In my last post, I finished my impression after two month's use of the iPhone's first row applications, specifically the Photos and Camera applications. This post will look at the first two applications on the second row: YouTube and Stocks.
YouTube: Prior to geing the iPhone, I had only been an occasional user of YouTube, but I will have to admit that I have become a much more regular user since getting the iPhone. Part of the reason is it's blocked at work, so the iPhone has given me access. However, YouTube doesn't work that well on EDGE unless you have a very good signal.
With a summer of reruns and only a few really good cable series worth watching, YouTube has stepped in to fill the entertainment void. "Search" works well enough to usually find what I want. "Featured" is always good for viewing although the selection does not seem to change frequently enough. The same seems true of Most Viewed--update the index more often.
The controls for pausing, starting, sliding fast-forward or backwards, and volume are all easily accessible by tapping the screen while a video is playing. This is a very nice touch and I found the "buttons" large enough to easily manipulate.
If there is one critique of the application itself (rather than YouTube content), allow the landscape image to rotate to the left or right. Currently, the iPhone only allows YouTube viewing rotated to the left. While this might seem like a nit, I often view videos without earphones. Actually, I almost always view videos without earphones. Therefore, placement of the phone's speakers can become critical and the speakers facing to the right is not always optimal.
Stocks: For the most part, the Stocks application is simple, effective, and adequate. If I need more information, I can easily go to Yahoo! Finance. This brings me to my first critique: When I press the "Y!" button in the bottom left of the screen, I would much rather go to Yahoo! Finance than wherever the hell I'm linked now. The current link appears to be a general Yahoo! mobile phone site that has information on the stock I'm seeking and a whole bunch of information on goings on in New York City that I have no interest in. If someone is looking at a stock and they press the "Y!" button, there is a high probability that the individual is seeking detail on that stock symbol period. They are most probably not interested in other general headlines or what's going on in the greater New York area. I personally like Yahoo! Finance better than Google Finance. However, at present it is simpler to launch Safari and enter a ticker symbol to get to Google Finance than it is to use the "Y!" button in stocks and not get the information I'm looking for.
The other critique is it would be nice to be able to reorder the sequence of stocks in the listing. You can do it with Safari bookmarks and the Clocks, so I know the code and capability are there. You will see this critique as a recurring theme in other applications as well.
I will be publishing my thoughts on the remaining two applications in the second row in the near future. In the meantime, if you have comments or suggestions for Apple, please let me know.
Walter W. Casey, Ph.D.
Sent from my iPhone
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