Apple Takes on Droid X With Latest Smartphone Antenna Video

[Journojulz]

I can see very few reasons not to call an iPhone a computer just because it can't run Photoshop or iMovie.

Indeed. Although at a pinch PS mobile and iMovie do most of the things you might want to do on the hoof and not have to wait till you get back to the office.

The palmtop/smartphone has been getting smarter these past 3 years.

I loved my Palm Tungsten for what it might do.
But i cursed it for what was actually like trying to make it do it.

Sure - Logic and Final cut are beyond the iP4 - but what it can do is pretty awesome.

Amplitube for example is not quite Mainstage - but its light years ahead of what i hoped i was going to get the last time i gave Palm £200

----

And here is holiday snap that shows the difference between Cray and Apple design philosophy.
The more work you put into designing something - the less work the customer needs to get what they want out of it.

 

[CFreymarc]

Ironically, if Android is destined to follow the fate of OS/2, its days are indeed numbered.

One of the best historic analogies I can think of but OS/2 had a lot more elegant software under the hood.

At times, I think that Android is a second evolution of Windows Mobile where the OS is given to hardware vendors and not all the APIs are implemented due to lack of hardware in specific models.

 

[bcbrown2]

Agreed... let's move on.

I agree that we should move on.

However, the tech blogs and internet whiners (most of which most likely do NOT own an iPhone of any flavor) pushed Apple's hand. This is an uncharacteristic dip by Apple into the realm of Internet comments and, sadly, a necessary one. The media and the tech communities are all-too-ready to jump down Apple's throat and Apple is almost obliged to respond in kind.

It started with the "stolen" iPhone... once it was dissected by Gizmodo and turned loose on the Internet through the auspices of the tech blogosphere (what a stupid word) it was instantly and simultaneously cast as a target of unbridled lust and outright contempt.

Apple couldn't have possibly answered the perceived deficiencies touted by its competitors and done it with a next-gen industrial design that makes even the fanciest HTC or Moto device look like it was molded out of Fisher Price stock... but they did. When a legitimate issue which only affected a very small number of the over 3 million units sold in less than 30 days came up, the fangs came out. Problem is, Apple Inc. is unwilling to offer up their neck and seem content to tell all the haters they can suck it.

What is Apple trying to show? The iPhone 4 has the same bad signal issues other phones have? This is not a typical Apple move -- they usually showcase the positives of their own products.

Don't get me wrong; I love my iPhone 4. I just want Apple to move on and keep highlighting the positives.

-Aaron-

 

[LagunaSol]

I agree that we should move on.

But what else do the haters have to cling to? "No swappable battery" and "regulated App Store" seem to have lost their mojo...

 

[dave1812dave]

But what else do the haters have to cling to? "No swappable battery" and "regulated App Store" seem to have lost their mojo...

How about "lack of Flash"? works for me.

 

[Journojulz]

Lack of flash works for me too.

Only missed it twice - and there was an app for one and the facebook website (and not the app) cured the other.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

The HTC Hero got Android 2.1.

And guess what? I love pink fluffy slippers with glitter sprinkled over them to refract the light!

The relevance it has to the conversation? nothing - just like you pointing out that Android 2.1 has been released for it - it has no relevance to the conversation. The issue is Android 2.2 and unless you have Android 2.2 you're going to miss out on a whole host of features such as Flash for starters.

Care to elaborate, Im having trouble understanding what you're actually saying. Are you talking to fellow kiwis or people in America?

I have an ordinary Telecom R6 Phone - I haven't been suckered into all this hype over 'smart phones' and as a result I actually have a phone that is useful regardless of the conditions, how I hold it etc. The point is I laugh at people who purchase an expensive phone for nothing other than the status symbol of owning an 'i-device'.

 

[twoodcc]

i guess it's good that apple is going about this in a mild mannered way

 

[MorphingDragon]

Lame. Why not just define anything as a computer. Pretty much everything has an input, a process and an output.

