This is getting to be old. It's the same old story. The iPhone is a great phone, and could be a great handheld computing device...but. So, all I want from MacWorld is not an iPhone Nano. It's not a new larger iPhone/iTouch Netbook. I want the things that should have been available on the iPhone when it first appeared.
Understand, I practically live on my iPhone. I can go for days without using my computer. I can track my personal and business email. I can research information on the Web, and I can take notes for later use. More often than not, I even write my blog posts on the iPhone (this is one of those exceptions). The point is that I use my iPhone a lot and I use it many times as a substitute for my laptop. With that background, here are my gripes.
After a year-and-a-half of clicking back-and-forth between applications trying to remember that 45-digit long URL, Apple give me Cut/Copy/Paste. It can't be that hard. People have applications in the AppStore with the feature enabled. It doesn't matter if you screw it up and have to redo it at a later date, just give me the damn function. My memory isn't what it used to be. Therefore, memorizing a piece of information and switching between applications and then typing is getting less productive the older I get. When I forward a message in email, I don't like to make the reader suffer through all the various forwards. As a result, doing so on the iPhone can literally take hours. It's a dumb feature to be missing and enough is enough.
Add Flash. I don't care if it's doggy, just give me the capability to view Flash content on the iPhone. Whether Steve Jobs likes it or not, Flash is a Web standard. I am finding that there are numerous Web sites that I do not have access to simply because the iPhone does not support Flash. As Adobe expands their Web application suite, this is only going to get worse. Add to this problem the fact that many sites are also now using Microsoft Silverlight and the problem gets worse. Quicktime is a Web standard; good for you Apple. However, Flash and Silverlight are also standards and the iPhone should also support them.
Bring Mobile Safari up to standard so it can be used with sites such as Google Apps. If this means an improved Java engine, so be it. While Apple may be protecting their installed base of iWork users and continuing to show appreciation for the Microsoft Office for Mac crowd, the fact is sites such as Google Apps are catching on and users want access to the presentation, word processing, and spreadsheet functions offered. Locking this capability out of the iPhone will only drive users to alternative platforms (such as the Google OS-based phones). Embrace the evolving Web and ride the wave. Otherwise, Apple may be left in the backwash of a missed wave, much as happened in the '80s.
While I would love to have the ability to rename photos on the iPhone (as has been on my gripe list for more than a year), at a minimum, let me at least pull up the image information. The information on date and time taken are available in the phone as that information is passed to iPhoto. Make it available directly on the phone for crying out loud. While you are at it, allow the photo application to capture GPS coordinates since that field is available.
Finally, Documents-To-Go, get your act together and release the package for the iPhone. I have heard rumors of this being done since the iPhone was released and I am still waiting. Is it copy/paste that's holding you up? If so, implement your own version.
What say you? While I don't mean this to be a infinite wish list, what are the absolute functions that you feel are needed to make the iPhone a true portable computing substitute?
Showing posts with label mulit-media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mulit-media. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2009
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
iPhone: Two-Month Check-up--Part VIII
This post covers my experiences with the the last of the standard applications included on the iPhone over the past two (now going on three) months: the iPod.
iPod: The iPhone was billed as the best iPod ever. In an absolute sense, I would agree. The touch interface, album flow, and controls all make it so. The iPod application is a multi-function multi-media capability that enables the user to listen to music, podcasts, video podcasts, recorded television programming, and movies--all in a small footprint. The iPod application has dedicated icons for artists, albums, audiobooks, compilations, composers, genres, playlists, podcasts, songs, and videos.
The artists, albums, compilations, composers, and songs selection all use the same "flick" and alphabet slider along the right side of the screen to choose a selection. In contrast, the audiobooks, genres, playlists, podcasts, and videos all use a more traditional menu/sub-menu/item selection scheme. However, both the videos also provide graphic images at the highest menu level, but does not really provide any advantages in selecting content.
The portrait mode provides icons for four of the preceding selection approaches at the bottom of the screen, along with a "more" button. A really nice feature is that which four buttons appear is entirely up to the user. The vertical screen provides an edit button that allows the user to drag icons to the bottom bar and to arrange those button as desired. It seems like a simple capability, but when the user rarely uses a selection mode, it is really nice to be able to relegate those modes to the "more" area.
With the exception of the video selection, when the iPhone is rotated to the landscape mode, the menu, regardless of type, transitions to the album flow interface. All album flow is by album cover (or a generic cover if the cover art is not available). Regardless of the content type selection, when rotated to show album flow, only music is shown. When a specific album is visible, tapping the "i" icon in the lower right corner will cause the album cover to "flip" revealing a list of the songs and related track times on that album along with the artist and album names. When rotated back to portrait mode the screen returns to the original menu listing before album flow was initiated.
When a video podcast has been loaded to the iPhone, it is available as both video and audio only. It shows in both menus. This is a nice feature if you want to "listen" to a video while in the car.
When a song or audio podcast is playing, a button for returning to the previous menus appears on the upper left, the current song/podcast and artist appear in a band across the middle top, and a button to flip between the current screen and a listing of songs (if an album is selected) appears on the upper right. The control buttons for starting, stopping, fast-forward, and fast-reverse appear at the bottom of the screen. The buttons are relatively small, but do not represent a problem in "normal" use. However, if you are driving and attempting to use the controls, it is very hit-or-miss. As a result, the button designs often force the user to take eyes off the road to manipulate. With the amount of real estate on the screen, it should be very easy to make the buttons larger to resolve this problem and improve safe operation of a car when attempting to use the buttons. (One could argue that you shouldn't be manipulating buttons when the car is in motion, but realistically, it is going to occur.)
