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What to Expect from the Open iPhone

Continued from page 1

By Kate Greene

Monday, March 10, 2008
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When the iPhone was first announced last June, programmers were excited by the possibilities it presented, but Apple withheld a lot of information about the inner workings of the phone's software. Instead of promoting downloadable applications, Apple encouraged the development of Web-based programs that ran inside the Safari browser. But that limited the programs' capabilities. For instance, they could not take full advantage of the touch screen or the three-axis accelerometer, and they couldn't store data on the phone's flash-memory chip. Some programmers turned to hacking the phone--in essence reverse-engineering instructions that control the hardware--so that they could build their own applications, including virtual guitars. (See "The Next Generation of iPhone Hacks.")

Some of the software that the early iPhone hackers developed, such as the virtual guitar and games that use the accelerometer, illustrates the potential of the SDK. The entrepreneur and iPhone expert Christopher Allen, for instance, envisions writing software that could filter calls or text messages depending on the position of the phone: laying the phone flat on your desk might indicate that you want to accept only work-related calls. (See "The iPhone's Untapped Potential.")

Nonetheless, says Allen, it's still not a complete free-for-all. It's not clear whether programmers will have access to certain layers of information about the phone, such as those that could allow them to build Bluetooth peripherals like keyboards. Allen says that he hasn't yet had a chance to dive deeply into the SDK, but he's not sure whether it will allow for software that lets iPhone users receive data, such as instant messages, while they're placing calls over the cellular network (something that's not possible now).

Already, Apple has enlisted some major companies to develop early applications that will give the public a taste of what the development kit allows. At the press event, AOL unveiled its iPhone-compatible instant-messaging program, and the game company Electronic Arts showed off Spore, a game that uses the accelerometer to control play.

While the SDK is downloadable right now, third-party programs written for the phone won't be available until June, when Apple releases the iPhone 2.0 update. At that time, people will be able to download programs via iTunes, in the same way that they download songs and movies. Allen suspects that, as it has with podcasts, Apple will promote the programs that are the most popular, "which means the quality stuff wins," he says. "That's definitely not what's happening in the cell-phone world right now: quality is not there." Of Apple opening the iPhone, Allen says, "I think this is a pivotal thing."

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Comments
  • The Image of the Wrench
    Take a moment and reflect on that picture with the crescent wrench.
    I'm assuming, of course, that it's a 'shopped image, a speculative design put there to denote some new way of looking at a traditional tool.

    Let's examine your image.

    1. The sliding tab on the side would collect dirt, oil, and grime, necessitating constant cleaning.
    2. The sliding adjustment would be inconvenient for right-handed people, because one couldn't adjust the head slot of the wrench with one hand while the wrench was on the nut -- one of the most important functions of a crescent wrench.
    3. The sliding adjustment is only one-hand adjustable by right-handed people, not usable by lefties, and will hurt the hand of any user who holds it firmly.
    4. The mechanism weakens the handle.
    5. The mechanism is unduly complex, expensive, and weak for the amount of ease it provides.

    Much of this applies to the iphone. It's complex, fragile, flashy, and takes longer to operate than many conventional phones; the function itself demands more direct attention than other phones, because one needs to scroll through a combination of functions to operate it. Good for middle management and students. Not worth the money for anybody who has to fuss with it while concentrating on other things, like work.

    The problem, I think, is not whether technology is moving, but where it's going. It doesn't seem to be  trickling down to the needs of the world; it seems to be coagulating towards the entertainment needs of those who want to touch the world of affluence. It seems to be more of a worthless wrench on display to impress others whose knowledge of function is as scanty as our own, but who are impressed by the image our gadget imparts.

    Is this comment a case of sour grapes? Nah. I have plenty of money to buy this crap, and plenty of skill to use it. My point is: it's crap.
    Rate this comment: 12345

    willd2000
    03/10/2008
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    • Re: The Image of the Wrench
      Bravo what a insightful point of view. Technology review should do just as the websites name implies, which is to review technology and examine it's relevance.only then can a product like the one mentioned truly evolve.
      Rate this comment: 12345

      Gcanno
      03/10/2008
      Posts:8
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    • Re: The Image of the Wrench
      Wow, willd2000, what a lot of hate.  I can’t help it – I’ll bite.

      “Much of this applies to the iphone. It's complex,”

      Gee, you sure haven’t used my HTC-made Windows Mobile PDA.  That is what I would call complex – the iPhone complex?  Seriously?

      “fragile,”

      You obviously also haven’t seen the iPhone drop tests and car drive-over tests done by various sites on the web.  Being made out of stainless steel and scratch-proof tempered glass without batteries that pop off at the slightest drop or slide-out keyboards that go all loose and mushy or chromed-plastic buttons that get harder and harder to press until they stop working, the iPhone is far more solid than the dozens of tacky plastic phones and PDAs I’ve used over the years.

