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Tablets

paulgraham.com

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Re: Tablets

#211

Post by r0s »

billswift wrote: post #62
duck wrote: post #37

The fact that you can change font sizes easily means the iPad effectively replaces reading glasses. Really? I mean it might help someone not need reading glasses for the tasks they do on the iPad... but they still have to have them to read the dinner menu, instructions on the box of food, and so on. If you can't replace it fully how good is it? The iPhone replaced regular cell phones because of the fact you no longer…

Or maybe an app that will immediately redisplay what the camera views in a larger format on the screen. Probably be a bit clunky, but might not be too bad. Might even help more for people who need high magnification for reading but whose distance vision is still good.

This was basically my YC submission this cycle. I'm still working on it!

Re: Tablets

#213

Post by johnthedebs »

Chris_Newton wrote: post #154

> Many if not most of the special-purpose objects around us are going to be replaced by apps running on tablets. I respectfully disagree. The trend for specialised vs. generalised devices seems to go in cycles over a period of a few years, in a similar way to the classic thick vs. thin client cycle. Consider games consoles vs. gaming on PCs, the iPod vs. mobile phones with media storage, etc. Neither extreme is ever…

I think you make a good argument, but miss the mark on one important point. The specialization/generalization you're talking about seems to apply to apps, not the devices themselves.

Devices like the iPhone and iPad replace a lot of things; the examples of glasses really wasn't a strong one. Consider this list of things being replaced: phone, mp3 player, GPS, maps, compass, books, wrist watch, stop watch, alarm, photo album, voice recorder, notepad + pen, calculator. From now on, most people with a tablet device will use that instead of anything on the list most of the time (except probably notepad + pen). These things will just never be nearly as popular as they once were, and the list is very incomplete.

It's just too convenient to have all those things condensed into one easy-to-use device, and in many (but certainly not all) cases the tablet is better than the device it's replacing.

Re: Tablets

#214

Post by jarin »

nooneelse wrote: post #209
fan wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that can be applied to technologies that aren't open -- and it can be a property of the technology itself. In fact, one entire category of technology that's overlooked right now is sensors. Besides sound (mic) and light (camera), accelerometers and magnetometers are already there. Some other detectors of "state" that make sense: Pressure (think of being able to predict rain) Humidity/Temperature (think of an…

Having outputs is good too. I don't know a single smartphone owner I've talked to about it, who wouldn't love for it to have a general IR out for remote control applications.

Here's the thing though: It's not THAT big of a deal to grab my remote instead of my phone. I'd rather keep the cost of the phone down by not having an IR sensor/transmitter that only works for one function since my TV already comes with a remote that works perfectly well.

Re: Tablets

#215

Post by dagw »

emehrkay wrote: post #192
lukeschlather wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft's control was superficial, and that's how they like it. They don't want to control what you put on your computer, they just want you to pay them the same reasonable price. Apple on the other hand clearly does care what you put on your iOS device, and in ways that go beyond a desire for good UX to a desire to control what is acceptable for society: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/apple-finds-christianity-offe…

I left a similar comment on Reddit about another topic, but doesn't Apple's contributions to open source make them vastly less evil than Microsoft? Just look at webkit and how Apple's competitors build (are in the process of building) their entire foundations on top of that tech and Apple still contributes.

Microsoft has actually contributed to a lot of open source projects and released a number of their own projects as open source (F# being a recent example). It's just that their schizophrenic nature, with their R&D releasing open source software and their marketing department demonizing it, and complete lack of any open source strategy makes these release far less visible than those made by Apple.

Re: Tablets

#216

Post by klipt »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #63
asmithmd1 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use my iphone to replace reading glasses all the time. Snap a photo, two finger zoom of the photo and you are done

Presumably there is an app for this. If not, there will be in 10...9...8...

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/eye-glasses-turns-iph...

Re: Tablets

#217

Post by klipt »

billswift wrote: post #62
duck wrote: post #37

The fact that you can change font sizes easily means the iPad effectively replaces reading glasses. Really? I mean it might help someone not need reading glasses for the tasks they do on the iPad... but they still have to have them to read the dinner menu, instructions on the box of food, and so on. If you can't replace it fully how good is it? The iPhone replaced regular cell phones because of the fact you no longer…

Or maybe an app that will immediately redisplay what the camera views in a larger format on the screen. Probably be a bit clunky, but might not be too bad. Might even help more for people who need high magnification for reading but whose distance vision is still good.

Googling iphone magnifier brings this up:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/eye-glasses-turns-iph...

Re: Tablets

#218

Post by cookiecaper »

extension wrote: post #197
zmmmmm wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Microsoft's entire empire was built on platform lock-in and network effects -- from business to business, to customers, and to the homes of their employees. It was a staggeringly successful strategy that everyone copied, Apple being the most prominant exception. They've always made products to please the consumer who bought it and nobody else. Cherry pick counter-examples all you like, but this is pretty much how it…

Really? I don't think that Apple has acted with such altruistic intentions. Certainly they're not just pumping out whatever they can to get more cash, but they're obviously working to make a profit.

If their number one priority was really to please the end-user, they'd be selling everything at cost, open-sourcing and giving away OS X for free, etc. People are generally greatly pleased when they can get cool stuff for cheap or free.

Apple wants to please their customers so much that Apple is deciding what apps their customers are allowed to use, because their customers are too stupid to correctly choose the application that works best for his/her needs. And if you attempt to circumvent this restriction, Apple will do everything in its power, technically and legally, to stop you from doing so.

Did Microsoft ever endeavor to do this? Personally, I find top-down control of the entire distribution channel more of a "platform lock-in" thing than encouraging the use of proprietary IE extensions.

It seems to me that Apple develops more to please Apple than to please end-users. The worship that Apple gets is so very silly, in my opinion.

Re: Tablets

#219

Post by wakeup »

alanthonyc wrote: post #19
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?

Doesn't the fact that the iPad is itself a closed...errr, integrated...system counter your argument? I'm all for open standards, API's and community cooperation of course. I just don't think that Apple is necessarily the antithesis. The fundamental difference between Apple's position today to Microsoft's monoculture of the previous decade lies in their motivations. Apple wants to make great stuff. Microsoft wanted to…

What the fuck is wrong with your opinion generation mechanism? Ever heard of reason?

Re: Tablets

#220

Post by cubicle67 »

duck wrote: post #37

The fact that you can change font sizes easily means the iPad effectively replaces reading glasses. Really? I mean it might help someone not need reading glasses for the tasks they do on the iPad... but they still have to have them to read the dinner menu, instructions on the box of food, and so on. If you can't replace it fully how good is it? The iPhone replaced regular cell phones because of the fact you no longer…

PressReader will fetch the daily edition of almost any newspaper in the world, and then read it to you. That's got to go some way toward replacing reading glasses
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