First impressions
How does a machine have soul? We could try and answer by throwing around terms like usefulness, elegance and grace but all our attempts would sound prosaic next to the device I recently became acquainted with. Run and hide Crackberry, the iPhone is here.
For people to be drooling over a 4.8 ounce device is not unfathomable especially coming from Apple. This is different. During my first hours with the iPhone I literally felt nervous. I felt like I didn’t deserve this, it seemed unreal.
11:00am Saturday: Headed to the coffee house. Do I need my laptop or my notebook, or magazine? Was I really walking down the street listening to my phone? Wait… Whoa… phone call. Pinch Hello… conversation goodbye. Music!!!
Some of my friends think I’m crazy but for a UI designer this is as close to nirvana as I’ve ever experienced.
9:00pm Saturday: Driving to the liquor store. Wait, are they open? iPhone eight ball returns: decidedly so. Again… I’m not worthy.
It’s like those little knowledge cracks in your life are slowly getting sealed. Anything you wanted or needed to know is now within a few gestures. Why remember? Leave it up to the cloud, let your iPhone be your Receiver.
This device represents a new bar for HCI. It also poses many exciting questions and possibilities. My only hope is that Apple will offer an SDK in the coming months so the collective can contribute. I have confidence the will. Need we be reminded where cover-flow came from? We definitely can’t rely on the browser sandbox. It doesn’t offer the same grace and fluidity applications garner.
Related tags: apple, iphone, mobile
Remarks
Jeff Smith http://from-away.net
I’m so jealous of everyone with an iPhone. Part of it I’m sure is just because I can’t get one here in Canada, but the incredible interface and the user experience I’ve been reading about since Friday is almost making me crave one.
James McEwan http://www.onezom.com
Jealous for the same reasons stated above, but substitute Scotland as the location that Apple has shunned. Absolutely love the wallpaper you’re using on there, especially how rich the colours look on the iphone.
Doug
This is surprising to hear. I’ve heard more complaints about this device than I have any other before it. Maybe I’m just reading the wrong stuff, but it seems pretty apparent that we should wait for 2nd or 3rd gen versions to come out.
Nathan Borror http://www.playgroundblues.com
@Doug - Yeah, not sure why so many people are complaining. I think people set their expectations in astronomical regions. The reviews (negative/positive) are fantastic because it just means we’ll see software updates :)
Jeff Croft http://jeffcroft.com/
Doug: Where are you hearing the complaints? Every review I’ve read has been overwhelmingly positive (of course, everyone has a few quibbles). I’d be curious to read the negative reviews, but I can’t find them anywhere.
FWIW, I think my iPhone is amazing. Yes, I have a few items on my wishlist and a few minor quibbles, but I’d give it a 9 out of 10 easily.
Scott Bratcher
Nathan, congratulations on getting your iPhone. I’ll join you soon. Can you post some photos to flickr that you took with your iPhone’s camera? I’m looking for color saturation/quality in low and normal indoor and outdoor light. I’m also looking for clarity and quality at full resolution. I want to love it more. ~ Scott
Nathan Borror http://www.playgroundblues.com
@Scott - This is my favorite so far: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sketch22/748729770/ Things tagged appleiphone (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sketch22/tags/appleiphone/) on my account will get you to the others. It’s really bad in low light but really good in normal lighting.
Ingo http://taichi-in-leipzig.de
It’s not possible to use it with just one hand. Thus it cannot fulfill it’s most basic function. Forget the hype.
Nathan Borror http://www.playgroundblues.com
@Ingo - Huh? I use it with one hand all the time! What, would you say, is it’s most basic function that should only require one hand? Just asking.
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