I think you've missed the point, and btw I really don't like your attitude.
I don't have an attitude, unless you don't think respect should be earned. You have some logic problems though, and while I won't hesitate to point them out, I'm not going to help you with them much more than the response below.
You seem to be happy to communicate the way that the iPhone allows you, and that's great, you're the customer that Apple want. I and other need to communicate in a more effective and efficient way, so the iPhone isn't for me or those others. No big deal.
As long as you recognize that I think your concept of "efficient" is curious and markedly different from my own. In your concept, you think its efficient to have your phone do as much as it possibly can to duplicate what you can do on your PC (right down to menus, scrollbars, etc). In my concept of "efficiency", I think its more important to rethink any attempt to "recreate" the "computer" as a phone. Instead, I think the conceptualizing of a multi-touch interface that relies on simply gestures and a responsive OS, is much more efficient. I could create a video showing someone doing average tasks under the two different concepts, and I'm positive my concept is much more efficient. I will grant you however, that its not as GRANULAR. But I don't define "effectiveness" by how "granular" something is, I define effectiveness by how quickly and easy you can accomplish a task.
You have an iPhone and are posting on a forum where I asked whether it could perform a specific task.
Let's be even more specific. I'm posting to a "thread" entitled "iphone ain't so hot after this review". After I responded to the initial post about "COPY and PASTE", you asked a follow-up question to copy/paste because I'd brought the topic up.
You answered the question, thanks, but is there any reason or point in then going on about how I'm wasting my time wanting a product that works in the way I require it to?
Definitely. As I just noted, this thread is about some criticisms of the iPhone. I noted how an operation can be achieved, and you asked a question that I felt implied faulty logic. If consumer product A, is being criticised for not doing feature B, yet consumer product A will NEVER DO feature B... its important to clear up why someone with a gripe that feauture B is missing, is out of luck if they wish to have consumer product A support it. Does that makes sense?
I'll go a step further. If you read through what I said, I commented that it sounds like you want a laptop or a UMPC, and that I'm not sure why a phone, should be expected to bridge the same DESKTOP gap, as these other devices. Where I'm coming from, is an appreciation of what Apple is doing. This does NOT mean that I think the iPhone is not missing features, BUT, even if I'm the first to say it... CUT/PASTE is an intentional omission, because it involves the interface concepts called "selection" and "menus", both of which aren't simply "missing" from the iPhone, but intentionally omitted. It's similar to my defending someone's criticism of a banana, because it doesn't have an "orange" flavor, when its clearly not a citrus fruit. It should definitely however taste fresh, cut nicely with a knife, and blend without complaint in my MAGIC BULLET. Those, IMO are reasonable expectations, and worthy of discussion in a thread of this type.
These aren't random things, these are the things I need to know before I purchase a product, specifically 'cause I don't want to be the person you're taking a dig at for buying one without research.
You comment that you used two hands to type emails. Ok... then you say that you use one hand to send a quick text message. Ok... these are random comments that were very loosely connected to "making a point", "asking a question" or "posing a problem". Moreover, because I, as an iPhone user could have made the same comments (I email with two hands, I text on my iPhone with one), they don't address anything that moves the discussion forward. That's why they read as random comments. Sorry, if that still doesn't make sense.
I'm into saving time too, just not at the cost of clarity. I've constantly stated on these forums when posting that the iPhone is a good product for some tasks, and some people. I haven't knocked the iPhone for the sake of it, only where it's lacking for my needs.
I'm not knocking you. I'm answering your questions, in a thread about things the iPhone doesn't do. I'm very sensitive to people complaining in a "drunken" way. If someone makes a list, I'm happiest when all the points are consistant and coherent. I'm an interface junky, so while I have iPhone gripes... I clearly see what Apple is attempting to do with the new UI. For the record, I've tried to think through "cut/paste", and I'm not sure there's a solution. This may well be an iPhone platform limitation.
As Apple has said, they are NOT trying to simply create a machine that runs MacOS X in a handheld. They're "reinventing the phone". Part of that new paradigm eliminates "menus" (both contextual and application menus), "scrollbars" (even inside of TEXTAREA boxes on web pages, which is a problem), "quit" (no application on the iPhone actually "quits", they just exist in an suspended state somehow)., etc (many other things). All of these things bring some measure of compromise, and perhaps one of the most alarming, is the lack of cut/paste.
If that doesn't work for you, then you DEFINITELY should NOT get an iPhone. --Because it's not really going to
change at this point in my opinion (but I might be wrong). Problem is, I've actually thought it through, and there is a REASON its not there, more than Apple arbitrarily choosing to not add it. I'm annoyed that there's no true contextual menu in Safari. Apple mimicks the "status" bar, using its Mac solution of "holding down" on something. Holding down on a hyperlink, produces a bubble that tells you where that link will go if you tap it. You don't get a menu, so on the iPhone, you can't even bookmark the website without actually GOING there first. As much as this irks me, I see the compromise being made in the favor of simplicity. But what about saving an image/pdf/file from the web to your iPhone, or setting a web graphic as wallpaper? I actually think those are coming, but I'm not sure how Apple plans to do them. Possibly Apple can add one more icon to the bottom buttons of its mobile Safari interface.
Honestly, I feel like doing a whole "Interface Bible" for the iPhone, because while it was designed to not require people to "learn" anything, its more of a departure from traditional computer interfaces than people realize. This is something that for better or worse, makes it a BOLD MOVE considering the field. Like others have commented, there are times where I forget about the "Home" button on the bottom, and suddenly the application I'm using doesn't provide me with enough navigational options, and I'm momentarily thinking "I'm trapped!" but I'm not. Just click "Home".
I'm not sure what phone first introduced the two select buttons on either side, and the "menu" button in the middle. That's been the dominant paradigm for a while, and lots of people are used to it. The iPhone totally throws this away.
So, hopefully it doesn't sound like I'm trying to tell you YOU'RE WRONG for researching the iPhone and wanting certain things. You're not. BUT, rather than have someone get an iPhone expecting that cut/paste were random oversights to be added later... I'd rather be blunt and make sure you know that this is a different paradigm, and not one where cut/paste/select/right-click/menus/quit are very welcome. If you're willing to give Apple the benefit of doubt on where they think the "phone" platform can head (pinch/flick/stretch/tap/slide/select-wheels/button-panels), then I think you might do well with an iPhone. If you really need these OTHER things, and can't work without them, then the iPhone's definitely not for you.
Personally... and this is just between you and me
, I think the iPhone someday won't be "limited" by its physical constraints. I see wireless connections to large multi-touch displays paired and powered by the device in your pocket. Cut/Paste could return with more room to display them. "Selection" could even be viable if an appropriately unique gesture exists to differentiate it from a request to reposition or resize the page. Just some of my somewhat random thoughts on the topic of iPhone "limitations".
~ CB