A computer is a broad term. A quilters loom is a type of computer. Does that have a keyboard, mouse and a screen? You input wool, arrange the knitting sequence and it brings out patterns.

Linguistic subjectivity? What? The descriptive process is a standard, but funny how they always seem to be only more detailed versions of the words they came from. Most of our words come from Latin and Greek, which have pre-defined meanings.

Computer, is derived from the word compute, and compute comes from the Latin word Computare. Computare means, "to calculate". - Collins Dictionary.

Layman terms suck. Seriously, if all we did was have laymans terms our ability to accurately communicate would diminish significantly. Every can understand, "A computer is a thing which does mathematics". If you want a layman term for computer, use that.

---

Paradigm doesn't need a clause. A paradigm is a paradigm. Touchscreen and Physical Input Devices are separate paradigms. Object Orientated and Procedural Programming and separate paradigms. Nobody is replacing or using terms that need clauses.

My microwave is a computer , My cellphone is a computer, my Casio calculator is a computer. My clock and watch is a computer, my remote control is a computer, my PS3 is a computer, my screen is controlled by a computer.

Little history lesson, the first "PCs" or what could be considered the father of them ran on a calculator's processor by texas instruments.

I have an ordinary Telecom R6 Phone - I haven't been suckered into all this hype over 'smart phones' and as a result I actually have a phone that is useful regardless of the conditions, how I hold it etc. The point is I laugh at people who purchase an expensive phone for nothing other than the status symbol of owning an 'i-device'.

The usefulness of a smartphone is subjective to the person. We have iPhones at work because its cheaper than paying blackberry for their software licenses for the server software.

 

[Veri]

Linguistic subjectivity? What? Most of our words come from Latin and Greek, which have pre-defined meanings. Computer, is derived from the word compute, and compute comes from the Latin word Computare. Computare means, "to calculate". - Collins Dictionary.

You're confusing etymology with meaning. How do you think English came about? Not from people changing the spelling of words in other languages then writing dictionaries (yes, yes, that was a dig at American English). Rather the language evolved organically from other languages and within itself.

Dictionaries exist to approximate the current meaning of words for people who otherwise aren't sure how English people use a word and want a vague idea. Dictionaries are descriptive. They're not a substitute for experiencing English amongst good English speakers, which is the only way to properly learn English. If you're French then I can understand the confusion as France tends to prefer the prescriptive approach. But French isn't English.

If you don't like this, you pretty much need to argue with every mainstream linguist and with the writers of almost every well-known English dictionary. English has done rather well growing this way, however, so you're going to have to put up quite an argument.

Layman terms suck. Seriously, if all we did was have laymans terms our ability to accurately communicate would diminish significantly.

This is why professions have precise definitions which supercede layman definitions in appropriate context. Know your audience, and know your audience's language.

Every can understand, "A computer is a thing which does mathematics".

You think "mathematics" is easy to define? Here's a definition I like to offer: "mathematics is the formal study of patterns". Will everyone agree with me? Consider...

If you want a layman term for computer, use that.

I don't think it's appropriate. To play your etymology game, the pre-mechanisation definition of "computer" referred to someone who computed, i.e. manipulated numbers to obtain a numerical result. This is at best one specific area of mathematics, but possibly not mathematics at all (see my above definition).

 

[MorphingDragon]

You're confusing etymology with meaning. How do you think English came about? Not from people changing the spelling of words in other languages then writing dictionaries (yes, yes, that was a dig at American English). Rather the language evolved organically from other languages and within itself.

Etymology and Word Meaning are related are important, and serve to give the word greater meaning. I don't deny that languages do change, but the core meaning doesn't change from its origin. There are some odd words that "condense" like Love and Virus.

