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.
I see you like pretty pictures. You stick with that. I’ll stick with a cohesive UI designed to help me work better, with real usability principles behind it.
Then we should probably all stay away from Microsoft. Apple and Linux use industry-standard protocols. Microsoft likes to tweak things for lock-in. So there's an issue for you: Do you change everything to be compatible with the company attempting lock-in, or do you get rid of the company attempting lock-in so everything else can work well together?
May have an answer on your iTouch.
I was checking out replacing the battery since it didn’t last any time, even new.
Read on the ‘net to Reset All in Settings.
Seems to have worked. Battery life in much better.
Rarely, if ever. If I want to be tethered to a monitor I'll just watch that content on my computer, or stream it to a TV. For those few who for some reason want to tie their iPad down to a monitor, I believe there's an adapter.
Remember, this thing's so thin (with curved edges) that even Apple's mini DisplayPort adapter would have a problem fitting seamlessly in the side, and then you'd need an adapter to HDMI anyway. There's no way an HDMI plug is fitting in this well. And forget a socket for USB keys, that's not fitting.
Minimalism vs. throwing the whole tool chest in. The popularity of Apple devices is showing that users are getting tired of the tool chest, of the "checklist" mentality that the article talks about.
“Running software you legally bought on hardware you own? What’s unethical about that?”
Apple’s operating system is a key advantage of Apple hardware. It’s clear that that Apple intends for MacOS to only run on Apple hardware. It’s in the license agreement, completely aside from copyright.
MacOS is sold at very low prices as a benefit to Mac owners. If there was a “generic hardware” version, I’m sure it’d cost much more.
“The only unethical thing here is Apple attempting to leverage copyright far beyond its original constitutional intent.”
As I said, it’s not just copyright. Most likely the DMCA could also be invoked, and whether you like it or not the DMCA is the law as well.
It’s unethical to use Apple’s software in ways Apple doesn’t allow. You buy a license to use the software, not the software itself. You should comply with the license.
The license only has force by the fact that the software is protected by copyright. How can something add additional rights beyond what is granted by copyright? Copyright exists to protect the copyrighted work, not business models surrounding the copyrighted work. Using licenses to circumvent the limits of copyright is a modern fiction designed to destroy fair use and enrich the copyright cartel. It is, simply, unconstitutional.
The iTouch battery works fine but I can’t reset it.
The Macbook is the one with the failing battery.
One of the issues I have with iTunes store is that I can’t play the software I buy on any device I want to play it on. I would be more interested in buying video from Apple if I had an easy way of playing it on my TV.
My TV has a built in video player. It will play WMV, MKV, AVI all in high def. It won’t play Apple video. If the iPad won’t connect to my TV to allow me to watch the hidef video I purchased on the best screen in the house, it devalues both the iTunes video and the iPad player in my opinion.
I will watch video on my phone or computer if I am away from the house. Why would I choose to watch good quality video on a screen measured in inches when I own a screen measured in feet?
It’s not a question of minimalism, it is a question of basic functionality.
That's kind of sad for your TV. Apple uses industry standard H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, not the Microsoft proprietary WMV or AVI. Complain that your TV can't do industry-standard formats.
BTW, changing the file extension to something your TV recognizes might work if it can indeed handle the underlying codec. It could be that it doesn't, because H.264 requires some serious computing power to decode (and more to encode), but that's why it gives the best quality for size.
My TV will decode full 1080p hidef H.264/MPEG-4 video streams. AVI, WMV and MKV are just containers for the video. It plays industry standard formats just fine.
iTunes uses industry standard MPEG4 video but puts it in a container that nothing but their players will play which makes them more proprietary than WMV and AVI. Even my 8 year old plain jane DVD player will play AVI files.
Changing the extension will not let you play Apple video on a non apple device by design. They designed a closed system. If you want to play iTunes video, you need an Apple sanctioned device.
From what I see, if you want to play iTunes video on your TV, they want you to buy one of those apple TV devices (which isn’t even capable of playing 1080p video) or a Mac Mini to connect to the TV. That makes that video pretty darn expensive. A TV out on the iPad would make it much more useful to the person loading all of their favorite shows in hidef.
Come on, you can’t admit that letting you connect the iPad to a TV might be just a little useful? Seriously are you just arguing for arguments sake?
I know a lot of hot babes who are no longer Apple fans. They like the Windows7 look a lot better and have moved on to HP laptops. I told them that OSX looked like a cheapo v of Linux and they agreed even though they’ve never seen Linux
My business uses both.
Two years ago, when comparing high end computers suitable for professional graphics use, I compared a custom built PC (off the shelf Dells and Acers from Best Buy just wouldn’t cut it) to a Mac Pro.
Not only did the Mac Pro multitask MUCH better than the Windows (Vista then) machine, it could even run VMWare Fusion which allowed me to run a virtual session of Windows at the same time! Since the Mac version of QuickBooks sucks, I was very happy to see that not only did the Mac allow me to run Illustrator, Photoshop, Outlook and Quickbooks at the same time, the Windows VM ran MUCH faster than Windows on the custom built PC.
