions it seems pointless for anyone to want to do the rat race in huge powerful car. You may save a minute or two, annoy everyone with your aggressive driving and spend masses of cash on fuel and insurance.
Surely people will buy more clothes, go out more and improve their house with the spare cash?
People are also not using credit cards, trying to pay back what they owe. So they arent buying media or overpriced software.
Photoshop is overpriced, windows and office are overpriced. These applicationd are a goof example of how to remain a one product shop. Adobe is lazy and Microsoft cant make money elsewhere.
Why can film studios pay multimillion fees to actors and spend £100m on a film if things are so tough?
I think the real problem is DRM, people will pay for legal downloads if they can choose to play it on any device.
All those WinMo fans moaning about Apple's controls on applications can now shut the hell up, Microsoft can obviously see the value of controlling the platform.
As for the free dev tools, why now? it wasn't so long ago that Microsoft provided free dev tools for Windows Mobile then withdrew them.
Or wait 3 years for wrangling inside Microsoft about wether to release this or not.
Zune is only available as a grey import as far as I can tell, so the prospects of getting a Courier in the UK are slim. So I don't think anyone who needs a tablet should put off the iPad purchase for another vapourware Microsoft offering.
If anything, Flash has crippled the development of the WWW. It's been a major source of annoyance over the years for non-windows users.
Hassles in 64-bit Linux, just hassles trying to get Flash with sound on Linux full stop.
I block Flash in Firefox since it's mostly used for adverts.
Needing plugins for browsers is so outdated. The only plugins allowed should be available for all browsers.
It may have been released after the Mac, but the OS was fully pre-emptive in 1985 (Something Windows didn't get until 1995 and the Mac in 2001) and was in colour. Plus you could actually afford to buy one, they were cheaper than the Mac.
Mac uses 400k discs, Amiga could store 880k on a disc.
The Amiga was only 12 months or so after the Mac, but it had much more advanced hardware in many ways. It probably would have been around much sooner had it not been for Amiga Inc's problems (they were bought by Commodore).
Did they buy a set of kitchen knives from ASDA and found they were no good for slicing up patients compared to a scalpel??
I suppose that 12v compressor bought from Halfords isn't going to be much use as a respirator either.
Why don't they detail what they want in huge detail and get someone to build it for them. You don't see them using phones on the trains for ticketing, they have a custom made device (with a huge battery).
The average is probably right, there would be a tier of different programmers on different wages.
Some doing scripting and configuration (Linux kernel config screens), some doing simple bug fixes (stuff not compiling) on a lower salary, then those doing full blown development on a higher salary.
Have you not heard of jQuery?
There's all manner of nice plugins for all kinds of UI stuff. In fact it makes cross browser javascript easy, makes styling pages easier and reduces the amount of code in your pages.
I agree with Steve, Flash video was a stop gap hack and the time has come for a more open standards approach.
Microsoft manages to get people to move their code along by gradually upgrading the OS. Minor changes are often required along the way.
The problem with WinMo is it has stagnated for so long they've had to massively change it. I can quite understand why people are annoyed as it means everything won't work.
Microsoft banned XBox 360 users with modchips from XBox live. This is the same principle, just because the access controls are bypassed in software instead of hardware doesn't mean that Apple should just sit back and let everyone hack all their protection.
That said, I'm out of my contract and I've jailbroken my phone, although the community software I've seen so far has been really useless.
Google are linking their kernel with proprietary unreleased code. Manufacturers are adding drivers and other stuff to the Android kernel which has dependencies on this unreleased code.
How is any of the work by Google and others benefiting Linux? not at all, Google is benefiting quite a lot from Linux though.
The problem is quite simple, contracts are getting longer and WinMo OEMs won't give you a major update to your handset's firmware for nothing as they have to pay a licence fee to Microsoft.
So for the duration of your contract you might be on a buggy build of the OS or be missing out on a new release. Unless of course you want to install a homebrew ROM.
On the iPhone you get updates, some of them major upgrades for years. There has yet to be an iPhone OS release that hasn't been made available for the original 2G version, nearly three years from its original release.
In WinMo land you have to keep buying handsets to get upgrades, since the OEMs don't make any money on the software.
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