Steve Jobs, the iPad, and cultural sugar water
in [Mac Applications]
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From: Jochem Huhmann on 5 Jul 2010 12:30 AES <siegman(a)stanford.edu> writes: > However, it is the case, is it not, that the _only_ way you can put any > audio content that you didn't buy from Apple onto an iGadget _and play > it_ from that iGadget, is to go thru iTunes (or maybe the Apple Store), > or else "jailbreak" your iPod? Is that not the case? No. Use dropbox, throw mp3s into it, play them from within the dropbox app. If you "star" them, they'll be saved locally, too. > Rather they created this mess in this way primarily so that these > devices would be able to enforce as much as possible all the DRM and > DRM-type limitations associated with the products of the commercial > entertainment industry (the "cultural sugar water"), and increasingly of > Apple itself. Partly, yes. They're out there to make money, you know. > They _could_ have built their iGadgets starting with the classic file > system, Finder, and apps model that is the foundation of their own > computers and essentially all other computers; and then built their > novice-user-friendly entertainment-oriented interface as a primary > option on top of that. That would have made the iGadgets equally (and > very) useful both for "real computer users" and for entertainment > consumers -- but it would have reduced the protection for many aspects > of DRM Come on, you don't want to have to dig around in the file system with a Finder like app on such an appliance. Yes, it would've been even easier to implement but they would've never even bothered with the whole idea then, believe me. They want to make it easy to use the thing *and* to buy things, preferably from Apple, no doubt. And don't think that "user-friendlyness" is something you can just drape over a basically user-unfriendly setup. You can put all the sugar you want over a file manager you have to use to dig around in 32 GB of operating system and apps and data files and folders without *that* ever becoming user friendly in something you want to be able to use one-handed standing in a subway train while chatting with your neighbour. The whole idea of the iThings, starting with the iPod, is to build something that does not require the user to focus much attention, concentration, knowledge or carefulness on it. Dealing with a file system is one of the first things that had to go and they're right with this. You're supposed to ever only deal with the payload and never with the structure and the innards of what makes the things actually work. In case you havent't noticed: In the iPod and the iPhone and the iPad you never have to deal with "files". You deal with songs or photos or movies or books. This is a feature. Jochem -- "A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
From: BreadWithSpam on 5 Jul 2010 12:33 nospam <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> writes: > itunes is just a conduit to get the content on the device. there are > alternate apps, although i don't know if there are any for the ipad > yet. there are for ipods. iTunes is simply the software through which content is loaded onto the iPad and iPod. The content itself does not have to come from apple. Anything in a variety of standard open formats will work. It's a shame that Apple won't allow a few more formats, but given their heavy use of hardware acceleration for things like video, it's not terribly surprising. It should be my choice, but I can transcode on my desktop machine and then load it. -- Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
From: nospam on 5 Jul 2010 12:34 In article <yobr5jhj3hy.fsf(a)panix3.panix.com>, <BreadWithSpam(a)fractious.net> wrote: > Amazon would likely never have gotten any traction at all had Apple > not already paved the way. very true.
From: BreadWithSpam on 5 Jul 2010 12:35 Wes Groleau <Groleau+news(a)FreeShell.org> writes: > On 07-05-2010 09:32, Jochem Huhmann wrote: > > Hmm, with iOS 4.0 you can now save books mailed to you as an attachment > > right to iBooks from within the Mail app. There's actually an API now You can "send" documents from any one app to any other app which lets the OS know that it knows how to handle that file type. > Can that feature also save videos? > Images? Documents for iWork? Yes (I think), yes and yes. > Applications? :-) No. The recipient of the document must be an application and no application other than the App Store app knows how to "receive" app files or install them. -- Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
From: Wes Groleau on 5 Jul 2010 14:22
On 07-05-2010 12:30, Jochem Huhmann wrote: > In case you havent't noticed: In the iPod and the iPhone and the iPad > you never have to deal with "files". You deal with songs or photos or > movies or books. This is a feature. Nor directories, instead albums and shelves and books and artists. But I want staples, pamphlets, folders, drawers, and cabinets!! :-) Heck, how about baskets, buckets, scoops, and shovels? :-) -- Wes Groleau Why some kids act strange http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1491 |