The major cost difference between the two machines? Less than $200.
When you need performance, you need a Mac. When price is the major (and seemingly only) consideration stick with Windows.
BTW, most Apple users care as much about how many people use Windows as BMW users care about how many people drive Chevy’s...
I have used Yahoo Mail, with the MAIL app and it handles all file formats I throw at it... but I haven't used the online email system from Yahoo. I have not yet had time to research at I promised you I would. Sorry about that, Doc. I will get to it as soon as things get down from a roar to a dull roar around here.
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.
Have you shut it down completely by holding down the button on the top for five seconds them using the red slider to shut down? The one time I had a problem with my iPhone, I had to do that a couple of times to get it to reset. No problems since.
Why do I tend to discount your testimony, Dennis?
So you basically hang out with idiots who will take anyone's word for anything sight unseen. Their judgment is of little value.
The hot babes are bailing on Apple. Apple computers at least. They no longer look pretty enough. HP and others exceed whatever that gay icon Ives cooks up. Then the Win7 OS is much prettier than that clunky junky OSX which I loaded on a generic computer to see what all the Apple agitprop was about. That hard drive now has Ubuntu on it. Apple OS was an epic fail. So it’s on to Ubuntu 10.4 beta2 and I like it a lot better. Am typing on it right now
Apple has been skimming off the females, the gays, the trust fund kids and the creative types for years. Now the women are going back to Windows because Win7 makes Windows uber cool again. This is impacting now on Apple sales
The Jobs gangstas know where future profits are. That’s why they are trying to sue and obstruct the Android phones. Luuuuusers...unethical ones at that. Money grubbing California liberals.
The container is standard MP4, just a different file name (and the ability to DRM it, but that's another issue regardless of platform). On a Mac the difference between m4v and mp4 files is that iTunes opens m4v by default, while QuickTime opens mp4 by default. They play on my PS3 just fine with an extension change. They play on Windows Media Player (with proper codecs installed) if you tell it to just open that extension, and will work in the WMP library with either an extension change or a registry hack to make WMP recognize m4v files as playable (you have to do this with MP4 prior to Win7, too).
There is also the fact that there are variations within the H.264/AVC standard. Even if a player can play some lower profiles, it may not be powerful enough to play others. This isn't about the resolution, but the tricks H.264 uses to compress the stream, some of which can be very CPU intensive.
A TV out on the iPad would make it much more useful to the person loading all of their favorite shows in hidef.
If you're worried about how much you're paying, you're paying an awful lot to hold your HD video (multi-GB per movie) on expensive Apple-provided flash memory. If you don't want an Apple TV, there is software out there that will allow you to stream your iTunes library to UPnP DLNA-compatible devices such as a PS3 or XBox, and some TVs. It is kind of sad that iTunes doesn't have DLNA compatibility built-in.
This is a device to be used portable. It is not a device to use tied to a TV and to move large video files around. There are other devices for those purposes, such as home media players and game consoles to play video and USB keys and portable hard drives to sneakernet large video files around.
I have three media players plus the media player built into the TV. All 4 have the horsepower to run H.264 1080p video. Two of them will play mp4 files and mkv files with a whole alphabit of supported file types in the containers, the other two do not support either format but will play mpeg4 streams in an AVI container at full hidef resolution.
My network is wireless and I can stream standard def but for hidef, I plug a USB drive directly into the player otherwise there is stutter.
iTunes hidef video will play on my computer just fine, but I cannot stream it to the TV. An iPad would provide me significant value if it simply plugged into the TV of my choice. I’m not worried about saving all of my video on an iPad, I literally have terabytes of storage at my finger tips, I’m worried about how I get it to my TV. I don’t need an Apple TV, I have a media player for every TV in the house.
I have solved the itunes DNLA problem. I buy all of my music from Amazon now. DRM free MP3 files, I don’t have a device in the house that won’t play it and I can stream it with no restrictions.
It does. You need a connector. Simple. The need for a connector is rational opposed to putting an extra video out port of your choice (and, say, everybody else's choice, HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, VGA, composite, RCA) on every iPad for those 99% who don't need it.
I buy all of my music from Amazon now. DRM free MP3 files, I don’t have a device in the house that won’t play it and I can stream it with no restrictions.
I prefer CDs or iTunes non-DRM AAC files. Superior sound for the same file size. And too bad if your player of choice doesn't support AAC, it's the modern industry standard.
“I prefer CDs or iTunes non-DRM AAC files. Superior sound for the same file size. And too bad if your player of choice doesn’t support AAC, it’s the modern industry standard.”
Thems is fighten words on some forums. There are others that would list several other formats as superior to AAC and the industry standard is still MP3. You are voicing opinion as fact now.
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