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Dear Palm, it's just not working out

jwz.livejournal.com

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Re: Dear Palm, it's just not working out

#71

Post by blasdel »

pavlov wrote: post #29
blasdel wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have 256mb of RAM to work with, most of which you would like to use for rendering webpages. Do you really want to blow a huge chunk of it on something that just gets you an inconsistent look-and-feel? A handheld device is the last place you want two completely different file-picker dialogs, and you can't cover that shit up with theming. Do you really want to be shipping second-party Gecko in the when Webkit is be…

A handheld device is the last place you want two completely different file-picker dialogs, and you can't cover that shit up with theming. What does Mozilla have to do with file picker dialogs? Firefox uses native dialogs on the platforms it runs on, and so does Nokia's Gecko-based browser on Maemo. Do you really want to be shipping second-party Gecko in the when Webkit is better and you're already paying people to wo…

Firefox uses native dialogs on the platforms it runs on

All three of them -- Win32, Carbon, and GTK+

What's preventing them from switching to a WebKit-based browser when it's ready for production?

Inertia is a bitch

Re: Dear Palm, it's just not working out

#72

Post by unalone »

dejb wrote: post #70
unalone wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess that's what makes it hard for me to comment on this. I don't really care much for flexibility or variety or freedom. I want something to work as well as it possibly can, and don't worry about tweaking it unless the tweaks make it run better. So Android doesn't interest me at all.

> unless the tweaks make it run better In a sense all software usage is just a series of tweaks. Otherwise you'd just have a big button to push and it would 'do stuff'. If that 'stuff' just happened to be exactly what you wanted then that would be fantastic. But that isn't reality. Reality is sometimes messy and complex so sometimes you need the ability to tweak things deal with the messy and complex problems from th…

Which is why I love my Mac so much. Most of what I need it does without my worrying about. At the same time, I can rip it up and change anything I'd like to if I want, and there are communities to help me get it changed. When I do need a tweak, it rarely takes me long at all.

Re: Dear Palm, it's just not working out

#73

Post by davidw »

unalone wrote: post #66
davidw wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is not to try and out-Apple Apple - iPhone will probably always be prettier. The point is to be 'good enough' while offering the flexibility, variety and freedom that Apple don't give you.

I guess that's what makes it hard for me to comment on this. I don't really care much for flexibility or variety or freedom. I want something to work as well as it possibly can, and don't worry about tweaking it unless the tweaks make it run better. So Android doesn't interest me at all.

> I don't really care much for flexibility or variety or freedom

Phones definitely fall into the sphere of things I like to hack on. That's definitely the crux of the difference of opinions. I would agree with you when talking about, say, cars, but a computing device that I physically own is something I want access to.

Re: Dear Palm, it's just not working out

#74

Post by fauigerzigerk »

anateus wrote: post #60
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why suddenly jwz is considered to be a consumer electronics guru? You're right, it's shameful that we listen to a guy who might not even have filled in all the application forms to become an officially recognised certified consumer electronics guru :-)

Eh, I meant exactly what I said. An opinion from a person is an opinion from a person. There are ways to become an expert in something. I'd be stupid not to listen to at least some of the things he might say about browser design. This isn't about empty credentials but about track record. Dude has demonstrated to do X,Y, Z well. I will value his opinion on such matters highly. But just because of XYZ, valuing his opin…

This isn't about empty credentials but about track record.

His track record is that he has used the device, that he has written software for it, and that he helped investigate the issue. He says the device is slow, and he says what he considers slow in terms of seconds.

I don't think reporting a simple observation like that or paying attention to someone reporting it lays claim to any kind of usability expert status. He credibly said Q. I don't know what that has to do with X, Y or Z at all.

If someone tells me the traffic light is red, I don't reply by asking whether he's a traffic lights expert.

But if you're just expressing general astonishment about waves of popularity and public attention, I'm with you. It's futile to resist that though. I think the only way to deal with it is to judge each statement on its own merit.

Re: Dear Palm, it's just not working out

#75

Post by dejb »

unalone wrote: post #72
dejb wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unless the tweaks make it run better In a sense all software usage is just a series of tweaks. Otherwise you'd just have a big button to push and it would 'do stuff'. If that 'stuff' just happened to be exactly what you wanted then that would be fantastic. But that isn't reality. Reality is sometimes messy and complex so sometimes you need the ability to tweak things deal with the messy and complex problems from th…

Which is why I love my Mac so much. Most of what I need it does without my worrying about. At the same time, I can rip it up and change anything I'd like to if I want, and there are communities to help me get it changed. When I do need a tweak, it rarely takes me long at all.

Oh god. You aren't a real person are you? You're an Apple promo bot.

Re: Dear Palm, it's just not working out

#76

Post by jwhitlark »

aarongough wrote: post #64
jwhitlark wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Completely off topic) Dystopia, huh? That's what I named my tank back when I was in the army. See you at startup school.

That's a good name for a tank! "The imperfect future is coming right at you!" :-p

Ah, people just thought I was weird. But they thought that anyway.

Besides, in D companies, all tank names have to start with D. People being who they are, 95% were named "Death .*" I thought "a place of utter misery and wretchedness" would be pretty accurate for just about anybody participating in a battle, regardless of side. I never got any closer than training, and even that sucked quite badly.

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