Dictionaries exist to approximate the current meaning of words for people who otherwise aren't sure how English people use a word and want a vague idea. Dictionaries are descriptive. They're not a substitute for experiencing English amongst good English speakers, which is the only way to properly learn English. If you're French then I can understand the confusion as France tends to prefer the prescriptive approach. But French isn't English.

I think its funny that a dictionary disagrees with you on this too.

This is why professions have precise definitions which supercede layman definitions in appropriate context. Know your audience, and know your audience's language.

And why shouldn't everyday people have set definitions? There's even set definitions for Cultural Slang. It doesn't have to be in scientific language, but it should still retain the same meaning, and your laymans term of "A thing with a screen, keyboard and mouse" varies from the meaning significantly.

You think "mathematics" is easy to define? Here's a definition I like to offer: "mathematics is the formal study of patterns". Will everyone agree with me? Consider...

Mathematics is an abstract science involving the study of Numbers, Quantities and Space. There is an area of Computer Science called Machine Learning, which involves computers doing mathematics other than number and linear algebra.

I don't think it's appropriate. To play your etymology game, the pre-mechanisation definition of "computer" referred to someone who computed, i.e. manipulated numbers to obtain a numerical result. This is at best one specific area of mathematics, but possibly not mathematics at all (see my above definition).

No, the literal and contextual translation IS "to compute". There is no reference to what. Even then, a digital computer still performs mathematics, it might be only be number, and linear algebra, but it is still mathematics. A computer still performs mathematics.

BTW, a Dictionary thinks that definition is appropriate. (Ooh, we've got ourselves a logical dilemma )

Computare: far di conto; comprendere in un calcolo = to calculate, to include
dal lat. COMPUTARE = calcolare, contare, valutare
comp. di CUM (con=with) e PUTARE (calcolare, fare i conti=to calculate e anche nettare, potare=to clean, to cut)
a) Calcolare, fare il conto di qualche cosa (to reckon, to calculate, to work out, to calculate)
b) Comprendere in un calcolo, tener conto di qualche cosa (to include, to take into account)

 

[DMann]

A fine reductio. And this is why trying to impose domain-specific definitions on the layperson is a hindrance to effective communication.

Yet, you're willing to 'impose domain-specific definitions' by ruling out an iPad, while including a netbook, both which have comparably sized screens.

The addition of an iPhone keyboard allows the iPhone to get closer to being a "computer" in the layperson's sense. The touchscreen is way too small to be a general purpose input device.

Not for many real estate brokers, investment traders, and journalists I know.

Yet many people are able to enter data on them for hours a day every day. No-one works for 8 hours a day every day on an iPhone. Different people prefer different shapes of keyboard, but the presence of a keyboard remains. A 1.75" finger-touch screen is not a keyboard. Health&safety would beat down an employer who tried to make its employees think otherwise, and for good reason.

Interface a BT keyboard of any size, and you've got a better keyboard than most laptops can offer - are laptops with smaller keyboards and screens, then, de-relegated from computer status?

I can see very few reasons not to call an iPhone a computer just because it can't run Photoshop or iMovie.

Agreed.

Furthermore, the iPhone 4 even runs iMovie.

If an iPhone is capable of 'out-computering' modern day computers, in several regards, then arguing semantics about prerequisites, virtually all of which are easily met here, seems rather pointless.

 

[jbernie]

With the rush to judgement the press made before the press conference, don’t you think the press would have rushed to report a story about all the people returning their iPhone 4’s? If you think people have been returning their phones in droves and the media/press didn’t realize this, then I don’t know what to think. This is all that matters, not what Steve said at a press conference that was for damage control.

Well it is a lot more buzz generating to report people camped out the front of Apple stores days before the release date, then huge crowds the day off release including lots of people so desperate they took the day off work, because lets be honest here, we all need to be on the local news reports or wait...maybe even CNN showing off our latest amazing magical electronic device known as a cell phone, smart phone or mobile phone depending on your view and these radical new devices have only been around for 25 years or so.

