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Reply With Quotefair points -i really should have made it clear i made aesthetic designOriginally Posted by Stuart M
Ah come on, there's numerous design issues to complain about - what about those built-in unreplaceable iPod batteries? The Airports which always seem to break down after 18months?ooh very nice. You'll never get me complaining about Apple not being able to design, because that they certainly can do
And they're not the most environmentally friendly company either.
I own an iPod & Macbook btw, so I'm entitled to criticise
fair points -i really should have made it clear i made aesthetic design
This is why usability experts hate designers.fair points -i really should have made it clear i made aesthetic design
"Hey, it looks cool, who cares if it's usable or not?"
Sleek but like Ducasi I won't be getting one of these. I have no need of email or web browsing on a phone, I have a Shuffle (2G) which I realised is more than enough for me, I don't see the point in watching videos on something like it, even if they were available in iTunes and there are phones with better cameras if I wanted one.
I doubt you'd find a more usable phone – this is the first phone I've ever seen that I could imagine my Dad using.This is why usability experts hate designers.
"Hey, it looks cool, who cares if it's usable or not?"
Oh, and Apple computers have been rated more "green" than most other manufacturers. See here.
Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story
Blimey, any phone store in the country will have more usable phones than that.
However, this is the best contender for "Potential convergent device" I've ever seen - 3.5" screen combined with portable overall size makes it much more attractive than the Blackberry / XDA / etc.
And the fact that the numeric keypad is software-generated means that it's configurable - so could be replaced, for example, with an alphabetic keypad - or at least will be suitable for all countries and languages.
Add in satnav software and you've got a very attractive package
Having said all that. the "kepadless" phone is hardly a new concept - Nielsen was calling for it in 2000, for example.
But, like all convergent devices, it's only useful if you want all those functions - if you don't want to do anything other than make calls, it's massively over-functioned.
I definitely think that this'll be a great device to buy for Christmas 2008 - all the major bugs will be ironed out, the price will be lower, and the choice will be greater - hopefully it'll also be 3g-compliant etc. by then. But I wouldn't get it any earlier than that, I'll let all you geeky first-adopters test it for me
Apparently the successor to this version of the iPhone (which is already in design) will also boil eggs and make tea for you.
True they don't need it but I'd need it to reliably select the buttons before looking.
Quite possibly not a whole lot in it as to speed, but think the keyboard would need far more attention/looking than a stylus/hard keyboard.
Definitely a point; however it does tend to reduce the utility of the iPhone compared to current devices.
Fair enough - i can think of thicknesses of glove where it would be difficult to use and/or get out a stylus.
- Well doing more than punching in numbers / calling pre-defined numbers in the address book.
Not quite sure where you're coming from there.
IMO A big screen and a single button to get back from the start point and large visual buttons make it easy to use and explain for less technical users.
I was referring to the apparent trend for people to go for simple phones - see here and here and here for example - from the last article:
The iPhone is a lot of things, many of them good. But it's not simple, and it's definitely not aimed at the older technophobic market.The Simple Cell-Phone A101K from Kyocera Corporation is a voice-only handset that can be used with ease by older customers to make and receive calls, while the Simple Cell-Phone A5517T from Toshiba Corporation, which has a large screen and keys, enables e-mail and EZweb to be used with ease, as well as Safe Navi capability.
I've seen these kinds of things, but I don't think I'd want to try to explain to my Dad how to send a text message with any of them – those that have that capability anyway!
I could see my Dad sending text messages on an iPhone.
While the iPhone is clearly not aimed at the technophobe market, it does have a level of usability that would be great for my not-technophobic Dad.
Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story
OK, why not show him a Simple Phone and an iPhone and ask him which he'd prefer?
I know we disagree on this, but I am thrilled I made the switch from my bag full of devices to a single converged (voice, mobile email, synchronised calendar and contacts) device at least from the fact I don't have to carry four different charges around.
However, an issue will always the conflict between having a large enough screen to make even mobile-optimised pages readable against a small enough screen so the device is "pocketable" and matches the ear-to-mouth dimesions.
For me, currently, the XDA mini / MDA Vario 2 is the optimum device. Ok if I had a single, centralised, contacts and agenda database - rather than synchronising - I would be happier. However, that's simple-matter-of-programming plus adherance to that standard (I think you could achieve it building on SyncML) - but it won't happen. Battery life is not too brilliant on the Vario 2. WM5 is still clunky in comparison against Palm 4.2 (6 years old). Well WM5 is "Windows compatible" - what do you expect?
A mate of mine whose has been telecoms testing for years uses the oldest Nokia that works, rarely texts and has a Letts pocket diary and address book. He never gets power downs whereas sometimes I am frantically searching for somewhere to charge up my device.
