Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why the iPhone will fail (2007)

suckbusters2.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 93 posts

Re: Why the iPhone will fail (2007)

#2

Post by karzeem »

> The designers and technophiles who encouraged development of the iPhone have fallen into the trap of all overreaching hardware and software designers; thinking that their users are like themselves.

Actually, I think both the worst and the best designers think their users are like them. It's just that the best ones are right.

Re: Why the iPhone will fail (2007)

#3

Post by TomOfTTB »

This guy falls into the same trap a lot of UX designers do: He takes a good rule (keep it simple) and extrapolates too far in his conclusion. He assumes an average user isn't smart enough to grasp multi-function devices and multitasking.

That said I don't blame him for his third point. I think a lot of people (myself included) were suprised at how little tactile feedback is missed on the iPhone.

Re: Why the iPhone will fail (2007)

#7

Post by Osiris »

Reading this, I was thinking that this might very well describe a poorly designed mobile OS, like Windows Mobile or maybe even Android 1.0. Even my myTouch 3G is a pain to use because of limited RAM and a slow CPU.

Apple, I think, overcame a lot of the usability issues this guy was afraid of by carefully designing the OS and software to be as user-friendly as possible.

I think Android still has quite a ways to go before the OS is capable of producing the same level of simplicity and elegance as the iPhone.

Note: I've only used an iPhone in passing. My phone is an Android

Re: Why the iPhone will fail (2007)

#9

Post by btmorex »

TomOfTTB wrote: post #3

This guy falls into the same trap a lot of UX designers do: He takes a good rule (keep it simple) and extrapolates too far in his conclusion. He assumes an average user isn't smart enough to grasp multi-function devices and multitasking. That said I don't blame him for his third point. I think a lot of people (myself included) were suprised at how little tactile feedback is missed on the iPhone.

I sort of agree about tactile feedback. People don't miss it much on the iphone. On the other hand, real buttons are still a far, far better interface. I basically don't use the virtual keyboard on my droid. I either use the real keyboard or voice search. Both interfaces blow the virtual keyboard away (and it's not even that bad). I guess what I'm saying is that both sides are right. Real buttons are better, but if you don't have them normal users will still buy the device.
Post reply on HN