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5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

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Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#51

Post by Herring »

tstegart wrote: post #24

Ok, using logic 'n all, a lot of the arguments don't make sense. Which is sad, because put differently, I'm sure whoever wrote them could have made them effective. The iPhone does not completely block free software. Last time I checked, there was free software available in the App Store. Developers are welcome to release their code I presume. A lesser argument to the response that Apple decides what is and is not on…

re: free software, he probably meant this

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/16/1435254&#3...

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#52

Post by tlrobinson »

boucher wrote: post #48
apgwoz wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But do other cell phones provide novices an SDK and a few simple functions to get position via GPS and do a HTTP POSTs while entering an item in "Joe's shopping list" application? Perhaps they do, but without a constant connection to wifi or EDGE/3G that the iPhone has, you'd have to authorize it, in order for it to be sent. Probably not so with the iPhone. It's designed to constantly talk to the Internet (it's even…

You are asked before the first time any application is allowed to use your current location. So, this point is ridiculous.

And you can globally disable all Location Services in the prefs.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#53

Post by tlrobinson »

mdasen wrote: post #5
swombat wrote: post #2

Blah blah blah... Can anyone say "broken record"? FSF claims to be about choice. Well, I exercise my choice by choosing to buy the phone that I prefer.

The FSF can be like that, but they also have a good point. Only Apple could get away with creating a smartphone where they hold all the cards - deciding what and who can and can't develop for it. If Microsoft tried to pull something like that, we'd all cry foul. /yeah, I'm still getting an iPhone today. //hoping that in two years there will be other competitors who are more open and match the iPhone's quality

The mobile phone industry is traditionally very restrictive, it's not just Apple.

The iPhone has brought lots of innovation and benefits to the industry, namely the concept that cell phone interfaces shouldn't suck. Things like visual voicemail are great. And AFAIK the first affordable unlimited data plan. Apple originally wasn't even planning on having a native SDK. So I'm willing to let them do it their way as long as as a consumer and developer I get most of the benefit that a fully open solution would provide.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#54

Post by Prrometheus »

felideon wrote: post #15
ozanonay wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps because it's a delight to use and look at? Occasionally, when something is designed better than any other comparable device, you have to pay to use it. In this case, you pay by following a few of their rules.

Right. And unless my main reason for buying a mobile phone is "for hacking," I don't see why I should pay $400 for the alternative (i.e. the Neo FreeRunner) when the iPhone "just works"--and nicely at that. How sure are we that the Neo FreeRunner would even be stable enough for use as a main phone? When the day comes that I want to hack my phone, I'll get the FreeRunner. (Hopefully by then it'll be cheaper.) For now,…

I spent weeks getting a USB wireless adapter and a new-ish video card to work with my Linux desktop. Then I moved to a new apartment and the wireless driver can't handle the standard encryption used on our router, so I'm back to square one compiling kernels and blacklisting modules and spending hours booting back and forth into Windows again.

The point is, I don't want to do that with my phone. My phone should WORK. The ultimate solution to the desktop problem will be buying 100 feet of cat 5 cable at Fry's today. I drive too far to make this a practical solution for my phone.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#55

Post by tlrobinson »

cosmok wrote: post #9

'iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can't be on everyone's phones.' I dislike the fact that Apple has considerable (compltete?) control over the distribution of an iPhone app and even charges the developer for doing so.Frigging unbelivable!

There's nothing stopping you from distributing your software for free (no "tax" paid to Apple if it's free) or distributing your source code.

Other developers can modify, compile, run your source code on their own iPhones, and redistribute it on the App Store if they are approved.

As Apple ramps up I believe they will approve more and more developers, and eventually get to the point where anyone can distribute an app on the App Store.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#56

Post by tlrobinson »

tstegart wrote: post #49
evgen wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actaully, you can recompile it and run it on your iphone by getting the SDK and dev tools. How do you think that developers test their programs? I tell xcode to compile the app and if my phone is plugged in it automatically uploads it. The AdHoc distribution model (still be be enabled or explained in much detail) also suggests that you will be able to distribute your app to up to 100 other users.

