Vaj wrote: > > On Jul 21, 2008, at 12:44 PM, Bhairitu wrote: > >> According to a PDA developer's group I hang out on the ones that are >> offering apps via the iPhone Apple store are running into a snag that >> show Apple didn't think things out too well. Apple doesn't provide the >> user list to the developer until they get paid 45 days later in the >> meantime they don't know whether they support emails they get are really >> from people who purchased their product or not. Also it is next to >> impossible for the developers to provide bug fixes on this platform. Of >> course just like the MP3 player which Apple did not invent neither did >> it invent pocket computers, those have been around for over a decade so >> to use such hype in their ads is a little misleading. And by the way >> how do you type in a URL on the iPhone? Do you get a full keyboard on >> the screen or the slow way you do it on a phone. > > You just tap on the address field and a multi-touch keyboard appears > on the screen. It actually learns typing errors on the fly and > corrects them. After just a couple of weeks, I'm getting pretty good > at it. It wouldn't work good for people with long fingernails. Palm and Pocket PC had pop-up keyboards and character recognition for written text. > > I'm pretty happy with the apps I've downloaded. For example one called > Shazam, which I'd never heard of this possibility before, will > "listen" to any song playing and identify it for you. So when I hear > an odd song on the radio, classical, rock, a song in a movie, it > doesn't matter, you just hold up the iPhone to the sound source and it > tells you the song, the album it came off of and shows the album art. > It also looks up any related videos on YouTube! Like many apps there, > it's free. I think Shazam has been around for awhile on other platforms. > > I have yet to try video rentals on the thing, but I do like the idea > of renting videos before a vacation and just watching them when you > want, where you want on the phone or connected to a TV. I've been doing that for several years.... on other devices. Nothing new. > > It's a brand new platform, so I'm sure there will be a few snags, but > so far it's been a great experience as a user. In fact it's one of the > most positive user experiences I've had with any product. If there's > some things that aren't worked out very well, I have yet to come > across them. The platform is a year old or more. Apple won't listen to experienced people because they have a "not invented here" attitude (I used to deal with time in my corporate position). They picked up that both the Palm and Pocket PC phones as well as a few other platform allowed third party developers make products available. Both the Palm and Pocket PC were in a race for early dominance of the market. The Palm was made by a bunch of expat Newton developers which was another device that Apple didn't get right. You can still run Palm apps even old ones on most of their phones and Pocket PC apps run on a lot of phones.
There has been this fascist attitude that some corporations like AT&T got into that only "big companies" should be able to make software. That was an ill thought out attitude because "big companies" are not going to make niche products that sell in small quantities. So I can applaud Apple for opening up the platform but they have a competitor namely Google on an agenda to make a "phone safe" platform that any developer can create products for. The developer's kit for the iPhone is only $99 (again I applaud) but then you also have to have a Mac running Leopard. For some small developers that's still a bit of an investment and risk. Small niche programs won't get the testing needed and there will need to be updates for bugs. At least they include an iPhone simulator so you don't need an iPhone to develop. My great niece (who is a little overly spoiled like most kids these days) got the new iPhone too and was talking about it last night. Enjoy your new toy. BTW, who makes Apple's motherboards? ;-)
