Smart Phones

[Collector]

Split from the Sarien.net thread

The loss of play on iPad is what sucks for me

- Mike

http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/DO ... t8310.html

[Tawmis]

The loss of play on iPad is what sucks for me

- Mike

http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/DO ... t8310.html

Ah, but that requires them to be jailbroken, which is a shame. Because you automatically void your warranty if you jailbreak it.

[Collector]

Well, for those with an Android

http://androiddosbox.appspot.com/

Locking down the iPhone is the start of its undoing.

[DaveJustDave]

it just goes to show, they would rather let the franchise rot than let anyone do anything innovative with it.

Android DOSBox is a little buggy, and your android device must have a physical keyboard for it to work.

I loaded iDOS on my iPad before it got yanked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIlZoKIHGkM

[Tawmis]

it just goes to show, they would rather let the franchise rot than let anyone do anything innovative with it.

Android DOSBox is a little buggy, and your android device must have a physical keyboard for it to work.

I loaded iDOS on my iPad before it got yanked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIlZoKIHGkM

Why did iDOS get yanked? (I've never heard of it, myself... but then I am not very savvy in that department).

[Collector]

Why did iDOS get yanked? (I've never heard of it, myself... but then I am not very savvy in that department).

Because Jobs is trying to lock down the iPhone/Pad for his "Walled Garden" in the mistaken belief that it will make a wireless device securable enough for things like financial transaction. Anyone foolish enough to do so deserves whatever happens. It is part of the reason that Jobs has banned Flash from the iPhone. Flash will probably die when HTML5 become dominant, but that time is not here, yet. Banning flash for an Internet device at this time is, well, stupid. It is one of the main reasons that Androids are fast becoming the market leader for smart phones. They are making the same mistake with their i platform that they made with their computers. Macs lost out because it was closed. PCs won out because it was an open platform.

[Tawmis]

Because Jobs is trying to lock down the iPhone/Pad for his "Walled Garden" - It is one of the main reasons that Androids are fast becoming the market leader for smart phones. They are making the same mistake with their i platform that they made with their computers. Macs lost out because it was closed. PCs won out because it was an open platform.

I write the disclaimer: I dislike Macs, for the most part, because of my lack of experience with them. What experience I have had for them - I have personally found them limiting.

That said - he might not be too far off the mark. Yes, PCs were more open, yes PCs won - but PCs are also the #1 target for virus attacks because they are open. I don't think the iPhone will ever be a trusted source of making secure transactions, no - but I do believe that it's a matter of time before the Android probably gets hacked, when you install an APP and it sends whatever carrier information to someone so that they can make calls on your account or whatever. It's just a matter of time before someone figures out how to do it. If they haven't already.

[Collector]

The main reason that Windows is more vulnerable is simply because it it is the biggest target. If you are going to write malware for profit, either to data mine for financial info or to commandeer a PC for DOS attacks, spamming, or distribution of illicit material, are you going to wast your time with something that only has around 5% of market share or invest that effort into something that is closer to 90%? Whatever has the lion's share of the market is going to be the biggest target. Of course there are other factors, but that is the biggest. I know that you know that the weakest link in any computer's security is always the PEBKAC factor, regardless of platform.

That said, OSX is not nearly as limiting as the earlier incarnations of the Mac OS. There is much to be said for it. I still much prefer Windows, especially with Windows 7. Some functionality I feel is considerably easier on Windows, but it is what I am used to. What is truly intuitive is what you are most used to, be that Mac or Windows. The main thing that I don't have a high opinion about Macs is the so-called "Mac tax". You pay twice as much for last year's hardware, and they have as many failure rates as PCs.

Mac fans on the other hand can be a bit much. I also know that you have had those Mac calls at work and know what it is like to deal with many of the Mac users. The amusing thing in the "Mac vs PC" flame wars that you see is that the PC people don't take it seriously. It is just so easy to yank a Mac fanboi's chain. If there are any Mac fans here, I'm sorry, I don't mean to insult, but this is the case.

