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John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

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Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the N1 isn't even a very good substitute. Although people who buy iTouches love all the apps and the ability to browse the web whenever they have WiFi, in the end, they're buying an mp3 player. They're buying it so that they can listen to music. Not only is the N1 much more expensive, but it also has a much worse music-playing interface. Until someone fixes the Android music player or writes their own (luckily, a…

Although people who buy iTouches love all the apps and the ability to browse the web whenever they have WiFi, in the end, they're buying an mp3 player. They're buying it so that they can listen to music. I don't think you are right. The touch music player interface is good, but not as good as my old 40GB iPod Video. Man, it has been almost two years now and I still miss the clickwheel. I got my iPod touch because of…

The headphones on my iPod touch give me the ability to skip forward/backward and change volume.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#42
Gruber's thoughts can be summed up as: Google vs Apple, bring it on, but where's Microsoft? While he isn't wrong, it's not exactly much more than some common sense.

I also think he _seriously_ underestimates Microsoft.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#43
post #17

I'm not sure Apple is ahead on backup & restore with the iPhone / iPad. You shouldn't need a desktop (with an OS that runs iTunes) in the first place. I read that the first thing you need to do with iPad is to connect it to iTunes.

Personally, I feel more comfortable having total control over my data first, and then choosing what I want to share with "the cloud". The direct personal control over syncing to a device I also control is the more critical factor over not requiring a separate computer for me.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#44
post #4

His points on Microsoft are well made. Given the strategic importance of this market it amazes me how badly they've done. Realize they beat Apple to market by around 4 years (depending on how you count the PocketPC/Phone hybrids) and Google by almost 5 . Now they've tossed the whole thing out and started over with a product that won't be out for another 6 months and in terms of features seems to be equivalent to a fi…

Maybe I'm less anti-Microsoft than most (disclaimer: I worked there for a summer), but since WPS7 will be out before my current iPhone/AT&T contract ends, my plan is to switch to a Windows phone. I think the UI looks great (though practical usability is still in question), and I've always preferred Outlook to Gmail. My main gripe would be using an IE7-based browser, but as long as I can install Opera Mobile that shouldn't matter. I also wouldn't mind switching to the Zune platform - I've heard good things about the Zune desktop client, and iTunes has numerous problems. (I don't think Android offers any support for smart playlists, which would be a real pain for me.) I guess it might be obvious from the above that doing the core tasks well (email, browsing, music) is more important to me than how many googols of apps are available...plus, by using XNA as a dev platform, I suspect the learning curve for creating WPS7 apps will be lower than for iPhone/Android, because there are already tons of XNA devs.

Of course, this is all predicated on WPS7 meeting expectations, the pretty UI actually being usable, etc. Otherwise, Android. So I guess the point is that, at least in my case, Microsoft is still in the game, but they have only one chance to deliver.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#45
post #36

Take the current URL from your PC web browser and push it to your device, over the air. If it’s a web page, it’ll open in the Android web browser; if it’s a Google Maps URL, it’ll open in the Android Maps app. Meaning that now, not only can spyware pop up porn on my parents' home computer, it can also push porn to my kid sister's cell phone? Ditto for apps... I imagine spyware is a thing of the past for most Googlers…

Steve Jobs, is that you?

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#46
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows phones are smartphones. That is the market share that ballmer was talking about.

But yet he mentioned the number of total phones sold (1.3b) while talking market share so he didn't mean smartphones. Apple has a tiny sliver of the total phone market and that's what he meant. Microsoft has an even smaller sliver, but he said he wants/prefers a large chunk of that total market: > But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I’d prefer to have our software in 60 percent or…

  Apple has a tiny sliver of the total phone market and
  that's what he meant
That was mentioned in the article: Apple has 10x less market share than Nokia and still more revenue.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For example, when you buy an AppleTV, iTunes on the same network will detect that there is a new AppleTV that hasn't been synced. Then you synchronize a 5-digit code between them and off it goes syncing over the network. I would love to see iPhones and iPads show up in the same way and not require a sync immediately. This would be right on track with the life-without-wires they were pushing with the MacBook Air.

Apple TV is a good point...Don't know why all other Apple devices don't follow the same process.

I suspect it comes back to Job's strategy for the Mac back in 2001 (I think it was 2001, not sure). He talked about how computers had gone through several generations, and that we were moving into an era where the PC/Mac was the "digital hub" that kept all your devices in sync and playing nicely with each other. Google would probably argue that that's the responsibility of their servers.

With the iPhone and iPad doing as well as they are, I imagine conversations are being had at Apple about what the future of the Mac really is. Even if it has much of a future at all.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#48
post #44
post #4

His points on Microsoft are well made. Given the strategic importance of this market it amazes me how badly they've done. Realize they beat Apple to market by around 4 years (depending on how you count the PocketPC/Phone hybrids) and Google by almost 5 . Now they've tossed the whole thing out and started over with a product that won't be out for another 6 months and in terms of features seems to be equivalent to a fi…

Maybe I'm less anti-Microsoft than most (disclaimer: I worked there for a summer), but since WPS7 will be out before my current iPhone/AT&T contract ends, my plan is to switch to a Windows phone. I think the UI looks great (though practical usability is still in question), and I've always preferred Outlook to Gmail. My main gripe would be using an IE7-based browser, but as long as I can install Opera Mobile that shou…

Interesting you find the UI to be pretty. From the stuff I saw it looked very hacked together and disgumbled. I'm looking forward to seeing an actual phone though. I have no interest in switching (I just got an Android based phone and love it) but I'd like to see what the actual user experience turns out to be.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#49
post #36

Take the current URL from your PC web browser and push it to your device, over the air. If it’s a web page, it’ll open in the Android web browser; if it’s a Google Maps URL, it’ll open in the Android Maps app. Meaning that now, not only can spyware pop up porn on my parents' home computer, it can also push porn to my kid sister's cell phone? Ditto for apps... I imagine spyware is a thing of the past for most Googlers…

Isn't there going to be security with this feature? I don't think any app/website can send remote commands without having your credentials. If spyware has your kid sister's Google credentials, pop-ups are the last of her worries.

Re: John Gruber's Post-I/O Thoughts

#50
post #11

His footnote is interesting: "Although there’s still no decent Android-based equivalent to the iPod Touch." He's right. Based on price, there is no equivalent. On features, the equivalent is a Google Nexus One without a SIM card. Trouble is, that's about to not be available from Google directly. I'm wondering whether we'll be able to buy an N1 without a contract ever again. Disclosure: I bought an N1 directly from Go…

How long will people keep on buying MP3 players? Eventually, phones will be good enough to replace them 100%

Also, will iPhone OS 4 be available for iPod Touch? I rather doubt it?

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