Now, when it comes to returning your defective amazing product, the store is open for probably 10 hours or so a day, isn't that one in NYC open 24 hours a day? ,and you are amazingly enough allowed to walk in to the store anytime during the hours that is open to return your now defective not so amazing new fangled doobie whacker device and receive a refund or replacement of said product, and you don't even need to camp out overnight or take the day off of work, you can even..OMG do it on the weekend when you have the whole day free, it is a miracle how Apple offers this very special service to it's customers.

Now, if Apple said you could only return your phones between 10 & 1030am on Wednesdays, then you could probably have a better chance of finding lines, but given they say you have 30 days, people aren't going to queue like they will to get the thing in the first place.

The media is also very fickle... always looking for the next big story, put a celebrity in jail and they are salivating over potential ratings or newspaper/magazine sales.

 

[Avalontor]

If you want to continue to say computers are limited only to PC then you are clearly not intelligent enough to stay on these boards and can not own a cell phone. I would suggest that you take your phone and throw it in the trash because you are complete clueless. I suggest you never use the internet again as well because you risk death of your head exploding with basic information.

please stop with the insults now. learn respect or go somewhere else.

 

[-aggie-]

lots of sarcasm. Snip.... the store is open for probably 10 hours or so a day, isn't that one in NYC open 24 hours a day? ,and you are amazingly enough allowed to walk in to the store anytime during the hours that is open to return your now defective not so amazing new fangled doobie whacker device and receive a refund or replacement of said product, and you don't even need to camp out overnight or take the day off of work, you can even..OMG do it on the weekend when you have the whole day free, it is a miracle how Apple offers this very special service to it's customers.

Now, if Apple said you could only return your phones between 10 & 1030am on Wednesdays, then you could probably have a better chance of finding lines, but given they say you have 30 days, people aren't going to queue like they will to get the thing in .....snip.

The point peope have been making is that everyone has been waiting to find out what Apple was going to do. Since then there's no way that massive returns wouldn't be noticed. Keep your sarcasm to yourself. However, you're probably like a number of posters here that don't even own an iPhone 4.

 

[DMann]

Not a Google ad. You mean Motorola?

I firmly believe Google to be behind ads such as DROID DOES, etc.

Motorola is the messenger here.

 

[Veri]

I think its funny that a dictionary disagrees with you on this too.

Dictionaries disagree with me on how I have stated dictionaries are compiled? Or they disagree with me on the specific definition of "computer"?

And why shouldn't everyday people have set definitions?

I'm not telling you what should and should not be; I'm telling you what is. English is not a prescriptively defined language. Linguists, including dictionary compilers, do not regard English as prescriptive. A dictionary aims to reflect common usage, but the only correct way to find out the correct definition of an English word is to find out how English speakers use it.

It doesn't have to be in scientific language, but it should still retain the same meaning, and your laymans term of "A thing with a screen, keyboard and mouse" varies from the meaning significantly.

Highlight where I've used that definition, please. Try not to ignore the posts where I've made it explicit that a keyboard is not necessary.

Mathematics is an abstract science involving the study of Numbers, Quantities and Space.

I think that's an incomplete definition. Mathematics is primarily about relationships (i.e. "patterns", in my original brief definition) - many dictionaries correctly highlight this. Nevertheless, your definition appropriately excludes straight computation (e.g. following a sequence of instructions to add a few numbers together) as a branch of mathematics. For one branch of mathematics is the study of numbers, but not the computation of numbers.

If you are at college, I recommend you take some classes on the philosophy or history of mathematics to understand how the debate has proceeded over the centuries as to what mathematics is. Start, if you wish, with Plato's contrast of arithmetician and philosopher in the discussion between Socrates and Protarchus in Philebus. When you're ready for full blast, read his opinions on the nature of mathematics appropriate for a philosopher-ruler in Republic - start with the bit where Socrates asks Glaucon what men should study.

