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Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

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Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#211

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #106
lindig wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The design of the iPhone is guided by what is technically possible as much as by ergonomics. As the size of our hands hasn't changed, how can a 4.7 inch phone now be perfect when previously 3.5 inch was deemed perfect? Here is one reason: as the devices become slimmer, your thumb can reach farther than before and hence cover a larger screen. So: it's the combination of thinness and size that makes the iPhone 6 still…

> As the size of our hands hasn't changed, how can a 4.7 inch phone now be perfect when previously 3.5 inch was deemed perfect? Here is one reason: as the devices become slimmer, your thumb can reach farther than before and hence cover a larger screen. Well, I'd say most of the problem here is trying to identify a two-dimensional screen by a single number, the length of its diagonal. It must make more sense to give t…

Doesn't perfect also depend on what you're trying to do?

It's all trade offs but as we increase what we do with our phones, a bigger screen potentially becomes more valuable.

I know a lot of people saying they have no interest in more than 3.5" or 4". Generally those people are fairly casual users. I also know "power users" (horrible term) who have been crying out for bigger screens.

I'm less worried about thumb size and more worried about how it feels in my pocket.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#212

Post by bowlich »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #4

It's a good attempt at a Jobs-esque keynote, enjoyed that aspect, but on the product side the only criticisms can be boiled down to... 1. There's too much choice (option of a larger phone screen from the 6+, and a variety of watch options). 2. Because of this choice, you have to do more thinking for yourself. I feel like it's sad that thinking for ourselves is seen as problematic. That diversity isn't something to be…

Well, Apple's lack of choice sure helped me pick out my last laptop.

I had three companies on my list of laptops: Asus, Lenovo, and Apple. Go checkout Asus and Lenovo's websites. You'll find dozens of different laptops in various configurations spread across different lines and with many of the laptops further configurable after you've added them to your cart. You can't do a proper analysis of which to buy without starting a spreadsheet.

Oh, and most of the models you find at the store will end up being something completely different from what you saw on the website further compounding the issue.

I spent half a day building out a spreadsheet to compare all the different configurations and then decided to throw it all out and just buy a MBP since I needed the laptop by the end of the week and didn't have the time or energy to compute every possible combination of Asus's and Lenovo's lineup to figure out which laptop was the optimal purchase.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#213

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

DCKing wrote: post #170

The whole premise of this article is so wrong. If Jobs were alive we wouldn't have had this presentation in the first place. First up, under Jobs phablet iPhones would have been out of the question. He would have flat out rejected those, because he was simply wrong about some of the assumptions of phone design and would be a lot slower to admit that than Apple did without him. Second, the Apple Watch would not have b…

> The annoyance I feel when people say "what would Jesus do?" is the same annoyance I feel when reading these articles about "what would Steve do?"

Interestingly Tim Cook has repeatedly said that Jobs' instruction to them when he was leaving was never to ask this, but to trust their own judgement. His fans may ask this but Jobs at least was smart enough to see the folly in it.

Obviously the problem with this is it creates a paradox. If I ask what would Jobs do, then Jobs wouldn't ask what Jobs would do. But if I follow that advice and don't worry about what Jobs would or wouldn't do, I start asking again, what would Jobs do?

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#214

Post by kszx »

nilkn wrote: post #195
k-mcgrady wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Take the metro / subway in any big, affluent city these days, and look around youself. What do you see? People whose eyes are glued to their phone screens, oblivious to the people around them, looking for "human warmth" in their virtual companion. That's really not the society I want to live in." I agree with a lot of what you said but this isn't correct. True we all have out faces buried in our devices but befor…

I feel like when people write this they completely forget what life was like in college. It's true that ever since the newspaper we've had trouble interacting with each other in certain contexts. Why does that difficulty seem to dramatically increase post-college? Sure, when I was in college tons of people including myself used their phone in public. But there was a corresponding amount of more or less random and con…

As somebody who lives in Hong Kong, I had to read it twice to understand what you mean.

I realize your point is probably mostly made in reference to certain North American cities.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#215

Post by josefresco »

paulojreis wrote: post #149
encoderer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. A product is, well, a product of its time. I doubt Apple spent much time worrying how can we go bigger after saying we had the perfect size . Seems a bigger problem is how can we go bigger without people thinking that's the only difference ? A 5.7" iPhone would be as out of place in 2006 (not enough power to push those pixels, low power screen tech was non-existent) as a 3.5" phone is today. No mental backflip…

> A 5.7" iPhone would be as out of place in 2006 (not enough power to push those pixels, low power screen tech was non-existent) as a 3.5" phone is today. Why would a 3.5'' phone be out of place, today? I see people everywhere assuming this is right, that increasing the screen size was truly needed (and demanded), but I'm yet to see the evidence. I mean, I'm sure that there's evidence that people wanted bigger screen…

Plenty of articles show that people are buying phablets and bigger screen phones this past year at higher rates. In fact, I would argue it's the only reason Apple made a big ass iPhone as they were losing customers in this growing segment. Purchasing a product is a pretty god measure of intent.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#216

Post by fooqux »

paulojreis wrote: post #149
encoderer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. A product is, well, a product of its time. I doubt Apple spent much time worrying how can we go bigger after saying we had the perfect size . Seems a bigger problem is how can we go bigger without people thinking that's the only difference ? A 5.7" iPhone would be as out of place in 2006 (not enough power to push those pixels, low power screen tech was non-existent) as a 3.5" phone is today. No mental backflip…

> A 5.7" iPhone would be as out of place in 2006 (not enough power to push those pixels, low power screen tech was non-existent) as a 3.5" phone is today. Why would a 3.5'' phone be out of place, today? I see people everywhere assuming this is right, that increasing the screen size was truly needed (and demanded), but I'm yet to see the evidence. I mean, I'm sure that there's evidence that people wanted bigger screen…

First, let me preface this with I really dislike large phones. My hands aren't big enough to use any of the new phones' screens one-handed, either. So, I feel your pain there.

