arstechnica.com — Bruce Tognazzini has a lot of great things to say about the iPhone, as well as a lot of critiques. Tog goes in and picks some nits with various usability elements of the iPhone as a phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator. Here's my summary of Tog's opinions on the iPhone for you...
Jan 19, 2007 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountJan 20, 2007
Agreed. People expect apple to release the ichucknorris because apparently they're not allowed to release mediocre products. Regardless, the iphone is still one hell of a nice product.
ispcasterJan 20, 2007
They stated, "So now that we've established exactly who Tog is and why you should care about what he says, let's get onto... well, what he says."No not really. There is a reason why he is gone. Thats all I need to say about that.Next.
loplaJan 20, 2007
Tog? Firstly this is MS fanboy propaganda and by some guy named Tog? Tog needs to shut the f-up and go make love to his Zune.
noreturnJan 20, 2007
Sorry, Aggaman, but I don't think you know what you are talking about. Look at how many people today own phones that cost more than 100 bucks. How about those that cost more than 200, 300? The iPhone is not going to change that. Sure, it'll make an impact on certain markets, but most people that have phones just want phones. And most people that need expensive internet/email/PDA phones want "serious" features like a tactile keyboard.
theophanyJan 20, 2007
You can't plug in your phone to your computer?Ouch.
tracydangerJan 21, 2007
It dawned on me whilst reading this article. I've yet to get a laptop. It's hard to justify it personally because most of what I need a computer for, I can do at home. I have a palm pilot that I can take places for other issues (though I don't much because I don't want to carry that AND a phone). The iPhone may just have enough capability to suit me as usable enough not to need a laptop. If that's the case, then it justifies the price more so than thinking of it as just a phone. If it replaces a phone, an ipod and a laptop, but like Tog said, it needs some more features than we've seen to do that. If I can use a fold up bluetooth keyboard, use it for Keynote/PPT presentations and use/create office compatible files I think I'd be set.
njacksonJan 24, 2007
Tog is right on his comments of usability on mobile Internet access. The term usability is far from just simply picking something up and operating it. The state of mobile Internet access right now is a mess. Even when you pay for service, connections are slow and the service is shoddy and difficult. While is somewhat disagree with the intensity of his dislike of the dock bar, he has good reasons. He doesn't compare it to current technology, only how usable is it is to how usable it should be. Apple did forgo some usability for something more elegant, which IMO may not have been a bad thing. Keyboards, a method for providing alphanumeric input to a device. It affords you using your fingers and thumbs to hit the buttons. The usability issue of touchscreens as keyboards is that it provides substantially reduced tactile feedback to your fingers and thumbs. In fact, it provides almost none, while a normal keyboard has that comforting click and depression of the button to let your fingers know you actually did something. By removing that constraint, you have changed the usability of the object, possibly in a negative way. You have to find a way to supplement the lack of tactile feedback, of which apple has decided to go with a vivid, high-resolution screen to provide visual feedback. Until I actually use the device I cannot say whether this is a strong enough feedback to make up for the loss of buttons.