Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Heh. [shakes head] He'll come around.

I think we're probably moving to a post OS world- whether we know it or not. The browser will rule. Combine that with a touch screen portable device- and your computer is whatever kind of gadget you want it to be, who makes the screen is about as important as who makes your fridge- Whirpool, Maytag - don't really care.

In reply to this comment by kymbos:
I'm standing on the outside looking in, but I thought you might like this piece (and probably more the comments): http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/blogs/pinch-of-basil/apple-bites-man-macs-are-nothing-more-than-style-porn/20100215-o2qa.html

Wow, I really haven't followed this phone much, but it's nothing that HTC didn't do 2 years ago with the Touch Pro. Touch Pro with SPB mobile shell looks the exact same, has a slide out keyboard and touch screen, and did it long ago...

Not trying to be a snob, just disappointed.

>> ^demon_ix:
The most common sentiment about the Nexus One is "I hate the iPhone, Apple and iTunes, but I'm not buying a touch-screen phone without multi-touch ". Apple are wise to hold on to that patent like that.


They don't own the patent on multi-touch, it's been around for waaaay longer than Apple's products with it.

There is something legal about it not appearing on the Nexus One in the States though, as it IS enabled for multitouch in Europe... not sure what it is, but it demonstrates the stupid impediment to advancement legal shite can be.

The most common sentiment about the Nexus One is "I hate the iPhone, Apple and iTunes, but I'm not buying a touch-screen phone without multi-touch ". Apple are wise to hold on to that patent like that.

It's not going to win a beauty pageant, but I am actually extremely pleased with the brick-like design because it *really* makes it easier to hold. (You can apply just a little pressure to any edge to keep a good grip.) This is starkly contrasting to the pretty look of the iPhone which is completely slick and rounded and arguably designed to make you drop (and replace) it as frequently as possible.

Just discovered a couple of other interesting things. Tried some m4v video playback and it's extremely crisp and beautiful. After a bit of actual use, I'm finding I really love the keyboard. It's very smartly laid out and even has a dedicated question mark key which I love (no more alt-period, alt-period, alt-periods for me).

One thing worth noting is that the touch screen fails to work under certain strange conditions like when the plugged-in USB cable is wrapped around it and/or it's laying on a leather sofa. Must have something to do with how the magical touch sensitive glass works.

No more iTunes or being forced to carry a phone *and* an iPod Touch in each pocket.

My now almost 3-year old Hewlett Packard IpaQ has admirably performed every one of those 'pros' you mentioned since day one - except for the VS 4.0 integration, of course. Didn't ever need a patch or anything, could always copy and paste, had both button and on-touch-screen keyboards, took pics and video, as well as played back various video and audio formats on Windows Mobile (I used to watch episodes of TV shows I download legally obtained via the internets when commuting as well as frequently listened to streaming internet radio).

Not to mention it had Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, EDGE&3G, a memory-card slot, MS Office apps and powerpoint capability, etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum. Hell, I even installed and successfully played the first Age of Empires game (originally for Win95) on it. AND, at time of purchase it cost fairly less than iPhone did when it was first introduced here.

Which is why I'm still maintaining (and probably always will be) that iPhone sucks much balls.

So instead of putting your trash out at a specific time each week, you...

1. call a robot
2. wait for it to get there (you have to be home)
3. manually enter information into a touch screen
4. call another robot to take the next shopping-bag-sized trash item


Awesome tech, but this seems like a lot more trouble than the normal method.

What it has over the kindle is a touch screen interface. After using my iPhone as a "reader," I absolutely refuse to buy a Kindle. There's something wonderful about the interaction you get from a well made touch interface, in regards to reading. When I look at the Kindle, even the new one, I see an ugly clunky thing covered in buttons. That's not the kind of interface I want to cuddle up to, for reading a long book.

That being said, I've yet to see a digital reader that would pull me away from simply using my iPhone as one.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

If it was Microsoft I'd be screaming bloody murder - but, you know - it's Apple, so it's insanely great. (at least I recognize my hypocrisy)

Apple innovated the hell out of the iPhone. In hindsight you look at it and think, "yes, of course- everyone should be making phones like this"

But Nokia, Motorola, Samsung et al couldn't even make a phone browser that didn't make you want to pull your hair out.

Now, in the sincerest form of flattery, all of the usual companies are making large touch screen, internet focused phones- and it seems natural that a multi-touch screen would be useful. But Apple got there first. They did the hard R&D yards and took the risk, it's only right that they should reap the rewards.

I think its unlikely touch screen will be normal , i think you could likely get a touch pad that's integrated into keyboards but touch on a screen will not become a norm due to comfortable viewing angles and the fact that Manny people use multi screen setups. tuch screen is relay good for small devices ore what i would call compact complete devices like laptops and phones,mp3 players.

so for desktop pcs i think the most likely thing that will happen is that you have a GUI that is very much like GUI,s today but every mouse ore keyboard will have a built in gesture pad that allows you to do i phone esk moments and selections.

as for this software i don't think much "thinking" has relay been put into it
in terms of it as a concept, within its self its really nicely implemented i defiantly think GUi,s should use a selection tool that's not a fixed square maby take from some of the tools in photoshop,

Looks like there is multi-touch. In the second video (link above provided by EDD), he zooms out a photo with multi-touch. I didn't see anything about video either. It seems like it should be a more than capable enough device to playback video, but it's odd that they would show off music playback and not video (if they have video).

I like the qwerty keyboard the slides out. Screw "typing" on a touch screen.

It appears locked in to Sprint only at the moment. I'll have to ask around and see how good the Sprint service (read: reception) is in my area before I could even consider it as a purchase choice though. Nothing worse than going to a new provider only to find you have no reception inside your house.

>> ^ponceleon:
Apple banned this app? Seriously, in these troubled economic times they need to open their minds a bit...


Yeah, the authors stated they were going to work on touch screen interaction, and all other kinds of jubbly physics.

>> Am I the only one that is underwhelmed by this motion sensing technology?

Yes I think you do not understand it. It is the first one of its class that I have seem. It is an abs positioning system rather then relative like the others. Which allows you to do allot of the cool stuff he was showing which will be implossible with the other systems.

Whether this is practical or is going to replace the mouse one day. I am not so sure about that. The cool thing about the mouse is that with very limited movement you can get allot of the effect. Touch screen and such are more uncomfortable but they do provide more expression.

The device that needs to replace the mouse has to be a device that with very limited movement/effort can do allot. I think is going to have to be something that connects more directly to your brain even more so than your own hand.

>> ^imstellar28:
they need a lot more than a poll tax, they need a 100 question multiple choice quiz.
first question would be:
The system of government which best protects human rights is a:
A. Monarchy
B. Oligarchy
C. Democracy Theocracy
D. Anarchy
E. Republic
Anyone who fills in A-D doesn't get to vote.


Fixed that for ya. There is a surprising number of people who would piss on the graves of our founding fathers and push us towards a Theocracy.

I only had to wait for the volunteers to find my name in the voter rolls. No line, even though the polling location was serving 2 voting districts. There was only one touch-screen machine, so I went with the available paper ballot option. I even got to load it into the Optical Scanner.

The fact that a voter could even possibly foul up the vote with fat fingers is ridiculous. Better design please, even the ATM touch screens are sloppy these days.