Six technologies endangered by smartphones

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I said "Just the OS". Why should I bother with calibre or stanza instead of a simple copy-past.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I said "Just the OS". Why should I bother with calibre or stanza instead of a simple copy-past.

Shrug. Just offering information. Some people might think that you do actually have to use iTunes to get all data onto the iPad, now they know this isn't the case.

[BVLarson]

I don't buy it. My microwave has not "endangered" my coffee maker.
-BVL

[TallMomof2]

As long as a smartphone has a small (to my eyes) screen I don't see how it can replace many of the functions. Sure I can read on my smartphone but with a readable font there are far fewer words per screen than on a dedicated ebook reader. If you make the screen large enough then it's not a very portable phone.

Let the authors of the various articles declaring the death of single use devices reach 50 or so and use reading glasses and then see how they feel about using a small screen all the time.

[EricDP]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

My cellphone : also acts as emergency mp3 player

Can you please provide an example of an emergency that requires an mp3 player to resolve?

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by EricDP

Can you please provide an example of an emergency that requires an mp3 player to resolve?

Plenty. My iPod has saved my life (and/or that of my noisy neighbors) more than once.

[carld]

How are sales of portable media players? I would guess cellphones have squashed those, if any. I watch videos on my phone pretty regularly, but I'm not a big music listener.

[oggelbe2007]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you actually used one? The iPad does many things very, very well indeed.

Yes, we have several here in the lab. Can you believe folks waited in line to buy such a restriced/choiceless device? P.T. Barnum would love it.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by oggelbe2007

Yes, we have several here in the lab. Can you believe folks waited in line to buy such a restriced/choiceless device? P.T. Barnum would love it.

It's odd to see that need that some people seem to have, both to claim that Apple devices are a kind of magical perfection on the one hand, and that they are useless/inferior on the other.

The iPad is by far the best tablet that I've seen, although in its current form it's not for me yet, as I think that there will be better (from Apple or others). But if people get value from their iPads now, isn't that great?

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by oggelbe2007

Yes, we have several here in the lab. Can you believe folks waited in line to buy such a restriced/choiceless device? P.T. Barnum would love it.

Restricted for some, hassle-free for others. Not every one wants choice at the cost of ease of use. Many people simply cannot have access to the kind of choice you are looking for anyway, because they lack the technical savvy to exercise it. I don't stare goggling at people who prefer to use Linux as an OS although I prefer Mac OS myself. They have their priorities, I have mine. If that is so hard to understand, I'm not very hopeful that people will one day stop trying to kill others because of their religious or political views.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Restricted for some, hassle-free for others. Not every one wants choice at the cost of ease of use. Many people simply cannot have access to the kind of choice you are looking for anyway, because they lack the technical savvy to exercise it. I don't stare goggling at people who prefer to use Linux as an OS although I prefer Mac OS myself. They have their priorities, I have mine. If that is so hard to understand, I'm not very hopeful that people will one day stop trying to kill others because of their religious or political views.

Well said! Especially the goggling!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by oggelbe2007

...Can you believe folks waited in line to buy such a restriced/choiceless device? P.T. Barnum would love it.

