sondjata | # 401 | 2010-02-02, 02:38 | Report

re: TCPIP: To be honest I do not know. My interest is in the media delivery aspect which the majority of "ordinary consumers" are going to be using an iPad for. However I would think that if you want to target iPad users you can make an app for that (and bill your client accordingly).

As for animation: I agree that Flash had a very strong suite for vector animation. It's why I first got involved with it. I do know that CSS can do vector animation and at least under OS X with Core-Animation and Core Image, it can be done. What does that mean for the Windows side? No idea, I don't use Windows. Similarly I can't speak on Linux 'cause I don't use any distro either. I figure there are people here with more insight to that.

iball | # 402 | 2010-02-02, 05:21 | Report

Speed. Raw speed. For power users of remote access apps, WIndows Mobile doesn't cut it. Maemo devices don't cut it. Symbian, too many button clicks.
Click, swipe, tap, tap and I'm logging into my server/desktop/home Mac.
People keep posting about "why not get a netbook?"
I've got one. A Lenovo S10E w/2GB of RAM. Since we're an authorized IBM/Lenovo reseller, I got mine pretty cheap too. Even got a spare drive with Snow Leopard installed on it.
But to remote into something I have to pull it out of the bag, open it up, hit the power button, wait for Windows 7 Enterprise to "resume", then click the RDP/VNC/SSH icon I have pinned to the task tray, then wait for it to open, then type in the server name, then wait, then login to the remote server.
On the iPhone, it's click, swipe, tap, tap. Just that fast. There's little to no lag.
And to finally have that remote terminal in a 10" display?
Yes, please.
I love the DRM arguments...did you guys forget that Apple has dropped DRM on almost all of their audio downloads? Most of my MP3s I've been dragging around since 1999 and all of them are DRM-free. I've never bought much from the iTunes store, I usually get them DRM-free from Amazon. Or ripped from CDs.
As for video, I've NEVER bought a video from iTunes. I usually rip straight from DVD to iPod format using Handbrake or stream it with on-the-fly conversion from my 3-year-old Macbook Pro without a hiccough.
And yes, I've looked at other tablets. But having had a chance to play with the closest competitor - an Archos tablet running Android - it's still slower than an iPhone/iPad. Nokia's already burned me on the N800, not looking to pund nails though my head on that again.
Remember the Diablo VPN debacle? Yeah, I'm one of those who commented on the "bug" and now I don't care if it works at all since the iPhone - and future iPad - have pretty seamless VPN across varying firewall platforms, from Linksys to Cisco to Sonicwall to Foundry (tested across all 4 of those, it's just IPSEC VPN after all).
Couldn't get VPN working properly on my N800 even after 6 months of hacking around with it and pouring over forum after forum and varying forms of documentation.
As I've gotten older I've realized that I'm pretty tired of having to hack something to death just to get it to work properly. Most of you in here enjoy doing that, but not me. Not anymore.
I'm not planning on listening to music on my iPad, but it's nice it can do it. I'm planning on using it for printer/copier/router/firewall/server PDF use, e-book reading, remote terminal (#1 use), video streaming from my Mac, web browsing, light email duties (w/ Exchange & Gmail), and the occasional game, mostly RPGs.
Right now there are a few Korean/Chinese/Japanese RPG developers who are porting over their Java/Symbian development skills to the iPhone and they're getting better at it with each game release (Zenonia, Inotia 2, etc.).
Apple has their store shiite together,
Nokia's OVI looks and feels disjointed, sluggish, and not very stable.
I used to be a Nokia fan (N800, N95-1, even the damn tiny Nokia bluetooth headset!) but not anymore.
Where's the logmein client for Maemo? The Citrix Receiver for Maemo?
The few apps there are for Maemo devices feel really..well, not that polished. The browser itself on the N900 is damn good, but a single app does not a "multimedia computer" (Nokia's own words there) make.
The company who develops the managed services software we're using at work is creating an iPhone app, but even then I can still use the site with the built-in Safari browser. It's sluggish and not very usable on my N800 tablet running a clean install of the latest release of Diablo. But the Mozilla browser is somehow "better" than the iPhone Safari port?
Don't know about you guys over in EMEA, but here in the USA I can't find a single developer who knows what Maemo is, much less wants to develop for it.
Most developers like having money and they realize they can obtain more of that money in an easier way by taking the Apple iPhone app route than any other mobile device out at the moment.
Yes, it leads to a lot of crapps, but those usually wind up on the bottom of the lists pretty quickly.
I also don't know how much your time is worth, but mine is worth a lot.
I don't like waiting around for a page to load or an app to connect to a server or for Nokia developers to finally get something right only to be forced into upgrading to the latest N1-billion tablet hardware.
The iPhone - and soon to be bought iPad - does what I need it to do RIGHT NOW and REALLY REALLY FAST compared to other products.
Most of the folks complaining in here about how bad they think the iPhone were just like me a few years ago bashing Apple about it.
Then I said "screw it" and lived with one and have found it to indispensable for my needs.

gerbick | # 403 | 2010-02-02, 05:40 | Report

I don't ever quite remembering that Quicktime was never on Windows. Not sure where you pulled that one.

I remember Futuresplash Animator... still have the floppies for Flash 2.0 - no scripting available then either. I didn't jump on board, just kept my eyes on the technology, stayed with Director, or worse... Mtropolis.

This is definitely before the On2 FLV encoded Flash videos. Sorenson should have been picked, because it offered pretty good compression sans a lot of artifacts. However, what was weird was that Microsoft started making WMV's a whole lot better at the same time - but nobody really wanted to support that, QT or worse... Real. I hadn't installed Real since G2.

