[geeks] iPhone interface

[Mark Benson]

On 9 May 2009, at 19:38, Lionel Peterson wrote:

>> I've spent a bit of time around friends with iPhones, and from what I
>> can tell, the ones that are most impressed with it are the ones for  
>> whom
>> this is their first smartphone/convergence device.  People that came
>> from other smartphones, be it Palm, Sidekick, or even Windows Mobile,
>> seem to like it OK, but don't see it as a revolutionary device.
>
> That mirrors my experience...

I use WinMo currently and have done for nearly 3 years so yes I don't  
see the iPhone as revolutionary from the POV of it being a smartphone,  
the thing that is revolutionary to my eyes, and is making me go over  
to iPhone, is what Mac OS X bought to the desktop - a more usable and  
better looking UI. I have major issues with the clunky UI in WinMo,  
and what I've seen of Android it's better but not much. If you take a  
look at Apps for the iPhone like Things, they are so nicely done,  
partly because the developers are good and partly because the UI  
guidelines and developers tools for iPhone are well done.

I am sure my iPhone will not be 100% the best hone I've ever used but  
from using other folks' iPhones I do like the UI a lot, and like the  
look of a lot of the Apps both for their simplicity and the way they  
are programmed. Another thing that instantly grabs me is the iPhone  
feels nice in the hand and is fast and responsive (except when it  
crashes ;o) ) - my 2 HTC ohines have been slow, and downright ice-age  
at times. It's not WinMo because I have a WinMo PDA (an old Axim X5)  
and it's a really nice device all round. I thin the combination of  
cheap-ass hardware (200MHz Samsung CPUs are not fast, I mean c'mon!)  
and HTC's stupid add-ons for WM6 just make my current phone choke.

I'm going all out for a 2 year contract on the iPhone so I can get a  
free handset, and after 2 years I'll look again at the market and see  
what it's done. I'll keep my WinMo phone and PDA around to use, I'm  
gonna get a T-Mobile PayG SIM for my HTC phone so I can use it if i  
ever kill the iPhone, and the Axim is useful as a desktop alarm and  
task manager at work.

Update to 3.0 looks like it's gonna add a lot of appeal for the iPhone  
too with them finally gettin' Cut and Paste, and it also allows a ton  
more API access to the phone's devices, and also external devices to  
attach to the phone. If I could get a 3G signal, a CF reader and  
access to Flickr I could do a LOT on the move with an iPhone and my  
EOS 400D :D


-- 
Mark Benson

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