The reason you're looking for is that these aren't phones any longer. Pulling numbers out of my ass here, but I bet the vast majority of smart phone users spend less of a hundredth of total smart phone usage actually talking on the thing. They're media consumption devices, just like your TV. And just like TVs, people like having larger screens so they can see more content, easier. Obviously, there is an equilibrium of size to convenience that will eventually be reached.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#217

Post by GFischer »

nilkn wrote: post #195
k-mcgrady wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Take the metro / subway in any big, affluent city these days, and look around youself. What do you see? People whose eyes are glued to their phone screens, oblivious to the people around them, looking for "human warmth" in their virtual companion. That's really not the society I want to live in." I agree with a lot of what you said but this isn't correct. True we all have out faces buried in our devices but befor…

I feel like when people write this they completely forget what life was like in college. It's true that ever since the newspaper we've had trouble interacting with each other in certain contexts. Why does that difficulty seem to dramatically increase post-college? Sure, when I was in college tons of people including myself used their phone in public. But there was a corresponding amount of more or less random and con…

There were plenty of discussions about human-scale cities here on HN (and I hope to see more of them) :)

One oft-quoted title is Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language", which advocates several building and design patterns, and ended up picked up mostly by the software engineering community.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language

some previous discussions here on HN:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8111406

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3591834

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=331006

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#218

Post by potatolicious »

cognivore wrote: post #187
k-mcgrady wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Take the metro / subway in any big, affluent city these days, and look around youself. What do you see? People whose eyes are glued to their phone screens, oblivious to the people around them, looking for "human warmth" in their virtual companion. That's really not the society I want to live in." I agree with a lot of what you said but this isn't correct. True we all have out faces buried in our devices but befor…

This comparison is specious and unfairly undercuts the ThePhysicist's point. People of that generation, outside of commuting, were an exceptionally social generation. Family dinners being important and often required, where you shared your day. You didn't see the entire family sitting around the table with a newspaper like you see entire families at a restaurants with their noses buried in smartphones. Where are thos…

> "Where are those same people you see in these pictures today? Commuting in cars - ever more isolated than before. They rarely if even carpool."

No they're not. All 3 of the pictures shown appear to be from the New York area - the first one is a commuter train, nowadays the LIRR or the Metro North. The latter two pictures are of the NYC subway which, well, still exists.

The modern counterparts to the people in those pictures are still commuting by train, and like before people still didn't talk much with each other. The means of self-distraction have changed, but the nature of people have not.

This is pure rose-tinted glasses crap. North Americans have never treated public transport as a social gathering ground. This is a cultural problem, not one of urban design.

Another poster draws comparisons to college campuses, which strikes me as false also. I live in Manhattan, which is about as dense as this country gets, and my neighborhood has a population density of 25K per sq mi. Everyone walks everywhere, but yet the amount of social contact between complete strangers is pretty minimal. Certainly less than when I was in college.

Once again, it's cultural. If you convince people that talking to strangers is annoying and not-okay, it doesn't matter how tightly you pack them together or how many times a day you can throw them at each other. It just isn't gonna happen.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#219

Post by echoes »

chromiselda wrote: post #163
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's right about the iPhone but not the watch. Jewelry is a completely different sector where individualization is not just nice-to-have but absolutely required. They would sell a few watches to die-hard fans if they didn't show "the 60", but they would miss the market they are trying to hit: people who wear watches. In effect, the ONE is the 60. I'm not saying it was a perfect launch, and they may have gotten it rig…

I think what that guy and what I feel is that this is the first time Apple has made a product which is more fashion than function - if that's what you are suggesting. I feel that the watch is more function, and consequently should have been preceded with a Steve Jobs' "Why we need it".

Well, I was responding mainly to Jiggity's claims that this watch has no clear purpose, no "X" that everyone "NEEDS TO HAVE" - since it does seem to have somewhat indistinct function, it needs to sell itself mainly on fashion, and I would argue it will succeed at that.

Re: Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch

#220

Post by nilkn »

kszx wrote: post #214
nilkn wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like when people write this they completely forget what life was like in college. It's true that ever since the newspaper we've had trouble interacting with each other in certain contexts. Why does that difficulty seem to dramatically increase post-college? Sure, when I was in college tons of people including myself used their phone in public. But there was a corresponding amount of more or less random and con…

As somebody who lives in Hong Kong, I had to read it twice to understand what you mean. I realize your point is probably mostly made in reference to certain North American cities.

You're completely right. Sorry, I should have been clearer. My conception of the "modern city" is very biased by the cities I've personally experienced, which are all US cities with the exception of Moscow (which I would rank as the most livable city I've ever personally lived in, due to its public transportation infrastructure and general density).
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