Comments on: “Not sensible, but, oh, the joy of it!” http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/ Blessays, blogs and blisquisitions Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:18:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: ennairea http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-15619 ennairea Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:25:37 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-15619 Despite your niggaling issues I still want one rather badly. *sigh* gonna have to wait till i get a new job though. This may not solve your text entry issues but with your love of gadgets I thought you might want to hear about it (if you don't have one already). Its a laser keyboard, bluetooth device so you can hook up to your smartphones, and I assume other bluetooth ready devices. the one I found is not REALLY mac friendly but there might be one out there that is, if not it's a cool looking bit of kit anyway! http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/dads/8193/ Despite your niggaling issues I still want one rather badly. *sigh* gonna have to wait till i get a new job though.

This may not solve your text entry issues but with your love of gadgets I thought you might want to hear about it (if you don’t have one already). Its a laser keyboard, bluetooth device so you can hook up to your smartphones, and I assume other bluetooth ready devices. the one I found is not REALLY mac friendly but there might be one out there that is, if not it’s a cool looking bit of kit anyway!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/dads/8193/

]]> By: oh, the joy of the iPhone… — MacCognoscenti: people who know mac http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-15591 oh, the joy of the iPhone… — MacCognoscenti: people who know mac Tue, 12 May 2009 04:41:28 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-15591 [...] so true. Ask anybody who has one. Or get one. Or just read this article by Stephen Fry: http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24 yours truly,  justin bradshaw PS: in addition to being an email BCCd to 62 people I know who [...] [...] so true. Ask anybody who has one. Or get one. Or just read this article by Stephen Fry: http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24 yours truly,  justin bradshaw PS: in addition to being an email BCCd to 62 people I know who [...]

]]> By: gps mapping equipment http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-3903 gps mapping equipment Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:03:32 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-3903 <strong>gps mapping equipment...</strong> If you are in the market for a navigation system, you cannot go wrong with the portable gps ratings and reviews system.... gps mapping equipment…

If you are in the market for a navigation system, you cannot go wrong with the portable gps ratings and reviews system….

]]> By: oboogie http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-2531 oboogie Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:58:40 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-2531 OK, so not quite two months since my last post, and I took the plunge. I love the damn thing. I'd marry if I could. Love.it. I think your post was the deciding factor. Thank you, Stephen! OK, so not quite two months since my last post, and I took the plunge. I love the damn thing. I’d marry if I could. Love.it. I think your post was the deciding factor. Thank you, Stephen!

]]> By: gcr http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-2336 gcr Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:38:19 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-2336 Being incredibly shallow as to buying any new gadget I can afford, decided I wanted, for no specific reason other than to own one , an apple itouch. My mobile phone had a good camera and being tied up on a monthly contract had no need of an iphone. I love the look, the feel and the, although somewhat limited, features of it, I think I made the right choice as opposed to the iphone. It has internet capabilities, I can watch films, and use it as a traditional ipod. One thing, however, annoys me is the fact that itunes (America) advertises films to download at a reasonable price, yet UK itunes does not offer that capability, and I am not "allowed" to download from the US site. It would seem similar to the feature film issue that is inexplicable to me, why we still have to wait about a year before we get to see films over here. Strange. Being incredibly shallow as to buying any new gadget I can afford, decided I wanted, for no specific reason other than to own one , an apple itouch. My mobile phone had a good camera and being tied up on a monthly contract had no need of an iphone.
I love the look, the feel and the, although somewhat limited, features of it, I think I made the right choice as opposed to the iphone. It has internet capabilities, I can watch films, and use it as a traditional ipod.
One thing, however, annoys me is the fact that itunes (America) advertises films to download at a reasonable price, yet UK itunes does not offer that capability, and I am not “allowed” to download from the US site.
It would seem similar to the feature film issue that is inexplicable to me, why we still have to wait about a year before we get to see films over here. Strange.

]]> By: vaughny http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-1967 vaughny Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:23:02 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-1967 I put this iPhone video on youtube a year ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_f-KK140vM Every other comment since it went up has been 'there's no 3G' 'camera is crap' 'it's too big' 'can't unlock it' 'no video camera' etc etc. Who cares that it's not up to spec when it looks the way it does? Oh, and there's a cool robot video on my youtube profile as well. :) I put this iPhone video on youtube a year ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_f-KK140vM

Every other comment since it went up has been ‘there’s no 3G’ ‘camera is crap’ ‘it’s too big’ ‘can’t unlock it’ ‘no video camera’ etc etc. Who cares that it’s not up to spec when it looks the way it does?

