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Needs Function Keys, Yes?
- Thread starter Ted Witcher
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I get what you are trying to say, and i agree, but I think the pros of the iphone still outweight the cons
I wish there was a way to directly go the the phone keypad (after all it is a phone!!). I hate it when you hand the phone to someone, you have to hit home, swipe your finger, go to the phone mode and then hit the keypad so someone can make a call. It should be simpler than that.
Now imagine trying that while in an emergency situation.
Now imagine trying that while in an emergency situation.
I don't have that issue. I have phone in the dock, so I hit home, hit phone, and I'm there. Sounds like you need to rearrange your dock.
Thats how mine is setup, but its still like 3 steps too many. Your way assumes you are in keypad mode in the phone mode and that your phone is not in standby mode. One key would be easier (or even if Apple made the home button double click to keypad).
It's also always fun to see the narrow-minded who refuse to see room for improvement. These are the same people who tote that any of the iPhone's shortcomings can be made up for by third party apps or future software updates - such as copy/paste, MMS, video, etc. Yet here we are, a year and a half later without such.
I agree with the OP; the iPhone could benefit a great deal from two additional hardware buttons. Yeah, a single home button is sleek. The single most important rule for design, however, is form follows function. Not only would user customizable buttons be great, but it is essential for some features such as voice dial activation, cut/paste, and possibly the camera shutter (try taking a self portrait with the iPhone, you'll understand what I am talking about). Sure, there are voice dial apps, but research them and you will find they don't work very well, and reviewers who have used them conclude that having to run the app via the homescreen essentially negates the point of voice dialing in the first place.
I have heard a ton of stupid touch-screen solutions to copy and paste where all types of strategies are employed to bring up a cut/copy/paste/cancel dialog - none of which sound very user friendly. You'll know what I mean if you have ever needed to scroll the page with the magnifier - just terrible. It would be so much simpler with the use of a button.
I hope people can consider how external buttons could be useful. I can of course understand why 3G users too cheap to buy a new model without a subsidy will continue to cry since they are not likely to enjoy the benefits for two years.
Foolish assumption. I am one of the millions that has snatched up an iPhone, yet I don't agree with you. Just because I find the iPhone highly usable doesn't mean I refuse to see how it can be improved.
And theres the problem. We have different views of improved. We dont see extra buttons as improved, that doesnt mean we refuse improvement, it just means our definition of it is different.
Who was the guy talking about narrow mindedness before? Not agreeing with your statement of what YOU personally see as improvement does not make one narrow minded. The refusal to see that your views are different is what is truly narrow minded.
You have a lot of explaining to do. Your first statement implies that having a single home button is innovative AND improved. I give you that is may be innovative, but how exactly is it improved? There may be nothing wrong with current tech - I personally don't find it a coincidence that every other company producing primarily touch screen phones are including multiple physical buttons. They have been in the business a long time, much longer than Apple, and they generally know what works. Just because something is "current" tech doesn't mean it's inferior to new ideas - we've been using the circular wheel for a long time now.
Again, you assume a single button is progression. Exactly how is progression? I said narrow minded because of the refusal to see just how much functionality is limited by one single physical button. Instead you would rather believe that because it only has one home button, it is innovative and therefore must be "better" than what we already have.
Just explain the ways in which a single button is superior in functionality to multiple buttons and then you will at least have a position.
Excellent. The home button is a hard key, meaning it has one function. One click = close application and return to home screen. So in the end you agree with me that the single home key isn't a progression at all. Of course I have implied all along that the two additional buttons would be soft keys.
It was from my understanding this whole time you wanted more physical buttons....
If it were up to me i wouldnt have ANY physical buttons, it just so happens that apple made that single button integrated into the UI so well that i love it. I personally wouldnt enjoy any more physical buttons, especially now that they decided to throw volume buttons onto the touch. To each his own however.
Ok, it's clear you have no idea what you are talking about. It sounds like you think "soft buttons" are the app icons, which is incorrect, and that the iPhone would be most functional with only touch screen controls. Interesting idea, and yet you still have explain as to what makes that more functional than physical buttons.
why stop at one or two more, why not 3 or 4, why not 5? wait, let's just put buttons all around the phone and if you press two buttons at the same time, it becomes another button!
it's obvious Apple did not see use in those soft buttons. therefore, improvement is hardly the word I would use. this is obviously a matter of preference, expect most here to disagree.
it's obvious Apple did not see use in those soft buttons. therefore, improvement is hardly the word I would use. this is obviously a matter of preference, expect most here to disagree.
ok buddy, i meant soft button as in an onscreen (software) button. icons arent the only type of those on the device. look at the artist/back/settings/any other clickable button on the screen. What ive been stating is MY interpretation of what i would prefer, not what i declare as more functional. Its not even the damn physical buttons that make something more functional, its how it ties into the UI. It all comes down to how the software is written, not what physical buttons there are.
edit: im srry if i got the soft button terminology wrong, but if you look past the vocabulary my statements are clear to understand.
what is the actual name of an on screen button (not JUST icons.)
Finally, we get to the bottom. You oppose more hardware buttons because you prefer form over function. I advocate two additional hardware buttons because I prefer function over form.