Yeah, from what I can tell, ad-hoc distribution will take care of a lot of the issues. My understanding is anyone can develop any application and install it on their own phone and up to 100 other users, without authority from Apple. You save the $99 fee, and you can make whatever you like.

Presumably you can distribute the source and recompile for an infinite number of iPhones.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#57

Post by raganwald »

dejb wrote: post #4

Thank god for some sanity. I cannot for the life of me understand why otherwise intelligent geeks fawn over locked Apple products and the iPhone in particular.

I am really disturbed whenever I read about one human being saying he is completely incapable of empathizing with another human being's choice.

Instead of trying to figure out why otherwise intelligent people like something you do not care for, why not just sit back and accept the idea that we all have different likes, dislikes, and preferences, and that we need not justify our particular differences to you before going about our merry way?

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#58

Post by SwellJoe »

tlrobinson wrote: post #53
mdasen wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FSF can be like that, but they also have a good point. Only Apple could get away with creating a smartphone where they hold all the cards - deciding what and who can and can't develop for it. If Microsoft tried to pull something like that, we'd all cry foul. /yeah, I'm still getting an iPhone today. //hoping that in two years there will be other competitors who are more open and match the iPhone's quality

The mobile phone industry is traditionally very restrictive, it's not just Apple. The iPhone has brought lots of innovation and benefits to the industry, namely the concept that cell phone interfaces shouldn't suck. Things like visual voicemail are great. And AFAIK the first affordable unlimited data plan. Apple originally wasn't even planning on having a native SDK. So I'm willing to let them do it their way as long…

And AFAIK the first affordable unlimited data plan.

Not quite right.

My Sidekick on T-Mobile has had a $20 unlimited data plan for many, many years (total price of service including data is $59/month, vs. the $69/month price of the 1st gen iPhone with unlimited data, or $79/month in the 2nd gen iPhone). The Palm has also been available for several years from a few carriers with a $10-$20 unlimited data plan.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#59

Post by chrisbolt »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #30
axod wrote: post #26

This is really a ridiculous article if you can call it that. "iPhone won't play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora." Why do I care that a few cents of the price of my iPhone went in licensing the mp3 format from "Thomson Multimedia and Fraunhofer IIS-A". As a user, it plays mp3 files. Which is all anyone cares about. If it only played DRM files I'd have a problem with it and wouldn't buy it. Look…

I have quite a few ogg files. Converting to mp3 before using on an mp3 player is very annoying. Plus, libogg is BSD licensed, so why not include it?

Because it doesn't have a chip to decode ogg, so it would have to use the main CPU which would quickly drain the battery.

Re: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

#60

Post by pcc »

boucher wrote: post #48
apgwoz wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But do other cell phones provide novices an SDK and a few simple functions to get position via GPS and do a HTTP POSTs while entering an item in "Joe's shopping list" application? Perhaps they do, but without a constant connection to wifi or EDGE/3G that the iPhone has, you'd have to authorize it, in order for it to be sent. Probably not so with the iPhone. It's designed to constantly talk to the Internet (it's even…

You are asked before the first time any application is allowed to use your current location. So, this point is ridiculous.

Maybe not - since you can't see the code you don't know when location info is being transmitted without asking your permission.

Considering that OnStar is apparently being pressured to provide a remote "kill switch" to law enforcement, that printers put hidden codes on each page at the behest of law enforcement etc, would you be troubled if your phone secretly had a feature to pinpoint you within meters without your knowledge, upon the mere request of someone who appears to have the correct law enforcement credentials?

As to already being able to do this via triangulation etc: perhaps, but this would make it even simpler; as I recall in the CDMA world pure network-based location can't get more accurate than 250m and can't do elevation.

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