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Tablets

paulgraham.com

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Re: Tablets

#161

Post by Xuzz »

zmmmmm wrote: post #134
alanthonyc wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the difference: You don't have to use any Apple device if you don't want to. That choice is yours. I spent many years working in places where you had to use Microsoft products. There was no choice. Microsoft didn't care what you put on your machine because all they care about is making money selling you stuff.

> I spent many years working in places where you had to use Microsoft products. There was no choice. That's ridiculous - you had choice - you could have chosen to work elsewhere. Can't get the same pay, conditions, etc? That's not the point. These days there are plenty of jobs where you'll have to use a Mac because Jobs has dictated that you can only do iOS development on a (recent) Mac.

Well, unless you don't: http://code.google.com/p/iphonedevonlinux/

Re: Tablets

#162

Post by tvon »

zmmmmm wrote: post #134
alanthonyc wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the difference: You don't have to use any Apple device if you don't want to. That choice is yours. I spent many years working in places where you had to use Microsoft products. There was no choice. Microsoft didn't care what you put on your machine because all they care about is making money selling you stuff.

> I spent many years working in places where you had to use Microsoft products. There was no choice. That's ridiculous - you had choice - you could have chosen to work elsewhere. Can't get the same pay, conditions, etc? That's not the point. These days there are plenty of jobs where you'll have to use a Mac because Jobs has dictated that you can only do iOS development on a (recent) Mac.

So choose not to do iOS development.

Re: Tablets

#163

Post by Xuzz »

whatusername wrote: post #78
cryptoz wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Computers" still get viruses, require backups done by the user to be safe from data loss, have out-of-date software packages (each with its own broken update mechanism), take ages to boot up, are clunky and slow...the list goes on. Sure, none of those are specific to the "computer" form factor. But they are all things that people think of when they think about their desktop computer (some mac and linux users exclude…

iPhones: * Have the potential for Viruses (don't call it an exploit it's a jailbreak is not great security reporting) * Reqquire backups done by the user to be safe from data loss * Since I'm currently rocking a 3G running IOS4 -- are "clunky and slow" Of your 5 points - boot up and software update are reasonable. The other 3 can be absolutely issues.

That's not the point. Has anyone actually made a virus? No. Will somebody? Yes. Are they perceived as better in that regard? Yes.

The point is that they are not perceived in that way, so people are not scared of them. It doesn't matter how true it actually is, it matters what people think.

Re: Tablets

#164

Post by statictype »

Xuzz wrote: post #159
dejb wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't it concern you that Apple could shut you down at any stage? They could easily just decide that your app isn't suitable for their store. This would be especially true for industrial applications where there might be good reasons to want to step outside their TOS or guidelines.

I'd also be concerned that on Android that the user might have a device that doesn't allow off-Market installs, and then I'd have to use a distribution mechanism I don't prefer (maybe even an alternative market like Amazon was rumored to be creating). No platform is perfect.

Less of a concern. If Apple decides to go into the Medical gadgets field and updates their terms of service accordingly, you are basically hosed. There's no recourse. Not even an alternate 'off-Market install'.

Re: Tablets

#165

Post by pbhjpbhj »

pyrhho wrote: post #106
Vivtek wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, I suppose, Jacquard cards replacing cams in the 1800's. There's a lot more history to this than it's easy to see today. But Fuller's insight , Good God.

Whenever people drop accolades upon historical figures (Fuller included) I always have to wonder if there is a bit of survivorship bias at play. I'm not saying that Fuller wasn't a complete genius (he definitely was), but I wonder how many other incorrect predictions, and other "geniuses", have been forgotten because they were incorrect.

Feynman's Grandmother.

Re: Tablets

#166

Post by pbhjpbhj »

xenophanes wrote: post #7

Another possible recipe for a startup (not saying this would be easy) is to find an important way that Apple is handicapping their devices and overcome it on Apple's own platform in a way that Apple will allow. If you can do that, users will love it and buy your product.

>If you can do that, users will love it and buy your product.

I'm trying now to remember a story relayed here about a company who developed a product that bested Apple, Apple considered buying them/it but the negotiator dropped the ball or something and then Apple wiped them out by besting them.

Anyway, if you beat Apple then they'll either lock you out (why handicap it if they'd let you carry on) or integrate your idea working around your IP. You're going to need lots of IP/anti-monopoly lawyers. You might get bought out too, especially if it's cheaper than there end of the court cases ... I guess what I'm saying is that building hardware on top of Apple's platform seems it would always be limited in some way.

But I'm probably wrong.

Re: Tablets

#167

Post by jacobolus »

pg wrote: post #47
Vivtek wrote: post #21

What blows my mind is that I might have been able to see this coming in the 80's - but Buckminster Fuller saw it coming in 19 fricking 38 . That man was incredible.

It was already happening then. It's older than computers. In his day it meant e.g. replacing cams with variable speed motors.

Also worth reading: Lewis Mumford’s Technics and Civilization, 1934. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_and_Civilization

Re: Tablets

#168

Post by hasenj »

xenophanes wrote: post #7

Another possible recipe for a startup (not saying this would be easy) is to find an important way that Apple is handicapping their devices and overcome it on Apple's own platform in a way that Apple will allow. If you can do that, users will love it and buy your product.

If Apple is handicapping it on purpose, why would they allow you to overcome it?

Re: Tablets

#169

Post by noonespecial »

edw519 wrote: post #9

Developers have used the accelerometer in ways Apple could never have imagined. That sentence is one instance of this sentence: Developers have used in ways could never have imagined. What better argument for open standards, APIs, and community cooperation?

Developers have used the accelerometer in ways Apple could never have imagined.

Also: Developers have used the accelerometer in ways Apple would never approve of. These apps we don't get to see. At least not yet.

Re: Tablets

#170

Post by natep »

jodrellblank wrote: post #29
edw519 wrote: post #9

Developers have used the accelerometer in ways Apple could never have imagined. That sentence is one instance of this sentence: Developers have used in ways could never have imagined. What better argument for open standards, APIs, and community cooperation?

One that includes why "ways could never have imagined" is desirable so it would convince people who don't already believe it to be the case? If they used the accelerometer to measure how hard they hit people over the head with iPad when mugging them, and triggered a string of copycat attacks, that wouldn't be desirable for Apple or society. It's almost arguing against firewalls - why restrict computer access when dev…

Yes, and the "X can be used for bad" argument you put forward is one that could be used against any advance in technology, with or without open standards or APIs.

And your firewall example is not relevant. Hackers aren't using firewalls against the companies that employ them, they are circumventing the firewalls. What you said is more like "people can climb over fences easily, so we should stop building them around our yards"

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