Posted on 04/11/2010 2:38:33 AM PDT by Swordmaker
What does Apple get that Sony, HP, Microsoft, Dell, Samsung, and LG don’t?…. Usability in software. All these other geeks out there making hardware love packing on “specs”, stuffing big numbers like RAM, gigahertz, and hard drive space into small or cool looking gadgets. It all looks good on paper, but after you use one of their gadgets for more than a few weeks, you just want to throw it out a window. Thousands of new gadgets released every year all using the same-old crappy unfriendly, unintuitive, unattractive software. It’s no wonder so many are flocking to Apple when we can just pickup one of their simplistic products, start taping and swiping our fingers, and lo and behold… it just does what we want it to do. Of course, it isn’t easy, or cheap, to make software this user friendly, which is why everyone is having such a hard time keeping up.
As a software developer, I hear the phrase “I just want it to…”. Which, as any experienced software developer knows, is the most expensive phrase we ever hear. People have software needs all the time, which may require vast complicated effort to achieve, but they want it to hide all that complication behind a simple and user-friendly interface. What most people don’t know is that making software do just about anything doesn’t cost nearly as much as making it easy and intuitive for them to use. This lack of cost awareness is what ruins so many “brilliant” product ideas.
Sony is, in my opinion, the worst offender. In the past decade, I have seen Sony release cutting-edge gadgets to the market before anyone else. The PSP was an amazing gadget when it came out, in theory. It played music, videos, viewed photos, surfed the web, and of course, played games. The problem was that, excluding the last feature, it didn’t do any of them well. In fact, all the claimed features were so hard to use that almost no one could figure it out. Then, even more idiotically, Sony received reports that users were not using the extra features and stopped improving them! Sony could have been the what the iPod Touch is today, but lost the chance with bad software.
But I don’t just write this to rant, I write this as a warning to other business owners and entrepreneurs out there. Developing software and technology is one thing, but making it user friendly is another. In fact, usability can consume up to 80% of a project’s time and resources. That is, if your actually going to make something people will want to use. You have to build it, review it, fix it, test it, fix it, beta release, fix it, get feedback, fix it, get more feedback, fix it… and maybe… just maybe… people will be able to actually use it.
This is why the only mobile platform even close to keeping up with Apple is Google’s Android. Google is the only one in the fight with the know-how and resources to keep up. Even RIM, makers if the Blackberry, can’t keep their mobile software up to par, they have to invest in starting from scratch or spending huge resources in fixing what they have.
If you or your company has a “great idea” for an application or gadget, just remember, once you price the development… multiply it a couple times for usability.
OT written in Hebrew. NT mainly in Greek... KJV is a transltion of the Latin Vulgate, which was a trnsalation of a translation...
Gee, did I specify just type-editing? No, I did not. Anything where “it just works” but “I’ll be d**ned if I know how it did that” fits under the general rubric of WYSIWYG. Second, you’re right, I over-specified OS types - my bad - Apple’s OS no longer qualifies as a transparent, or even translucent, OS. So, let’s try a narrower class: *nix - (Apple OSes).
There's a ton of current factory automation and engineering software that runs on Windows that directly accesses hardware. Yes, current stuff. And it doesn't work under virtualization.
Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD do something
So we agree that a PC can run any OS that Macs can, that Mac hardware does not have some magical ability to run more OSes than a PC. Good to know.
The reason Apple’s products are successful is the R&D, and the profits pay for the R&D. It’s called “capitalism”, perhaps a little understood idea these days.
If you want to talk profits, talk about Microsoft. I believe they still lead all companies in terms of profit margin, making something a bit beyond $1.2 billion a month in net profit.
Sounds like the only mac old jeffie ever owned came from the golden arches.
Hey Jeff... if your listening... simply the difference in a tool and a toy.
best to all and to all a good day.
Time flies, I asked my wife, we bought the Mac more than a year ago. I have no idea how long the warrantee their product.
I can set up the accounts but can’t really trust the kids to log out of their mother’s account. We’re still working on socks on the kitchen floor.
My point is that I think you are over selling the whole Apple thing. I ended up buying 2 laptops to replace her old laptop and spent 4 times as much money doing so. On top of that, although, she is more comfortable on the Mac system, she is still pulling me into her tech problems and I am spending more time trying to figure them out. The Mac is less friendly when you try to do something that isn’t in the “script”.
