Wow. What a great post of nothing but idle speculation. Everything is going 'all glass' until it goes the other direction, and whatever that direction is I'm sure Apple will be leading it.
What happens when it's all glass?
31–40 of 93 posts
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The beauty in Android is that it doesn't have to be the best ... it just has to be good enough + shipped on cheaper phones ... just like Windows did." The "cheaper phones" bit has never been Android's advantage, though it always gets brought up as if Android is the poor man's iPhones. It isn't. The Droid isn't less expensive than the iPhone was. Neither was even the miserable G1. The Galaxy S isn't a cheap phone. Th…
> The Droid isn't less expensive than the iPhone was. Neither was even the miserable G1. The Galaxy S isn't a cheap phone. Nonsense. > My Nexus One cost me $550. How much did your iPhone cost you? The iPhone is $599 or $699, depending on model. In the UK it is £499 to £599, equates to $780 or $950. In the UK the Nexus One was just under $550, though VAT could take another bite out of the wallet. Right now in Europe t…
>Nonsense
Obnoxious.
>The iPhone is $599 or $699, depending on model.
Ignoring the laughable notion that $549 compared to $599 makes one "cheap" relative to the other, my delivery price of the Nexus One was greater than walking into the telco and buying an iPhone 3GS (the option at the time) for full retail.
Regardless, the number of iPhone owners who paid full retail approaches zero. It wasn't even possible until very recently, and is under very little demand. Instead most consumers can only stomach the illusion of spending $49 to $199 on a phone, even the faux-rich iPhone illuminati.
Which is a price point that is shared by virtually all smartphones.
Add in that with any smartphone you're looking at a comparable monthly servicing fee.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#33Software has always been their edge.
I worry more about shaking-to-undo on my iPad and faux leather buttons in my Calendar app than about other companies figuring out there is more than plastic to build with.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#34Everything is turning into a screen, from edge to edge. Once it’s all about glass, it’s all about software. This is assuming that once it's all about glass there isn't anywhere to go. Apple has become a leader in UI design and glass happens to be the current popular choice for devices. 10 years before the iPhone few people would have predicted a phone with no buttons and a glass screen would become popular, and a few…
This is assuming that once it's all about glass there isn't anywhere to go...
Agreed. Apple has a patent on multi-touch in three dimensions already[1] so maybe the next i-device will move away from the screen and towards a more touchy-feely :-) approach.
[1] - http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=FUOxAAAAEBAJ&dq=m...
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#35In response to the question of design:
- Use the golden ratio whenever possible/practical.
- Be careful with the rounding of the edges. (Sharp corners aren't good, but rounded with unused potential screen real estate and subsequent violation of golden ratio is bad too.)
- Don't skimp on thickness. At least as thick as a Kindle 3.
- Like the author said, the software UI and UE should be tailored to the screen width and input method.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#36Yeah, where are the stickers that advertise the processor? Or an AT&T logo you can't remove. By god, Apple is at a disadvantage aren't they? Do 37signals really think people can't tell Apple products are good when they're made of glass and aluminum? Apple products just feel more solid and reliable because of those things. But maybe people prefer the silver paint rubbing off under their palms because their laptop is r…
Except my real metal MBP had a bend (I have no clue how it happened) over my Ethernet jack the week I bough it. Everything has faults. There is equal built quality competitors to every Apple products.
My HTC magic has been dropped about 50 times. I have yet to see a crack anywhere. Same generation iPhone had a massive screen problem.
I like my MBP but it's not for the hardware or built quality that I bought it.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
The beauty in Android is that it doesn't have to be the best ... it just has to be good enough + shipped on cheaper phones ... just like Windows did. Also, I've got an iPhone 3GS, and I see lots of area for improvement ... the biggest annoyance for me being that all these apps I have (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, yahoo messenger) ... are not using the iPhone's contacts list for storing people profiles ... so even Apple…
> the biggest annoyance for me being that all these apps I have (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, yahoo messenger) ... are not using the iPhone's contacts list for storing people profiles ... so even Apple screws things up in the details department. I'm not sure that's a screw-up so much as a philosophical view of the contact list as being for actual contacts and not random twitter user names with no associated addresses, p…
It's almost off-topic by now, but I think Yahoo! Messenger (or any other app) would be plenty able to clutter up your contact list if it wanted to. As far as I know, the SDK allows read/write access to the Address Book, without user authorization even.
...which I've always found very surprising from a privacy standpoint. Apps need to ask access to your location but your full address book is fine? Odd.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#38A few points: - Apple is pushing the boundaries of minimalism with their industrial design (to absurd levels in cases like the control-free iPod Shuffle). This is not necessarily better design, but it is the currently fashionable design. I would argue that the single button interface on the iPhone/iPad is an example of moving too far towards minimalism (from a purely functional perspective). The same button now perfo…
- A small point, but I think the comparison between a MacBook Pro an a Lenovo is a bit odd. ThinkPads are not far off from Apple in terms of build quality and are certainly more durable.
You're going to have to justify that. A case made out of a solid piece of aluminum is about as durable as I can think of in consumer-level products. I beat the crap out of my MBP and it doesn't have so much as a scratch on it.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#39> The difference in build quality, materials, and tolerances between a MacBook Pro and a Lenovo are still obvious Yes, ThinkPads are still some of the most sturdy laptops around while MacBooks tend to need more support/repairs. Of course Apple's (repair) service is very good, and MacBooks do look nice(r), but "build quality" means something else to me.
MacBooks are really, really nice to look at and Lenovos computers aren't as good as IBMs used to be, but I have to agree with you - thinkpads are still the best computers out there if you want solid hardware that is designed to be _used_ not admired.
Re: What happens when it's all glass?
#40A few points: - Apple is pushing the boundaries of minimalism with their industrial design (to absurd levels in cases like the control-free iPod Shuffle). This is not necessarily better design, but it is the currently fashionable design. I would argue that the single button interface on the iPhone/iPad is an example of moving too far towards minimalism (from a purely functional perspective). The same button now perfo…
- A small point, but I think the comparison between a MacBook Pro an a Lenovo is a bit odd. ThinkPads are not far off from Apple in terms of build quality and are certainly more durable. You're going to have to justify that. A case made out of a solid piece of aluminum is about as durable as I can think of in consumer-level products. I beat the crap out of my MBP and it doesn't have so much as a scratch on it.