[Tawmis]

Mac fans on the other hand can be a bit much. I also know that you have had those Mac calls at work and know what it is like to deal with many of the Mac users. The amusing thing in the "Mac vs PC" flame wars that you see is that the PC people don't take it seriously. It is just so easy to yank a Mac fanboi's chain. If there are any Mac fans here, I'm sorry, I don't mean to insult, but this is the case.

I will say this is true. But I much prefer the die hard Mac Fan Boy vs the person who has the Mac, has no idea how to use it, and calls me to ask me how to use it. If you don't know how to use it - read the manual. Don't be a lazy frack. If, after you have read the manual, you still don't know how to use it - fine, call me - just be aware we don't really support Macs. It's best effort here.

That said - going back to Droid vs iPhone - with Verizon now accepting the iPhone on their network - I think that the iPhone has once again got a pretty big bump. A lot of people didn't get the iPhone because of the bandwidth issues. But now with Verizon open to the iPhone - a lot of people who had AT&T have switched, and those who were waiting for Verizon to confirm the iPhone - have gone out and purchased it. So I am curious what the sales figures would be NOW since Verizon is allowing the iPhone on their network in terms of sales for iPhone vs Droid.

[Collector]

Most of the Android's gains have been at the expense of Blackberry, but this is at the same time as the iPhone has made little gain. The iPhone entry into Verizon's service will boost sales of the iPhone, but even so, the Android is still expected to keep the lead. If Apple want to regain and keep the lead they are going to have to rethink the walled garden.

The walled garden will ultimately be the iPhone's demise. It is not going to make it more secure (the fact that you can "jailbreak" shows this), what ever has the lions share of the market will be the target for the malware authors. All it is doing is preventing people from having everything that they may want installed on their handheld. I would be very surprised if there is a single app for the iPhone that doesn't have as good of an equivalent app for the Android. And the Android will also allow you to have all the apps that Stevie Jobs doesn't want you to have, such as Flash or the things that he doesn't want you to have because his sense of morality.

[DeadPoolX]

I've used Macs a lot (mostly in graphic design and video editing) and I like them. I wouldn't replace my PC with one, but they're certainly not bad machines. It's interesting to see how many games are now coming out on OS X. Even those games that're PC-only can be played on Macs nowadays using different programs.

I thought those old commercials were ludicrous. At the time the Mac had very few games available for it and yet, it publicly claimed Macs were "fun" computers while PCs only do "boring work and spread sheets."

I will say one thing for Apple products -- they've got one hell of a marketing strategy. Even people who dislike Macs have to admit that.

I've never used an iPhone, so I can't really comment on how good or bad it is. However, I do have an HTC Desire that runs the Android OS and I think it's fantastic. The open-ended capabilities of Android make it very versatile and there's tons of apps for it, many of which are free.

Of course, my amazement might not mean much. Having come from a Blackberry, the OS it used was dismal. I'm sure it didn't help that my BB was underpowered. The Blackberry Pearl 8130 was on the low end of BB's phones. The HTC Desire, on the other hand, is at the high end (some reviews have said it's "the highest" at this time) of Android-run phones.

For comparison, the BB pearl 8130's processor clocked in at 312MHz while the HTC Desire has a 1GHz processor. There were lots of other differences too, such as memory (both internal and external), screen size, interface, etc. Describing it all would require a separate post.

I don't know what Apple allows and doesn't allow on the iPhone. Google lets users do anything with Android, provided it's not illegal. Even that is sometimes bent considering the number of console emulators and ROMs you can download.

I love all the games on it. So does Maia. If we're waiting somewhere or traveling on a ferry, she'll turn to me and say: "I want to play Fruit Ninja!"

[Tawmis]

I thought those old commercials were ludicrous. At the time the Mac had very few games available for it and yet, it publicly claimed Macs were "fun" computers while PCs only do "boring work and spread sheets."

Yeah but playing games on the PC was like... does crazy hand motions! (A must watch Mac Switch Parody!)