couple of things people aren't talking about...

[macmadandproud]

I have a couple of ideas for the iPhone that I am not really seeing mentioned here... people are whining about the lack of GPS and 3g, but here are the things I really want and can't believe Apple left out....

1- Imagine a local google Docs and Spreadsheets app that synced with your online docs when on WIFI and saved all of your docs and stuff to your phone for offline use. then when next on WIFI it would sync up all edited documents back to their servers. This would be a MAJOR shot over the bow of MS!!

2- I have WIFI on this thing and I have 4 airport express base stations with speakers on them in my house. Why oh why do I not get a pop up asking me if I want to stream via airtunes to those speakers?? Imagine, my friends come over and want me to hear some great new "must hear" song, and BOOM, they are streaming it throughout my house!

There are many omissions, but for me, these two would prove far more revolutionary then mere 3g.

I really think that the iPhone needs to evolve to take advantage of WIFI when there to save local content for later use...

One more thing....

I am off to London next week, but of course can't afford to use roaming data. I want to be able to check off certain cities, and actually download local versions of google maps to my iPhone to use even when offline!! It just seems that Apple is thinking 2 dimensionally about a mobile that comes standard with this much storage.... I love what they have done, but perhaps just a little bit more "think different"!

I just found this article that talks about a new environment called Google Gears, it supports OSX already and would simply rock an iPhone's world... and mine too!


What do you guys think of these feature additions??

 

[scaredpoet]

1- Imagine a local google Docs and Spreadsheets ap that synced with your online docs when on WIFI and saved all of your docs and stuff to your phone for offline use. then when next on WIFI it would sync up all edited documents back to their servers. This would be a MAJOR shot over the bow of MS!!

Unfortunately, two things preclude this.


1. The whole idea of Google Docs is that there is no such thing as "local" or "on board." Google Docs is a web app, that means your docs are supposed to be edited and served on the web. A local app defeats the purpose.

2. Google Docs is still in beta, and Google can change things at any time, including make changes that would make an on-board app useless. In fact, they already did screw up earlier Gmail mobile app clients when they made some configuration changes to Gmail, which is also in beta. Their response when people complained? "Don't develop/use a local client, silly! Gmail is a web app!"

I'm actually kinda surprised that the iPhone has a automated Gmail setup, considering Google could just wantonly change things again if they wished. After all, that's the whole point of staying in beta after 2+ years.

2- I have WIFI on this thing and I have 4 airport express base stations with speakers on them in my house. Why oh why do I not get a pop up asking me if I want to stream via airtunes to those speakers?? Imagine, my friends come over and want me to hear some great new "must hear" song, and BOOM, they are streaming it throughout my house!

Haven't experienced this myself, so I can't say either way.

There are many omissions, but for me, these two would prove far more revolutionary then mere 3g.

Well, for many of us who have experienced 3G, it's not so "mere." Though the WiFi does make up for this, assuming you have an abundance of hotspots where you live and work.

I am off to London next week, but of course can't afford to use roaming data. I want to be able to check off certain cities, and actually download local versions of google maps to my iPhone to use even when offline!!

Ah, yet another drawback of the web app, which is again what Google is all about.

It just seems that Apple is thinking 2 dimensionally about a mobile that comes standard with this much storage.... I love what they have done, but perhaps just a little bit more "think different"!

Actually, it may be that Apple and Google are thinking too differently. You're thinking in terms of having local, on-board, self-contained apps, something that Google scoffs at regularly, and Apple is resisting allowing to happen on the iPhone.

For the record, I agree with you, local apps have their advantages, and finding a happy medium between local and web based is better than having one extreme or the other. But unfortunately, local is just not Google's paradigm.

 

[lord patton]

scaredpoet, did you read the link?

I think Google is on the right track with this mix of web-based and local, and I think the iPhone and Apple are the right partners to take advantage of it.

good thoughts, OP.