      “flashy,”

      I’ll give you that – the iPhone has lots of flashy bling, but it’s form with function.  Windows Mobile’s interface for instance feels like it was lifted straight from Windows 95 (the crashes and slow-downs are about the same too).  4 separate screens and half a dozen settings on WM needed to connect to our corporate wifi for example.  Sheesh.

      “and takes longer to operate than many conventional phones;”

      You’ve been reading some biased reviews.  Try muting the ringer in your pocket or set up a 3-person conference call or manage the bluetooth headset, let alone browse a complex web page or synchronise or buy music, videos, movies, audio books etc etc on any other phone as easily as the iPhone.

      “the function itself demands more direct attention than other phones, because one needs to scroll through a combination of functions to operate it.”

      So you’re one of those advocating handling your phone while driving in the car?  I agree the iPhone needs voice-dialing, but that will come soon either from Apple or 3rd party developers.

      “Good for middle management and students.”

      Or anyone who needs to access the Web 2.0 Ajax corporate web apps that Blackberry and WM choke on, or who needs a mobile device that has been designed for the future with half a gigabyte of desktop-class OS X UNIX  goodness, 8-16GB of storage, a fast 600MHz CPU and accelerated graphics.  Compare this to the 40MBs or so of the aging Windows Mobile or Blackberry or Symbian operating systems which were designed for far more anaemic hardware and are struggling to scale into the new world of powerful mobile hardware options.

      “Not worth the money for anybody who has to fuss with it while concentrating on other things, like work.”

      Heh, yeah sure,  I got so much more work done reinstalling all my apps, data and prefs and being forced to go thru that stupid click and drag tutorial every time my WM PDA phone reset and erased everything.  My experiences with a $1000 Symbian smartphone have been less catastrophic, but had its own limitations and frustrations.

      “The problem, I think, is not whether technology is moving, but where it's going. It doesn't seem to be  trickling down to the needs of the world; it seems to be coagulating towards the entertainment needs of those who want to touch the world of affluence. It seems to be more of a worthless wrench on display to impress others whose knowledge of function is as scanty as our own, but who are impressed by the image our gadget imparts.”

      You seem to have a pathological inability to see the power of a desktop-class web browser on such a high-res screen, or the potential of the applications shown by 3rd party developers at the release of the SDK or the Enterprise-class push email, remote wipe, etc.  It is style with substance my friend.

      “Is this comment a case of sour grapes? Nah. I have plenty of money to buy this crap, and plenty of skill to use it. My point is: it's crap.”

      I’m sorry, but that word is more descriptive of your post.

      -Mart
      Rate this comment: 12345

      mrrtmrrt
      03/11/2008
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      • Re: The Image of the Wrench
        Great reply, Mart: the kind of discussion that should have been in the article.

        "HTC-made Windows Mobile PDA.  That is what I would call complex – the iPhone complex? "

        Not for the tech, like you or me, no. But for the public user who is to use it day-to-day, yes. I've had to answer a LOT of questions about iphone functions, and I've stood around a couple of "Genius Bars" while customers worked through the complex solutions (to them) to what would have been simple problems on other phones.

        I will DEFINITELY concede, having worked with a couple of IPAQs, a couple of linux-based, and at least one HTC compliant, that the iphone is headed in the right direction. But I still think the technology is too tweaky for the current generation, or the price ( I shouldn't sneak that issue in).

        Fragile:

        Yeah, I saw the demos. But I've also seen one die when dropped from a pocket onto a carpeted floor, and another dead after the carrier bumped a lamp post. I'm not convinced.  Yeah, the old PDAs sucked. But the iphones aren't that much stronger.

        Totally agree with you on the windows flash crap. But movies on any phone? with the audio, it's like a drive-in movie from the last row.

        Phone:

        Yeah, I've gotta stop answering while driving.

        "pathological inability"

        We should all -- I include myself in this -- rethink the effectiveness of the ad hominem strategy in argument. It's not working that well, at least for me, anymore. Let's just get down to business.

        Desktop 2.0 on a screen that tiny? Bad on any platform. You've nailed the biggest problem in this gen of devices. Windows or Mac, there is the struggle of bringing the technology of the big into the realm of the little. The image of the wrench comes to me again. There is a definite problem of scalability that is NOT being addressed. We're still squeezing technology into devices without adapting it in order to make it work well in the smaller world.