Oh, and there’s a cool robot video on my youtube profile as well. :)

]]> By: Javak http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-1701 Javak Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:03:05 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-1701 Spent the weekend playing with "Android", Google's venture into the mobile world. The UI is surprisingly more like OS X than the iPhone, with Dock like menu on the home screen (sorry, "activity"), and Aqua-esque buttons. It highlighted, for me, the difference in philosophy between the two companies. Apple's phone may have a lot of UI cleverness, but in terms of third party software development the system is stillborn. At the moment only web apps are supported. No JavaME, no Brew, just Ajax -- with the dawn of the RIA Apple has decided to pin its hopes on a technology already cited by many developers as due for extinction. And I'm not holding out any hopes for the release of the SDK early next year. Steve Jobs has commented that the iPhone OS is basically a cut down edition of OS X. Great, except OS X app development pretty much has its own eco-system, with its own tools, its own languages (Objective C anyone?) and its own deployment architectures. It's like pounds shillings and pence in a decimal world. And unlike JME, iPhone development requires your software be approved by Apple before it can go anywhere near an end-user iPhone. So that pretty much kills dead any hobbyist/amateur/Open Source market. First glace suggest that Google's Android is very easy to write software for. With Java blessed as the language of choice, Android is open to the majority of coders. The architecture is component based, and very robust. It is actually a doddle to link applications ('activities') together, making it very easy to call on the power of, say, Google Maps within my app, or send arbitary messages between phones on the network via XMPP. And if the end-user doesn't like Google Maps they can swap it out for some other mapping component instead. All the components are linked at runtime, and so can be swapped for alternatives by the user. From the viewpoint of the developer I see the iPhone as a closed system, very rigid, and very proprietary. Apple seems to live in its own little bubble, with its own tools, rules and conventions. It wouldn't surprise me if they started documenting their APIs only in Esperanto. Google have basically provided a lovely box of shiny new toys, with a very simple and flexible (but familiar) framework for plugging them together, and invited the world to have fun and explore. Google looks forward to the coming of RIAs, Apple look backwards to Web 2.0. Mind you, final judgement must be reserved for when Apple finally part-open the iPhone and start shipping their SDK. But I'm not confident. :( Spent the weekend playing with “Android”, Google’s venture into the mobile world. The UI is surprisingly more like OS X than the iPhone, with Dock like menu on the home screen (sorry, “activity”), and Aqua-esque buttons.

It highlighted, for me, the difference in philosophy between the two companies. Apple’s phone may have a lot of UI cleverness, but in terms of third party software development the system is stillborn. At the moment only web apps are supported. No JavaME, no Brew, just Ajax — with the dawn of the RIA Apple has decided to pin its hopes on a technology already cited by many developers as due for extinction. And I’m not holding out any hopes for the release of the SDK early next year. Steve Jobs has commented that the iPhone OS is basically a cut down edition of OS X. Great, except OS X app development pretty much has its own eco-system, with its own tools, its own languages (Objective C anyone?) and its own deployment architectures. It’s like pounds shillings and pence in a decimal world.

And unlike JME, iPhone development requires your software be approved by Apple before it can go anywhere near an end-user iPhone. So that pretty much kills dead any hobbyist/amateur/Open Source market.

First glace suggest that Google’s Android is very easy to write software for. With Java blessed as the language of choice, Android is open to the majority of coders. The architecture is component based, and very robust. It is actually a doddle to link applications (‘activities’) together, making it very easy to call on the power of, say, Google Maps within my app, or send arbitary messages between phones on the network via XMPP. And if the end-user doesn’t like Google Maps they can swap it out for some other mapping component instead. All the components are linked at runtime, and so can be swapped for alternatives by the user.

From the viewpoint of the developer I see the iPhone as a closed system, very rigid, and very proprietary. Apple seems to live in its own little bubble, with its own tools, rules and conventions. It wouldn’t surprise me if they started documenting their APIs only in Esperanto. Google have basically provided a lovely box of shiny new toys, with a very simple and flexible (but familiar) framework for plugging them together, and invited the world to have fun and explore. Google looks forward to the coming of RIAs, Apple look backwards to Web 2.0.