C
P.s. and because a device is complex it doesn't have to be difficult use.
Unfortunately, the interface design on video recorders (remember those?), Windows XP or my H340 MP3 player are so appalling that most features go unused. Even the Gnome interface has some very strange grouping of functions, IMO
The challenge has to be to design interfaces so that the novice user can access the basic functions quickly with no familiarity with the device. Personally, I am prepared to invest 5 minutes (Maybe less) in learning how to use a new device. I would expect to be able to "transfer" some of my existing knowledge to be able to use a new device. The "expert user" is not forced down a horrible menu path to perform the tasks she wants - or can customise the interface to her own needs. And that somehow, and this is a real skill to design, that the more complex functions of a device are accessible in an intuitive place or follow the "real world" path to the action. For example compare programming a video recorder with start and stop times versus looking at an online programming guide and "clicking" on the programme you want to record.
Last edited by Clive Long; 12th-January-2007 at 12:25 PM. Reason: Rant inserted
Yeah, but you're one of those geeky first-adopters I was referring to earlier, most people aren't like you...
Having said that, something practical like a single charger is a concrete benefit. Although then you're putting all your eggs in one basket, of course...
Damn! I always prided myself on being on the trailing edge of technology and trying to squeeze the last bit of useful life out of clapped out devices.
A tip, don't move your TV, HiFi, Washing machine etc. when you move. They will always fail when you power them up again - either as the result of a knock or some inexplicable reason.
Oooh my poor, beloved, Yamaha HiFi
And for that you and humanity can be grateful.most people aren't like you...
My mother still loves me though.
Easy. I just back up it up to my PC. Double damn - I need another deviceHaving said that, something practical like a single charger is a concrete benefit. Although then you're putting all your eggs in one basket, of course...
Apparently Iphone does the lot
http://38.101.8.66/dl/f0c7421f289831...hone_spoof.wmv
I wont be getting one. Once again apple decides that they invented something that has been around for ages then every gullible fool in the land wants one.
When will people learn?
Server seems to be broken. Either that, or I can't access it from here.
I'm quite intrigued by this statement - particularly as I am of the opinion (from everything I've seen and read of it) that the iPhone is an extremely innovative and well-designed device... and yet I don't want one.
Well - they're slowly learning that Apple make great products. It's taking time, but people are beginning to get the point, I think.When will people learn?
It's potentially a groundbreaking convergent device, and it could crack open the whole market for these devices, making them attractive for the general public in the same way the iPod has for digital music.
And I may well get one. But not until next Christmas at earliest...
Apple done nothing new with the ipod other than stick a horrible DRM on any song you got through itunes and some clever advertising.
OK they made everyone aware that MP3 players existed but the ipod was never the best mp3 player out there. Was never the most reasonably priced. Was never the most robust etc. Yes it had a little touch screen dial, but then it wasn't even the first to have that!!!
Same with the iphone. All hail the brand new phone that will change the way phones work. Has an inbuilt MP3 player, Wi-Fi, OS, and camera. All of this has been done before. I have an Orange SPV that I got in October does all of that. Oh but the iPhone has a touch screen. So does my SPV.
Anyone remember the argument over windows nicking Apples GUI for their OS? Yes? Anyone remember the argument over Apple nicking their GUI OS from Atari? No?
I would buy Nike trainers if I liked the look of a pair, the price was right for them, and they did what I expect them to do. I wouldn't buy them based on an advert where they claim to re-invent the trainer buy sticking a dial on them instead of a lace (esp when I know that this was done before by Puma).
I might end up getting one when they come out if I get the chance to look at it first hand and decide it is something I want or need but based on what I have read and seen on websites I doubt that will happen.
Yes the iPhone is going to do for phones what the iPod did for MP3's. Fool people into wanting one. (expect all the celebs flashing their iPhones that they got free from Apple soon).
I have nothing against Apple. What I don't like is advertising and hype that is over built, over the top and just misleading.
(oh BTW this was all written on my SPV, Waiting in anticipation for the first post to come from an iPhone)
As opposed to the non-horrible DRM that exists
Anyway the interface with on the iPod (including the wheel) is great, hands down was the best out there (that might have changed now). When I was working for an MP3 company we looked at the iPod's UI with envy.
I thought OS9 was a big piece of crap. When I first started a new job and was shown the mac I was going to be using I despaired. When I used OSX for the first time all that changed. It's a beautiful OS, so well designed. You can say Apple were lazy in using the BSD core but I think it was such a smart move by them, it does seem to give them move time to play around with other things that are innovative. Windows seems stale in comparison.
Maybe, but my above points were meant to highlight that Apple have made some of the best UI I've seen. If they can do that with a phone then I might well be sold.
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