A couple of nights ago, she asked me to attach a document for her. A typical request when she in on a windows system but rare when she uses the Mac. I never figured out what was going on, the file was not selectable in the email program. I saved it under a different name and closed the host program, still not selectable. I eventually saved it in a Microsoft compatible format and like magic, that file was selectable. I have no idea why Yahoo Mail would not let me select a Mac format file while letting me select the Microsoft format file right next to it. I lost about three hours trying to figure that one out.
Is she not using the Apple Mail program? Why not?
The problem sounds more as if the issue is with Yahoo than with the Mac. I have never had an issue with attaching any type of file to an email from with in Mail... I suggest you take up the issue with Yahoo. I will investigate and get back to you, though.
Excuse me... but that is WYSIWYG is all about... that what you see on the screen is what you will get on the printed page. And I disagree about Apple no longer qualifies as transparent. If you know what you are doing, you can still control everything about it. It IS UNIX.
You do know that you don't have to run Windows software on a Mac virtualized? The Mac can run it native... and it will hit the hardware just as natively as any other PC. So you are wrong.
first a dislaimer.
Not a mac user and have no intention of doing so.
that said,
Taking out the Mac issues. Usability is 100% lost on some programers. I have been to trade shows where there inevitably a new software package which supposed to do what is needed for the industry.
The problem is that it does not integrate with MS office and is generally a few years behind the times AND requires training because it is not intuative.
Until all phones integrate the same way into current office environments, the iphone app store is just for toys. I am just waiting for the screens to catch up so iphone apps can be ported over to other phone os’s
And there you go. Microsoft has been hoping "pretty" will reel in users since it introduced the horrible Crayola color scheme in Windows XP. Unfortunately, pretty doesn't equal usable. OS X is designed to seamlessly help you do what you need and otherwise get out of the way. It's not pretty lipstick on a pig.
Our email has been through Yahoo for years. I’ve never seen it refuse to accept a file. I spent hours trying different variations and was only able to send the file after saving it as a Power Point compatible file. The problem is solved now, she just saves her projects in that format now.
She still cannot upload assignments performed on the University’s learning center using the Mac. She took the Mac to school and the IS department could not make it work either. I bought her an inexpensive Win 7 notebook that she uses for that purpose. She hates it but it works. The whole concept of making a directory and telling the program to save her files there just makes her angry. She refuses to search for the appropriate directory to open or upload the files.
I’ll hand it to Apple, she has no fear pushing button on the Mac but Windows intimidates her.
Since I have your ear, how do I reset an iPod Touch? My daughter did something to it when she tried to update her music. It now won’t work and tells her she needs to reset the iPod. When she hits the reset button, it spends about 5 minutes with a bar going from 0 to 100% done, then says there was an error and goes back to the original error message and reset button. She has tried doing the two button push on the iPod but that didn’t change anything.
1. 4:3 is not widescreen
Widescreen wouldn't make a very good tablet, long and thin. It would suck for everything but watching widescreen movies.
2. That isn't multitasking, it's apptasking, and it blows.
Depends on what you mean by multitasking. The OS is of course fully capable of it and does it all the time. As far as user perception goes, the upgrade to the next OS is free. That introduces a new smart model of multitasking that is far better than that used in other devices. It will save battery and keep the system stable.
3. Riiiiiiight, unlike "super efficient" Quicktime. LOL
The new Quicktime is super-efficient. Aside from that reason, look to item #2. Flash apps won't be able to support smart multitasking, so Apple doesn't want them on the system, able to introduce instability and battery drain. The hardware is sufficient to run Flash.
4. So I need 99 cent app.... plus a $300+ iPhone and monthly contract with AT&T to do what a basic laptop can do. FAIL
I agree, it needed a web cam. A very good use of this would be video chat, and you can't expect a user to tack on a camera every time he wants to do it. Cameras are cheap, standard, and wouldn't have compromised the design or aesthetics of the device. I've seen the disassembly of this, and there's room in there for one camera for each orientation.