Yes, I can believe it. Why is what has me baffled. Granted, Apple makes solid machines but then, for the price of the Apple, one can buy a Windows machine every bit as solid, if not more so, and have more say on what goes into it. What amazes me is how Apple products have developed such a cult like following of devotees. Even though they are technologically innovative, frequently more so than Microsnot, they also are more restrictive in what can use on their machines and how. Look at the battle between Apple and certain Adobe products. Look at how the app store for the i-Phone censors apps. For that matter, until the Feds recently stepped in, one could only use one carrier with i-Phones. The i-Pad doesn't have USB ports or a card slot. The cheapest Windows machine at least has a few USB ports and one can use a card reader in one of those ports for reading cards. The only way to communicate with the i-Pad is via 3G or WiFi, forcing one to have one, the other, or both. 3G coverage doesn't exist everywhere and, where it does, is costly. Not everyone has, or wants WiFi on their home machines. Instead of using a simple, inexpensive USB drive to make backups, i-Pad users would have to use some kind of cloud back up and/or have a WiFi connected server (which is not inexpensive). Windows at least gives people options, something Apple seems to dislike (take Apple's hardware monopoly, for example). The biggest argument I hear for Apple products, especially the Macs, is they aren't subject to viruses because of design. Horsefeathers. They are every bit as subject to viruses, etc. as any Windows machine. There aren't as many viruses, etc., only because hackers are lazy; they already know Windows technology and want to expend their efforts where they can get the most "bang for their buck." There are far more Windows machines than there are Macs so Windows, for now, is the preferred target. The day will come when Mac owners will get a rude awakening.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Yes, I can believe it. Why is what has me baffled. Granted, Apple makes solid machines but then, for the price of the Apple, one can buy a Windows machine every bit as solid, if not more so, and have more say on what goes into it. What amazes me is how Apple products have developed such a cult like following of devotees.

The day will come when Mac owners will get a rude awakening.

Ah yes, the old "cult-like" devotees argument, followed by the smug "rude awakening" warning. Never gets old.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Yes, I can believe it. Why is what has me baffled. Granted, Apple makes solid machines but then, for the price of the Apple, one can buy a Windows machine every bit as solid, if not more so, and have more say on what goes into it.

But a Windows laptop is not the same kind of thing as an ipad. The ipad is for people who want to be able to do the more limited set of things that the ipad can do, but simply, reliably, and with an attractive touch interface. It's instant-on (and off!) which is a problem with Windows systems. For a lot of people, the ipad is worth the money for a reliable instant-on browser that they can access in the living room/kitchen.

What amazes me is how Apple products have developed such a cult like following of devotees. Even though they are technologically innovative, frequently more so than Microsnot, they also are more restrictive in what can use on their machines and how. Look at the battle between Apple and certain Adobe products. Look at how the app store for the i-Phone censors apps. For that matter, until the Feds recently stepped in, one could only use one carrier with i-Phones. The i-Pad doesn't have USB ports or a card slot. The cheapest Windows machine at least has a few USB ports and one can use a card reader in one of those ports for reading cards. The only way to communicate with the i-Pad is via 3G or WiFi, forcing one to have one, the other, or both. 3G coverage doesn't exist everywhere and, where it does, is costly. Not everyone has, or wants WiFi on their home machines. Instead of using a simple, inexpensive USB drive to make backups, i-Pad users would have to use some kind of cloud back up and/or have a WiFi connected server (which is not inexpensive). Windows at least gives people options, something Apple seems to dislike (take Apple's hardware monopoly, for example).

Apple's control-freakery can be frustrating, but it does tend to make for reliable products. Many people find them more accessible, finding Windows - for example - over complicated. On back-up, I think that iTunes will do that - you don't need a cloud service.

The biggest argument I hear for Apple products, especially the Macs, is they aren't subject to viruses because of design. Horsefeathers. They are every bit as subject to viruses, etc. as any Windows machine. There aren't as many viruses, etc., only because hackers are lazy; they already know Windows technology and want to expend their efforts where they can get the most "bang for their buck." There are far more Windows machines than there are Macs so Windows, for now, is the preferred target. The day will come when Mac owners will get a rude awakening.

I've never heard the claim that they're immune because of design. The AV/security industry does overstate threats in my view, to make money. You are probably right, however, that someone will write a virus to attack Macs at some point. I'm surprised that an AV vendor hasn't done it on the sly already.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

What amazes me is how Apple products have developed such a cult like following of devotees.

I don't get the cult part either. On either side. We are talking about an electronic gizmo, for Pete's sake, not about evil robots remote-controlled by Steve Jobs to give you a lobotomy during your sleep.