BTW, a Dictionary thinks that definition is appropriate. (Ooh, we've got ourselves a logical dilemma )

No, we haven't. A dictionary is a fallback. The correct way to learn English is to be among English speakers. An English dictionary cannot be used to "prove" a definition.

Moreover, browsing half a dozen dictionary definitions I might conclude that an iPhone contains a computer (in the sense of an electronic device which computes), but not that it is a computer - because the general computation facility is encapsulated in something else. For example, that web favourite Random House (which already horribly conflates "processor" and "computer"): "Also called processor. an electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations. Compare analog computer, digital computer." iPhone clearly includes components which are "designed for this" but it is not as a whole unit "designed for this".

But, again, your only authoritative reference is English speakers.

Yet, you're willing to 'impose domain-specific definitions' by ruling out an iPad, while including a netbook, both which have comparably sized screens.

Chip/shoulder? I have so far mentioned neither an iPad nor a netbook. An iPad is much closer to a layman's idea of a computer than an iPhone is. A netbook, having an even better input device and more freely "accept[ing] data, perform[ing] prescibed mathematical and logical operations..." is certainly a computer.

Not for many real estate brokers, investment traders, and journalists I know.

"No but yes". You're listing three jobs which involve activities for which an iPhone's touch screen is sometimes sufficient. This doesn't mean that it's a suitable general purpose replacement for a keyboard.

Interface a BT keyboard of any size, and you've got a better keyboard than most laptops can offer - are laptops with smaller keyboards and screens, then, de-relegated from computer status?

You've got something closer to a layperson's "computer", but you still have an inadequate screen and limited control. Meanwhile, a cramped keyboard is still a general purpose input device in the way a 3.5" thumb touch screen is not.

Apple are trying hard and, it appears, succeeding in trying to get the public to accept something less than a traditional layperson's computer as an alternative to a computer.

 

[bobob]

Apple are trying hard and, it appears, succeeding in trying to get the public to accept something less than a traditional layperson's computer as an alternative to a computer.

OMG - - this could the beginning of the end for the "traditional layperson's computer"!!!

 

[Veri]

OMG - - this could the beginning of the end for the "traditional layperson's computer"!!!

You're three years late to the party. Apple dropped "Computer" from its name on 9 January 2007.

Jobs, at least, understands what the public think of when they hear "computer". And it ain't iPhones.

 

[jamesnajera]

I think Apple is only doing this to try and build a case for legal protection from a class action law suit. This would also explain why they are being more open about the "black" test rooms and labs. They (Apple) want to show that they tested the device adequately, the problem is common with all phones and minor (although minor is variably defined), and that they had no prior knowledge of the issue. I do not like that Apple is doing this, especially when they and everyone else know the algorithms for calculating "bars" are not standardized. Apple should do these videos with dbm displayed, only then these videos may mean something.

I find it interesting that they hold a press conference, and say nothing is wrong with the phone, but offer free bumpers, tell you that it has worse reception then the iPhone 3GS, and then a couple days later announce a new head of quality control.

Devils Advocate, iPhone4's are still sold out with a 3 week wait list in my area. Apple has not fixed the problem, the wait list is just 3 weeks long.

 

[flynsafe]

Apple products stink to put it nicely

I hate to say that because I really wanted to believe that they were better. Being a long time Windows user, I always thought that Apple products were better, but couldn't afford them.

I got my first iPhone 3g two years ago, and that really impressed me, further adding to my belief that Apple products were superior. Now, that I can afford them, I got an iPad, and upgraded to iPhone 4, and my experience has continued to go down from there. Limitations every time you turn, backed by excuses. My recent experience with Apple support didn’t help as well.