        Style and substance, as you mentioned, are the issues. SDK, email push, those things can and are being currently scaled. But we're getting increased complexity with every feature; we're being sent and sold features which aren't being scaled well, and design features which are more toys (video) than tools (synching)(both which are far from foolproof). I have no inability to accept new tools. I don't like bad ones.

        it may have been inelegant for me to use the word "crap."  But I stand by my arguments, in the main.
        Rate this comment: 12345

        willd2000
        03/11/2008
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        • Re: The Image of the Wrench
          “Not for the tech, like you or me, no. But for the public user who is to use it day-to-day, yes. I've had to answer a LOT of questions about iphone functions, and I've stood around a couple of "Genius Bars" while customers worked through the complex solutions (to them) to what would have been simple problems on other phones.
          I will DEFINITELY concede, having worked with a couple of IPAQs, a couple of linux-based, and at least one HTC compliant, that the iphone is headed in the right direction. But I still think the technology is too tweaky for the current generation, or the price ( I shouldn't sneak that issue in).”

          The vast majority of studies out there indicate the iPhone is head-and-shoulders above existing phones in terms of usability and agree that the iPhone matches the hype.  I think it is more than just “headed in the right direction”:

          http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9037858&pageNumber=1

          “Fragile:
          Yeah, I saw the demos. But I've also seen one die when dropped from a pocket onto a carpeted floor, and another dead after the carrier bumped a lamp post. I'm not convinced.  Yeah, the old PDAs sucked. But the iphones aren't that much stronger.”

          When you have dozens of sites doing torture tests like this:
          http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/iphone-review.ars/13 
          You need more than anecdotes to sustain your argument.    Try gouging a key down the face of any other cell phone and see if it shrugs it off like the iPhone. 
          Not to mention story after story indicating Apple is replacing broken iPhones no-questions-asked.

          “Totally agree with you on the windows flash crap. But movies on any phone? with the audio, it's like a drive-in movie from the last row.”

          Sure I’d tend to watch more TV shows than movies on a screen that size, but the secret is you hold it an appropriate distance from your eyes and use a set of head-phones.  Considering the extremely high resolution and dpi (greater than even a Sony PSP) I think you’d be surprised how usable the iPhone is, though for sure, I probably wouldn’t want to watch a high detail, widescreen SciFi movie, but a talking head chick flick or drama – sure why not? (assuming the subject matter can be stomached!)

          "pathological inability"
          “We should all -- I include myself in this -- rethink the effectiveness of the ad hominem strategy in argument. It's not working that well, at least for me, anymore. Let's just get down to business.”

          Thankyou, I prefer reasoned discourse.  :-)

          “Desktop 2.0 on a screen that tiny? Bad on any platform. You've nailed the biggest problem in this gen of devices. Windows or Mac, there is the struggle of bringing the technology of the big into the realm of the little. The image of the wrench comes to me again. There is a definite problem of scalability that is NOT being addressed. We're still squeezing technology into devices without adapting it in order to make it work well in the smaller world.”

          That’s the thing though – the tiny scroll bars, buttons and other interface elements of WM, Symbian and Blackberry require a stylus and careful precision to use properly, while the iPhone is designed from the ground up with big control elements and great gesture recognition to make the smaller real estate useable with fingers in a mobile environment.  Apple is the ONLY phone manufacturer dealing well with the issues you complain about.

          “Style and substance, as you mentioned, are the issues. SDK, email push, those things can and are being currently scaled. But we're getting increased complexity with every feature; we're being sent and sold features which aren't being scaled well”

          Have you actually seen Apple’s implementation of these features?  Apple is proving to be the master of making the complex simple.  I don’t really know what your argument is now?

          “and design features which are more toys (video)”

          ?  Can’t you see that the market is demanding these “toys” - Apple hasn’t sold 140 million iPods for no reason.  Of course you don’t even consider the utility of video lectures or tutorials (ironic considering this is an MIT publication) and I think the thousands of video podcasters out there would resent your pooh-poohing their chosen medium. 

          “than tools (synching)(both which are far from foolproof).”

          The synching experience on the iPhone and iPod is par excellence.  All the reviews I’ve ever read indicate it’s as close to fool proof as any device gets.

          “I have no inability to accept new tools. I don't like bad ones. it may have been inelegant for me to use the word "crap."  But I stand by my arguments, in the main.”

          I’m sorry, but the ground under your arguments is far too shaky for me  - you haven’t provided any hard evidence to back up your arguments or counter mine. 

          Ps.  Thanks for a more civilised dialogue by the way.

          -Mart
          Rate this comment: 12345

          mrrtmrrt
          03/11/2008
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          • Re: The Image of the Wrench
            Yeah, Mart,

            I've  read the torture tests; just finished the link you sent me. But I'm not seeing the same results in the real world as I'm seeing on the web. Two out of the ten people I know who are using the iPhone have, as I said before, had them die on minor drops. Maybe I'm the the Bermuda Triangle of iPhones.


