After a month of using my iPhone, I finally figured out what my problem was with it, and why other people were so confused when trying to use it. It's not to do with lacking features or needing a software update, or even the instability problems that plague Safari. It's just a strange design that is not entirely intuitive.
One problem is that various web tasks that would normally all be done in Safari are separated into different Applications. For instance, when I show someone a video on YouTube, and they want to go to Google, they get all confused and can't figure it out. Instead of just going from www.youtube.com to www.google.com, you have to press the Home Button and tap on Safari. Same thing in reverse, if someone wants to show me a video (I won't even get into the lack of video content from YouTube today), they try and find it in Google, which churns up videos on MetaCafe, eBaums World, Google Videos, Myspace Videos, YouTube, etc ... And only some videos from one of those sources works on the iPhone. People get disappointed when that happens.
Another example of this is Google Maps. I show someone a location on Google Maps, and they, for example, go to the website of King's Mongolian BBQ in Northridge to see what's up with the place, getting back to the map is very confusing for them. Instead of just hitting back, or switching tabs ... you have to, once again, press the home button and then tap Google Maps. If they could some how get Safari to distiguish between AJAX "dragging" and normal scrolling, then maps.google.com would get a lot more use from me.
YouTube, Google Maps, and Safari need some sort of integration other than their ability to open eachother with links. Once the Flash plugin comes out, I'll probably just use Safari.
Oh, and the physical home button really confuses people some times. I've had to say "it's a real button" probably 20 times.
One problem is that various web tasks that would normally all be done in Safari are separated into different Applications. For instance, when I show someone a video on YouTube, and they want to go to Google, they get all confused and can't figure it out. Instead of just going from www.youtube.com to www.google.com, you have to press the Home Button and tap on Safari. Same thing in reverse, if someone wants to show me a video (I won't even get into the lack of video content from YouTube today), they try and find it in Google, which churns up videos on MetaCafe, eBaums World, Google Videos, Myspace Videos, YouTube, etc ... And only some videos from one of those sources works on the iPhone. People get disappointed when that happens.
Another example of this is Google Maps. I show someone a location on Google Maps, and they, for example, go to the website of King's Mongolian BBQ in Northridge to see what's up with the place, getting back to the map is very confusing for them. Instead of just hitting back, or switching tabs ... you have to, once again, press the home button and then tap Google Maps. If they could some how get Safari to distiguish between AJAX "dragging" and normal scrolling, then maps.google.com would get a lot more use from me.
YouTube, Google Maps, and Safari need some sort of integration other than their ability to open eachother with links. Once the Flash plugin comes out, I'll probably just use Safari.
Oh, and the physical home button really confuses people some times. I've had to say "it's a real button" probably 20 times.