I was odd - QT was always a required install for me - Adobe After Effects demanded it. And later builds - Director 6 on down "required" it as well. Microsoft did their best to keep it off the install and force it to be a download - thus my 56k comments earlier.

That might be the case; however I remember my personal pain of downloading earlier Shockwave - pre-Shockwave3D days - via 56k and not liking it. It was worse for Quicktime... so I kept a downloaded copy on CD-R somewhere always.

Apple and Microsoft played the plugin game that Apple is playing with Adobe right now. That's for sure. But I'm still partial to say that Quicktime was not exactly the best solution for all things.

But this whole HTML5 debate; most any killer HTML5 sample I see that could possibly help me replace Flash for some UI enhancements are mostly made with jQuery.

That's not the same thing.

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Last edited by gerbick; 2010-02-02 at 05:44.

ossipena | # 404 | 2010-02-02, 06:03 | Report

I fixed that for you

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Last edited by ossipena; 2010-02-02 at 06:05.

raddg | # 405 | 2010-02-02, 06:17 | Report

the ipad in a nutshell... so easy even a caveman can do it.

im thinking of getting it for my 'ol mum, internet,pictures,big screen, just what seniors need. dissapointed no camera, point n click. seriously, how many of u guys end up as the family techtroubleshooting go to guy, im tired of the same old help calls. i'll be happy if they can figure it out, and i can get my asus eee i gave them back. hehe

Thor | # 406 | 2010-02-02, 22:32 | Report

Just a question - I've never done this before - is the iPad an always on device so you always carry it around in your hands or your pocket, don't need to hit the power button and wait for it to resume? If so, how long is the standby time and how many hours can you use it in constant use? And how long for full screen movies - that would be very useful on a flight or a train journey to work. Sadly we have mostly 1-2gb monthly limits on data in the UK They *say* it's unlimited in the advertising but then the terms and conditions say "fair usage of 1gb". One phone company only gives 200mb on their "unlimited" plan ...! You can pay an extra $30-40 a month to get a lot more data, but that is just too expensive

I've looked at the iphone the last few upgrades I've gotten and it's missing some things for me - I don't stick to any one brand, just go for whatever fills my needs after reading lots of reviews and looking at videos and trying them out. I'm wondering one thing which I never looked into before. Can you open lots of web pages concurrently? eg. I like having the BBC Sport index open in one window and perhaps the Guardian's football site in another and just open links in new windows to read the articles I want to look at.

Finally, are there lots of free software on the iPhone? Good quality stuff? Things like the VNC that you mention ? If I ever got one, I have no intention of paying for Apple's games or software, so free software would be very important to me. And I hate iTunes

zfarooq | # 407 | 2010-02-02, 22:40 | Report

microsoft couriers the way to go

iball | # 408 | 2010-02-03, 00:10 | Report

Yes, just like an Ipod Touch/iPhone.

El Jobso says 10 hours of constant video playback and a month of "standby", i.e. with the screen off and it not doing anything.

I know. It was just as bad if not worse when I was living in Germany.

When you click on a link on one website that opens another "window" or "tab" on a desktop PC, on the iPhone it opens up another browser window to the right of the one you're on and then jumps over to it. It's pretty seamless.

Yes, tons....
....and there's the rub. Tons of free stuff, very little of the free stuff is actually any good. But with the built-in iTunes reviews and Google it's very easy to find the good free stuff.

Nope. There's a free version of Jaadu VNC out for one to try to see if it works for them though it's kind of crippled. The full version you have to buy.

Here's the thing: Apple - the company itself - has only one or two apps actually in the iTunes app store. The rest are third-party developers. And the ones Apple does have in the iTunes store are free.

Then stay away from an iPhone/iPad.
iTunes doesn't really tie me down. I sync once a day to refresh my podcasts and update any apps, and it only takes a minute or two to do so. Of course, I'm on a Macbook Pro....I'm sure it takes longer or is more buggy on a Windows PC.

Laughing Man | # 409 | 2010-02-03, 00:22 | Report

You could just setup a script to do that for you. Press one icon and everything is done and connected (just like some iPhone apps do it). Same thing with any Windows/OSX/Linux RDP, VNC, whatever app.


So your comparing the N800 with its hardware to the iPhone and its hardware? And considering the browser on the N800 hasn't been updated in quite a while (heck I think even Fennec with its sluggishness is probably better than the default microB). If not there's Tear by Bundyo. I think even running Easy Debian and one of the browsers inside of it is probably better than the N800's microB.

Err there are developers on this forum that are in the USA that develop for the Maemo platform. Though Nokia doesn't seem to do very much in the USA so its not surprising that nobody knows anything about the Maemo platform or the devices in the States.

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Last edited by Laughing Man; 2010-02-03 at 00:24.

iball | # 410 | 2010-02-03, 01:44 | Report

Yes, but there's no need to hack a script to do something on an N900 that "just works" on my iPhone.

That's just it, I got tired of hacking my N800 to just get basic functionality the iPhone provides out of the box. I also got tired of waiting for Nokia to update things on their end, which of course they did....for the N900 instead.

Exactly. Nokia is a non-entity in the U.S. Yes, I've been to the Nokia store in Chicago. Bought a phone there years ago. People working in the store didn't know jack schitt about the products they were selling. Now, contrast that with an Apple store. They still don't know everything about all Apple products but they're more informed about what they sell than the Nokia store employees do.