Mind you, final judgement must be reserved for when Apple finally part-open the iPhone and start shipping their SDK. But I’m not confident. :(

]]> By: Olga http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-2/#comment-1578 Olga Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:19:05 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-1578 <strong>Olga...</strong> Hello, I have a few websites of my own and I must say that your site is really top notch. Keep up the great work on a really high class resource.... Olga…

Hello, I have a few websites of my own and I must say that your site is really top notch. Keep up the great work on a really high class resource….

]]> By: mt http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-1/#comment-1576 mt Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:52:21 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-1576 I personally will not consider buying an iphone until the 3d version comes out, thank you. Mike <a href="http://www.conspiracyreview.com/" rel="nofollow">The Conspiracy Review</a> I personally will not consider buying an iphone until the 3d version comes out, thank you.
Mike
The Conspiracy Review

]]> By: minxlj http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/09/not-sensible-but-oh-the-joy-of-it/comment-page-1/#comment-1525 minxlj Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:46:24 +0000 http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=24#comment-1525 Ah, the wonder of it. As a designer I'm often dismayed when products either exhibit beauty without function, or (shock, horror!) function without beauty! I am a self-confessed Apple addict; mainly because they have always shoehorned both into their brilliant products. The original iMac was a classic rebel; the PowerMac G5 and MacPro are stunning; the Mac Mini is testament to great things in small packages, but the iPhone...I'm sorry to be so bland but the first thing I said was 'WOW THIS IS SO DAMN COOL'. Seriously. Words almost escaped me for days using this little beauty - I just kept telling people they have to try one, have to see how wonderfully simple and intuitive it is (and I should be on commision, so far a good handful of my friends have tried my iPhone and then went on to buy one) There are so many 'little things' that make it a slice of genius, and I'm discovering more all the time, despite the fact that it hasn't left my hands since Nov 11th when I gave in and bought one (I wanted to hold out until Christmas when my current contract is up but alas I have no willpower.) I have to slightly disagree though, in that I'm finding the SMS interface pretty easy to use: the keypad is fine, and the spelling correction is indeed spookily accurate. Designers are always the harshest critics, trust me. And I am smitten. I cannot wait to see what Apple come out with next :-) On a side note, I wish that for once the world would cotton onto the fact that in photography MEGAPIXELS DO NOT MATTER A JOT. Seriously - it is the quality and speed of the LENS in the camera that makes the picture quality...a crappy lens that takes a bigger picture still takes a crappy picture! Please do not ever base a camera purchase on this false 'fact'! Consult the venerable Rockwell at http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm for proof. Ah, the wonder of it. As a designer I’m often dismayed when products either exhibit beauty without function, or (shock, horror!) function without beauty! I am a self-confessed Apple addict; mainly because they have always shoehorned both into their brilliant products. The original iMac was a classic rebel; the PowerMac G5 and MacPro are stunning; the Mac Mini is testament to great things in small packages, but the iPhone…I’m sorry to be so bland but the first thing I said was ‘WOW THIS IS SO DAMN COOL’. Seriously. Words almost escaped me for days using this little beauty – I just kept telling people they have to try one, have to see how wonderfully simple and intuitive it is (and I should be on commision, so far a good handful of my friends have tried my iPhone and then went on to buy one)

There are so many ‘little things’ that make it a slice of genius, and I’m discovering more all the time, despite the fact that it hasn’t left my hands since Nov 11th when I gave in and bought one (I wanted to hold out until Christmas when my current contract is up but alas I have no willpower.) I have to slightly disagree though, in that I’m finding the SMS interface pretty easy to use: the keypad is fine, and the spelling correction is indeed spookily accurate.

Designers are always the harshest critics, trust me. And I am smitten. I cannot wait to see what Apple come out with next :-)

On a side note, I wish that for once the world would cotton onto the fact that in photography MEGAPIXELS DO NOT MATTER A JOT. Seriously – it is the quality and speed of the LENS in the camera that makes the picture quality…a crappy lens that takes a bigger picture still takes a crappy picture! Please do not ever base a camera purchase on this false ‘fact’! Consult the venerable Rockwell at http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm for proof.

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