            "?  Can’t you see that the market is demanding these “toys” - Apple hasn’t sold 140 million iPods for no reason."

            Successful marketing is not an arbiter of a quality tool. If it were, we'd all be using Windows. The feeding frenzy for iPhones was produced by a team highly experienced with the generations of iPods.

            The way I look at it, the iPhone will be successful if  the 140 mill or more have changed the way we work in our day-to-day lives. Most people I know use it as a Phone to Impress your Friends.

            "  Of course you don’t even consider the utility of video lectures"

            Not yet I don't.

            I watch a number of video lectures from other universities on many subjects. Right now (considering we're talking about adapting large screen to small) I can't usually make out the actual video portion on most of them very well when watching on my friend's iPhone. Forget the tiny white board scribblings and maps, and even the full-screen presentations are almost always just reiterations of the audio lecture. It's like baseball: better heard than seen. If I need stronger video, I go to my laptop. Carrying a phone and a laptop isn't demeaning to me, and it's a more flexible use of tools.

            "Tutorials (ironic considering this is an MIT publication)"

            They work really well on a laptop. Laptops are fine for me right now. They do the job.  I don't think the iPhone features are worth the trouble right now.

            Looking ahead is good, but the future is always murky. Laptops are getting smaller (e.g. MacBook Air) and phones getting bigger (I had to use a Blackberry for a week recently; it was like holding a briefcase to my ear).

            There will be a time when I can hear a lecture online and read the presentation clearly on a foldable screen, write long documents using a comfortably-sized (flex) keyboard, and in general use the little beastie as a tool for my daily work.

            I'm sure iPhone wants to be that beastie. It isn't, yet.

            (sigh) I have to move on. I'll come back to read your reply; it's been a good argument. Thank you for your time.


            Will
            Rate this comment: 12345

            willd2000
            03/14/2008
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            • Re: The Image of the Wrench
              willd2000:

              Just for the record, I bought the wrench in the picture last summer at Home Depot. It is part of Cooper Industries' Crescent line. To date, I have experienced none of the problems you suggested, except that it is slightly awkward (but possible) to use it left-handed. It can be adjusted more quickly and easily than a traditional wrench, and its grip is surprisingly tight.

              I have not yet bought an iPhone, but I believe Apple is on the right track.They are moving beyond the traditional keyboard-and-mouse-entry system, and making a good stab at what should be more intuitive device interaction. As a new device, the iPhone is missing some desirable features, but I am impressed that Apple got as many of them right the first time as they did, and they seem to be responding quickly to other complaints (most notably, providing the SDK.)
              Rate this comment: 12345

              Viska
              03/15/2008
              Posts:1
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              • Re: The Image of the Wrench
                Hey Viska:

                I read the first sentence of your post, and went out and bought the wrench, the 10" rapidslide. I had volunteered to do some work on my friend's '68 MG, and I used it for everything I could normally reach with a standard crescent.

                Nah, not that usable. The linkage is hard to use when reaching into any engine bay; it's a grease magnet, the jaws slip under pressure, and it's not as strong as the stock crescent. I did pick up some stigmata on my left palm in time for Easter.

                Note that though the crescent is not the weapon of choice, it is "crescent lite", a tool that you could occasionally use to tighten, say, a leaking faucet.

                Which is my conflict with the present iPhone. It's not a great tool for the price. I believe in Apple's engineering department; witness how (relatively) seamlessly they moved from OS 9.x to OS X, from Power PC to Intel. I'm a unix guy, and am VERY happy to be able to write this on an OS X machine.

                From my occasional use of the iPhone, I believe that it can be just as useful. But I question the current "improvements" which I believe are making the iPhone more of a Feature Toy than an efficient tool.

                Thanks, Viska, for the wrench tip. I'll use it when I can.

                ==Will
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                willd2000
                03/17/2008
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                • Re: The Image of the Wrench
                  Simply put, my iPhone has become a laptop replacement. I'm an IT pro with over (gulp) 25 years in the industry. Of course, my iPhone is jailbroken (which means I overrode Apple's restrictive policy of allowing me to only install their approved applications). Apple has recently gotten the big idea and has promised to open up the platform without any hacking shenanigans.

                  I also am running Apache and PHP on my phone (silly, I know) which demonstrates the potential utility of unix on a mobile platform. Also, there are many eye-popping games and fun programs out there (moocowmusic.com, labyrinth.codify.se, www.passionfools.com, and many more).

                  Yeah, I guess I'm middle management (dang it!) but when it comes to the iPhone, all of our top-level managers get it and either have one or want one.

                  Bye bye, black(bird)berry...
                  Rate this comment: 12345

                  dbishop
                  05/07/2008
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