They Genius squad or whatever they call themselves (LOL) act as if you are a 8 year old and never seen a computer before. Not to fault them, I now believe that is who they are used to dealing with, and to those people they do indeed seem like a genius. This prompted me to researched Apple products more, and what I've learned was the ones that LOVE Apple and defend their endless excuses and limitations are people who are very limited when it comes to computers. They only do very specific tasks like check email, write a letter or article, or they are brand new to computers and fear them. Not to say they are not smart people, but when it comes to computers they are rocks and tend to need handholding. I say that because I know a lot of smart people that use Macs, but don’t ask them to set up an email account. They wouldn’t know where to start. They just know how to type an email, look at a picture, and can barely search the web. I also know technical people like graphic designers, but that’s extent of what they do on computers.

It's like someone that has never traveled outside their home town and believe their way of life is the only way. They just don’t know better.

I can understand why Steve Jobs is so defensive now. Apple product are just another pc except more limited in function. The do however comes with an abundance of excuses.

 

[cmaier]

This prompted me to researched Apple products more, and what I've learned was the ones that LOVE Apple and defend their endless excuses and limitations are people who are very limited when it comes to computers. They only do very specific tasks like check email, write a letter or article, or they are brand new to computers and fear them. Not to say they are not smart people, but when it comes to computers they are rocks and tend to need handholding. I say that because I know a lot of smart people that use Macs, but don’t ask them to set up an email account.

This could be the dumbest thing I've read all week. Tons of engineers and scientists love and use macs, because unlike crippled Windows they can drop to tcsh or bash and do whatever they want; it's a beautiful GUI when they need it, and UNIX when they need that. My friends and I designed microprocessors, including probably the ones in your windows machines, and certainly know how to set up an email account (personally I even use my own mail server).

That's some really exquisite researching you did there.

 

[zYxMa]

This could be the dumbest thing I've read all week. Tons of engineers and scientists love and use macs, because unlike crippled Windows they can drop to tcsh or bash and do whatever they want; it's a beautiful GUI when they need it, and UNIX when they need that. My friends and I designed microprocessors, including probably the ones in your windows machines, and certainly know how to set up an email account (personally I even use my own mail server).

That's some really exquisite researching you did there.

What he is trying to say is that some people (read average user, so most people) are just using email or whatever on their iphones; and what apple is showing is for those people exactly. Because they know that there is very little people with more knowledge, they know that we, the "smart" people won't do much about it. They don't give a ****. They got their money from 3mil ip4s sold. I hate this world, but hey, this is how this world works...

Unfortunately, everybody "swallowed" the free bumper program and the antennagate got quiet.

Ohh, all those videos from apple, covering phone with their hands is just PATHETIC!

 

[firewood]

Depends on the application, of course. I'm fairly sure you're not going to reach Cray 1's peak 250 MFLOPS.

Not double-precision of course. Double precision, I only get 60 or so MFLOPS sustained on my iPad, on non-vectorized code. (Try that on a Cray-1!) But you are aware that in single precision the A4 chip NEON unit is capable of a vectorized 1 to 8 GFLOPS peak. So if you want to compare peak numbers...

 

[Veri]

Not double-precision of course. Double precision, I only get 60 or so MFLOPS sustained on my iPad, on non-vectorized code. (Try that on a Cray-1!)

A Cray 1 ran at 80MHz, which some people quote directly as 80-160 MFLOPS, noting that the Cray-1 would effectively parallelise up to 2 instructions. This simplistic conversion continues today in marketing material, of course.

But real-world performance of up to 10 MFLOPS on scalar operations is suggested by Fong and Jordan's Some linear algebra algorithms and their performance on the Cray 1. I can't find this immediately on the open web but it's cited in this article. When you consider that a memory access took 4 clock cycles, this seems reasonable. The 1S halved memory access time.

Anyone else reading may wish to enjoy the Cray 1 hardware reference manual at this point. When it says that there is no hardware for performing double precision operations, note per 3-19 that native floats are already 64-bit.

But you are aware that in single precision the A4 chip NEON unit is capable of a vectorized 1 to 8 GFLOPS peak. So if you want to compare peak numbers...

OK, my fault, I started it.