Ummm, you realize this con is in Connecticut in the United States?
Yes, why do you ask? (Admittedly, I might not quite make conneticon THIS year, but still, Offer is open - I'll be doing my best to make every convention I can next year, with special emphasis on PAXes.)
I'm very surprised no one has mentioned the Nexus One more as a recommendation (I didn't get to listen to the podcast yet, not sure if it was discussed there). I always got the impression it was just a faster, more updated version of the Droid. Is it just the lack of physical keyboard that turns people off?
Is it just the lack of physical keyboard that turns people off?
There's that, but also it's not on Verizon (at least not right away), so it's completely out. I'm probably getting a smartphone sometime this summer and it's looking like a Droid right now.
I'm very surprised no one has mentioned the Nexus One more as a recommendation (I didn't get to listen to the podcast yet, not sure if it was discussed there). I always got the impression it was just a faster, more updated version of the Droid. Is it just the lack of physical keyboard that turns people off?
I wasn't considering getting a Nexus One until after it came to Verizon anyway. A friend of mine brought over his Droid and ran a speed test against my iPhone. He got 1600kbps on Verizon and I only got 800 on AT&T. BAH!
That screen blurriness is a bit disconcerting though...
Yeah, I know. It is nice to know that it's not me sucking at on screen keyboards, it's the phone.
I think it's just another example of the kind of small details that Apple always gets right, and other people don't even think about. Why can't other people get this fucking shit done right, so I'm not torn between openness and having shit that works? I should kidnap a bunch of developers and industrial and UX designers, lock them in a room, and literally whip them until they get it right. That's basically how Apple does it, right?
Well the HTC offerings don't seem too far behind Apple's, but the Moto Droid is just crap. This really does explain my crippling inability to click the correct link when browsing the forum on my phone.
Well the HTC offerings don't seem too far behind Apple's
They not too far behind in this particular area, but they're still behind. And in terms of user experience as a whole, every other phone in the universe is absolute shit compared to the iPhone. The iPhone has problems, but they all relate to the fault of carriers, and its closed platform nature. In terms of UI and design, no other phone is fit to even lick the iPhone's boot.
Google, you have billions of dollars. Step up your fucking game.
Oh, you're just ranting on your overarching theme. Personally if android was faster (and I could god damn click things correctly) I'd have nearly no issues with the OS. It does everything I ask of it. Given this new screen information, I'll be thinking long and hard about laying down the cash for a HTC Incredible.
The Windows phones still intrigue me. I need to use one myself to say for sure if it's a valid direction for UI to go, but I have guarded optimism. Linux still can't really compete with Windows on the desktop for many users, and I'm starting to think that it will have the same basic issues on phones.
The whole debate is almost completely different if you treat phones as special devices or if you consider them to be nothing more than ulta-ultra-portable computers.
The whole debate is almost completely different if you treat phones as special devices or if you consider them to be nothing more than ulta-ultra-portable computers.
No it's not. There is no reason you can't have a beautiful and wonderful experience combined with freedom and openness. Imagine if you got some Apple designers together and put them on the Ubuntu team. There is nothing technological preventing it, therefore it is yet another abysmal failure to fulfill potential. Nintendo not making the ultimate Wii games is the same as Google giving Android a shit UI.
Whether the phone is a special device only for one task, or a computer for all tasks, it can be properly designed either way.
Smart people don't treat them differently in debate. I should have been more clear. The overarching debate as it is presenting out there in the wild separates the two. People just don't seem to fusiform the two together. Look at articles about phones versus computers: they discuss the same topic from two completely different perspectives.
I don't have too much trouble with the Droid's touch screen, but I also make extensive use of the pinch zoom.
I do view this as, essentially, an ultra-portable laptop. It's v irtually the same as a Shadowrun deck, when you get right down to it. The biggest obstacle to using it as such, I find, is the size limitation of the keyboard; in addition to necessitating a non-standard layout (which slows down your typing speed), you have to type slower to maintain precision.
Once you "calibrate" your fingers, though, it's not so bad. A flexible roll-out keyboard would be optimal. This post took roughly 3 times longer than normal to type, which isn 't too unreasonable. Still got a ways to go, though.
Given this new screen information, I'll be thinking long and hard about laying down the cash for a HTC Incredible.
Fortunately, the HTC Incredible is reported to have addressed and remedied this problem, but yes, you can bet I'll be installing the Touch Screen Tester app on the store model and looking for near-axis influence.
The Windows phones still intrigue me. I need to use one myself to say for sure if it's a valid direction for UI to go, but I have guarded optimism.
Let me just take a second to echo this sentiment. The development tools are free and top-notch, too!
I don't have too much trouble with the Droid's touch screen, but I also make extensive use of the pinch zoom.
Well you got a droid when you have pinch to zoom handed to you on a platter. Back in my day, the only zoom we had was getting the phone real close to our face, and we liked it!
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(Admittedly, I might not quite make conneticon THIS year, but still, Offer is open - I'll be doing my best to make every convention I can next year, with special emphasis on PAXes.)
That screen blurriness is a bit disconcerting though...
Does anyone know of a really good stylus for a capacitive touch screen.
Capacative touch screens are not made for styluses, and even if you get one, it won't really help.
Google, you have billions of dollars. Step up your fucking game.
The whole debate is almost completely different if you treat phones as special devices or if you consider them to be nothing more than ulta-ultra-portable computers.
Whether the phone is a special device only for one task, or a computer for all tasks, it can be properly designed either way.
I do view this as, essentially, an ultra-portable laptop. It's v irtually the same as a Shadowrun deck, when you get right down to it. The biggest obstacle to using it as such, I find, is the size limitation of the keyboard; in addition to necessitating a non-standard layout (which slows down your typing speed), you have to type slower to maintain precision.
Once you "calibrate" your fingers, though, it's not so bad. A flexible roll-out keyboard would be optimal. This post took roughly 3 times longer than normal to type, which isn 't too unreasonable. Still got a ways to go, though.