In portrait mode, a tap on the top of the screen will cause a volume slider control, a button for repeating the same song or podcast, and a button to activate song or podcast shuffle to appear. These buttons are even smaller than the ones at the bottom of the screen and could also easily be enlarged for easier use (or improved mobility use).
When a song or audio podcast is playing and the iPhone is in the landscape mode, the screen shows album flow and if a podcast is playing, an image associated with the podcast shows (this podcast image does not show when flipping through songs). In the lower left is a small button to stop or start the audio. Again, for the screen space, the button is far too small. In the bottom right of the screen is the "i" icon that, when tapped, flips the album flow to the list in the same way the portrait mode upper right button operated. Unfortunately, the volume control, repeat, and shuffle buttons are not available in the landscape mode. Instead, when tapped in the middle of the screen, the image flips to the song/podcast list exactly the same as tapping the "i" icon. For whatever reason, Apple violated their own design mantra of consistency from screen-to-screen. the iPod function would be greatly improved if the flip button was kept in the upper right and the tap in the middle of the screen provided the volume, repeat, and shuffle controls. Why it was not designed this way makes no sense.
For videos, once selected, the controls operate in the same way as the YouTube application. Therefore, they will not be discussed further here.
All-in-all, the iPod application provides best-in-class functionality. The only complaint is that with a few adjustments--such as making the buttons larger--the iPod could be so much better.
In my next post, I'll finish up with my thoughts on features in the Set-up along with some summary impressions and a few additional things that I've noticed since I began the two-month review.
iPod: The iPhone was billed as the best iPod ever. In an absolute sense, I would agree. The touch interface, album flow, and controls all make it so. The iPod application is a multi-function multi-media capability that enables the user to listen to music, podcasts, video podcasts, recorded television programming, and movies--all in a small footprint. The iPod application has dedicated icons for artists, albums, audiobooks, compilations, composers, genres, playlists, podcasts, songs, and videos.
The artists, albums, compilations, composers, and songs selection all use the same "flick" and alphabet slider along the right side of the screen to choose a selection. In contrast, the audiobooks, genres, playlists, podcasts, and videos all use a more traditional menu/sub-menu/item selection scheme. However, both the videos also provide graphic images at the highest menu level, but does not really provide any advantages in selecting content.
The portrait mode provides icons for four of the preceding selection approaches at the bottom of the screen, along with a "more" button. A really nice feature is that which four buttons appear is entirely up to the user. The vertical screen provides an edit button that allows the user to drag icons to the bottom bar and to arrange those button as desired. It seems like a simple capability, but when the user rarely uses a selection mode, it is really nice to be able to relegate those modes to the "more" area.
With the exception of the video selection, when the iPhone is rotated to the landscape mode, the menu, regardless of type, transitions to the album flow interface. All album flow is by album cover (or a generic cover if the cover art is not available). Regardless of the content type selection, when rotated to show album flow, only music is shown. When a specific album is visible, tapping the "i" icon in the lower right corner will cause the album cover to "flip" revealing a list of the songs and related track times on that album along with the artist and album names. When rotated back to portrait mode the screen returns to the original menu listing before album flow was initiated.
When a video podcast has been loaded to the iPhone, it is available as both video and audio only. It shows in both menus. This is a nice feature if you want to "listen" to a video while in the car.
When a song or audio podcast is playing, a button for returning to the previous menus appears on the upper left, the current song/podcast and artist appear in a band across the middle top, and a button to flip between the current screen and a listing of songs (if an album is selected) appears on the upper right. The control buttons for starting, stopping, fast-forward, and fast-reverse appear at the bottom of the screen. The buttons are relatively small, but do not represent a problem in "normal" use. However, if you are driving and attempting to use the controls, it is very hit-or-miss. As a result, the button designs often force the user to take eyes off the road to manipulate. With the amount of real estate on the screen, it should be very easy to make the buttons larger to resolve this problem and improve safe operation of a car when attempting to use the buttons. (One could argue that you shouldn't be manipulating buttons when the car is in motion, but realistically, it is going to occur.)
In portrait mode, a tap on the top of the screen will cause a volume slider control, a button for repeating the same song or podcast, and a button to activate song or podcast shuffle to appear. These buttons are even smaller than the ones at the bottom of the screen and could also easily be enlarged for easier use (or improved mobility use).
When a song or audio podcast is playing and the iPhone is in the landscape mode, the screen shows album flow and if a podcast is playing, an image associated with the podcast shows (this podcast image does not show when flipping through songs). In the lower left is a small button to stop or start the audio. Again, for the screen space, the button is far too small. In the bottom right of the screen is the "i" icon that, when tapped, flips the album flow to the list in the same way the portrait mode upper right button operated. Unfortunately, the volume control, repeat, and shuffle buttons are not available in the landscape mode. Instead, when tapped in the middle of the screen, the image flips to the song/podcast list exactly the same as tapping the "i" icon. For whatever reason, Apple violated their own design mantra of consistency from screen-to-screen. the iPod function would be greatly improved if the flip button was kept in the upper right and the tap in the middle of the screen provided the volume, repeat, and shuffle controls. Why it was not designed this way makes no sense.
For videos, once selected, the controls operate in the same way as the YouTube application. Therefore, they will not be discussed further here.
All-in-all, the iPod application provides best-in-class functionality. The only complaint is that with a few adjustments--such as making the buttons larger--the iPod could be so much better.
In my next post, I'll finish up with my thoughts on features in the Set-up along with some summary impressions and a few additional things that I've noticed since I began the two-month review.
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