Hi, I don't think it's splitting hairs. The iPhone simply does not support background processing for apps. I agree with everything else you said, it was a conscious design decision, and as I stated a limit I was willing to accept. But, it should be noted that there are compromises made on the platform that some users may find unacceptable. My point is that's ok. The phone doesn't solve everything, and iPHone users should not try to argue that it can. Again, I love my iPHone but it's not the tool for every job
--Scott >As far as #1 (multitasking) goes it's kind of splitting hairs to argue >whether the phone has 'true' multitasking or not. For the sake of >battery life and CPU load Apple made an architectural limitation of only >one app running at any one time. For 99% of use cases this was fine >because the speed to switch from app to app was fast enough that nobody >would care much. Apps simply needed to store their state at shutdown and >restore it on startup so the illusion of executing in the background >would be maintained. This of course has issues for real-time >communications like email or chat. For that Apple developed the push >notification infrastructure where your iphone app could register for >notifications of events. Then your servers pass to Apple's system when a >particular user has an event they might want to know about such as an >incoming message. This cuts a huge mess of polling systems out of the >applications and saves a bunch of battery life. You might be in Safari >but your baseball tracker app will still get notice of the play by play >or whatever. The only place this breaks down is real time continuous >connection communications like ssh or irc. You just can't fake it and >when leaving your irc app you'll drop out of the room. So, yes, for the >benefit of battery life for most users, not handling this edge case >probably made sense. But the iPod stuff runs in the background so why is >it special? Well, there is a custom chip that does the audio decoding >from the sound files so that has little to no need to crank up the CPU >and drain the battery. Just like there is a custom chip to monitor the >communications going to the GSM tower. Maybe someday we'll have enough >battery or low power CPU to run background apps at will just like on a >desktop computer, but until then some compromises are in order. > >CB > >Scott Bresnahan wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I love the iPhone, but I have to disagree. I >> think both points have some merit. The iPhone is >> not for everyone.. >> >> 1. Multitasking is a short coming. It's like >> the Finder compared to the Multi-Finder in the >> Mac Plus days. Some technologies, ssh and irc >> come to mind, will not work well on the iPhone. >> We use a custom irc server to do real time IT >> troubleshooting across our applications, and I >> cannot keep my irc session alive while I use >> Safari. This is not the case on other phone >> platforms and is a valid argument. You can't say >> that remembering your preferences and place in an >> application is the same as background processing. >> >> 2. Although you may have memorized the keypad, >> it's not reasonable to assume everyone will or >> can. Which has a faster learning curve? The >> touch screen layout or the standard keypad? I >> say this only because part of the usefulness of a >> device lies not with the expert user, but with >> the casual user. Personally, most of my numbers >> are direct dials, so I don't have the memory for >> the keypad due to lack of practice and everyday >> use, but when I do need it, I struggle and yes, a >> tactile keypad would be easier.. That said, I am >> surviving. >> >> >> >> Finally, one more con on the iPhone is the >> battery. I can imagine several use cases where a >> spare battery that's not an add on power pack >> would be required for some users. The iPhone is >> designed for a certain work flow. certain >> patterns it is not good for. I understood these >> before I bought it, but don't dismiss them as the >> Almighty iPhone is God, cause it's not. >> >> That said, I suggest the iPhone to everyone I >> see. Although I warn my colleagues about the >> background and battery since I know that's an >> issue based on their work. >> >> --Scott >> >> >> address these comments. See my responses inline. >> >> On Jul 13, 2009, at 10:55 PM, william lomas wrote: >> >> 1. i can multi task on a symbian phone i can not on the iphone >> 2. the thought of having to keep closing >> application x to use application y will be >> frustrating for symbian users, since i can have >> the web and an sms window open at same time >> >> These are one thought broken into two points, so >> I will address them as one. This is not a fair >> assessment, or even an accurate one. While the iPhone does not >>technically perform multi-tasking, it proides the same >>functionality. You can quickly switch between apps on the iPhone, >>and iPhone apps are designed to remember where they were when you >>left them. >> The upshot of this is, therefore, that you get >> the illusion of multi-tasking with all its >> benefits, without the performance hit. This >> argument is a flawed one, that is based on a >> misunderstanding of the iPhone and its operation. >> >> >> 3. Using speech on a call on a symbian phone is >> in my view easier since if one dials numbers for >> an automated system, it is easier I think in my >> view, to type the number on a keypad, rather than >> having to mess around finding it on a dial pad etc >> >> >> The buttons on the iPhone's keypad are large and >> do not move around. I do not search for them >> anymore. It's a different experience, and it >> takes a small amount of practice. However, it is >> no harder or easier, once you have learned to use >> it properly, than a physical keypad. >> >> Josh de Lioncourt >> Smy other mail provider is an owlS >> >> >> Twitter: <http://twitter.com/Lioncourt>http://twitter.com/Lioncourt >> Music: <http://stage19music.com>http://stage19music.com >> Mac-cessibility: <http://www.Lioncourt.com>http://www.Lioncourt.com >> Blog: >> <http://lioncourtsmusings.blogspot.com>http://lioncourtsmusings.blogspot.com >> GoodReads: <http://goodreads.com/Lioncourt>http://goodreads.com/Lioncourt >> >> >> >> >> >> > > -- --Scott --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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