5. No video means no video. WiFi? Add another $130 to the already outrageous price.
See above. But as far as cellular phone goes, remember, this isn't a phone. Expect to have to use Skype or iChat.
6. It's called a battery-swap, and people who do more than listen to MP3s don't do "charge time."
It's a conscious design decision. You may like or not like, but you can't count it as a deficiency. With internal batteries, Apple gets to make the design simpler and stronger than if they were swappable.
7. Adapters for USB? Sold seperately! $$$$$
This is one of the first I put under the heading "missing the concept of the device." It's not a desktop computer, it's a tablet. It's not a desktop computer forced into a tablet (IMHO one reason for the prior failure of tablets in the consumer market). The main purpose of USB on this device is to synch with the host computer. Everything else is esoteric, let that small minority that wants to do it get adapters.
8. Exactly. As for the vast majority of computer users, we use video ports regularly.
This is a small, portable device. Very few people will use it with external video. You want to lug around a screen with you? No. Not too many do it with the iPhone, not too many will do it with this. If you're planning it as a desktop replacement that would need a screen, you are missing the concept.
9. "a resource hog that eats CPU cycles" suddenly becomes a feature when hardware is shamefully lacking.
See above.
10. Blue-Ray is antiquated. Now I've read everything.
Again, not understanding the concept. It would be absurd and alien to the concept to put a disc player in it. That would drop battery life through the floor and introduce size, weight and noise.
11. NOT OSX is NOT OSX
Again, not understanding the concept. It is not a desktop computer.
12. On sale now!!! $$$$$$
The first generation of a novel device is usually pretty expensive. Me, I don't buy new Apple products until second-generation.
Apple's been operating this way for, what, 12 years now? The iPod, iPhone, move to Intel, and now iPad, all things the pundits thought would ruin Apple. They said it was stupid when Apple dropped the floppy drive, when Apple replaced all the legacy connectors with USB, when Apple stopped selling CRT monitors while LCDs were still expensive, now we see the rest of the industry following.
They put out a barely functional overpriced product that is essentially a big smart phone minus the communication.
Did you ever think that one of the reasons tablets have always failed in the consumer market is because they always tried to be full desktop systems in tablet form? It just doesn't work. The iPad will succeed precisely because it is a big smart phone (with the communication, if you want it).
Illegal? Depends. Unethical? Running software you legally bought on hardware you own? What's unethical about that? The only unethical thing here is Apple attempting to leverage copyright far beyond its original constitutional intent.
Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD do something.
Now that's a different issue entirely. Why would I kludge OS X on a standard box and miss that wonderful Apple industrial design and forego any chance of support? I'd spend hours doing it, trying to get drivers together, and of course don't forget the problems getting updated drivers. My time's worth more than that, just spend the extra money and get a real Mac.
“This is a small, portable device. Very few people will use it with external video. You want to lug around a screen with you? No. Not too many do it with the iPhone, not too many will do it with this. If you’re planning it as a desktop replacement that would need a screen, you are missing the concept.”
Are you telling me that an HDMI port to connect your HDTV is not a useful feature? Wouldn’t it be nice to plug the iPad into the TV and watch that expensive hidef content?
“Until all phones integrate the same way into current office environments, the iphone app store is just for toys. I am just waiting for the screens to catch up so iphone apps can be ported over to other phone os’s”
Look and the Android phones. A decent alternative to the iPhone. Tens of thousands of apps, dozens of good ones. 9000 new apps last month alone.
And there you go. Microsoft has been hoping “pretty” will reel in users since it introduced the horrible Crayola color scheme in Windows XP.
____________________________
XP was awful that way. I killed the crayola colors and made it look like Windoz2000. Now Windows7 makes Apple’s OSX look like an college dorm Linux distro. The best indicator is the ladies are dumping their Apple computers (giving to the kids) and getting laptops with Windows7
but will it sync to MS Office? (without work arounds)
With google tracking everything I am suspicious (but not too much) of anything google.
remember when yahoo was THE search engine?
you ended business viablity with “If I...”
Business environment wants guaranteed compatability and integration with other computers.
“If I...” means down time untill the lazy weirdo from IT comes up and figures out an entirrely avoidable problem.
Is something like this what you had in mind?
http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/android/index.html?redirect=blog_dtg_android
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