[X4U] iPad news

[Eugene]

On Mon, Feb 01, 2010 at 09:20:50AM CST, Dave <69abel at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2010-01-31, at 14:58, Eugene wrote:
> 
> > If you have a "multitasking" iPhone/iPad, and you run several apps that
> > are playing music, which app has priority and why?
> 
> That would be my concern, not Apple's!
> 
> If I want to play music from my iTunes, stream an internet radio
> station, watch a youtube video, and chat with a friend using AIM, all
> at the same, time that is MY business! I can do it on my computer, if
> I so choose. The iPhone and iPod Touch and iPad are mobile computers.
> And reasonably powerful ones at that. Why do I have to jailbreak my
> iPhone (MY iPhone, not Apple's) to get access to the functionality
> that the OS has? Functionality that has been intentionally limited to
> Apple apps only? Because 1984 arrived in 2007.

I think the heated debates are due in part to core differences in
philosophy.  You and many others think of the iPhone and the iPad as a
general-purpose computer (albeit with a nice touchscreen) that is yours
to reprogram & repurpose to your heart's content.  To me it seems that
Apple's position views those devices as computer appliances, designed
to provide a specific resource or service, very sealed and very closed,
not repairable, and certainly not upgradable.  Others who also feel the
same way as you have hacked their PlayStation or XBox game consoles to
become cheap general-purpose computers.

As for the music question, from the iPhone/iPad-is-an-appliance view,
having multiple music sources play simultaneously would worsen the
overall user experience.  Thus it becomes Apple's concern because they
are crazy about user experience.  So how should it be handled?  Should
all apps that want to play music all get to play music simultaneously?
Should there be a list of restricted apps that get the play music
simultaneously?  Maybe a list of music-playing apps, in descending
order, that lets higher-priority apps play music while disabling music
play for lower-priority apps beneath it?  It's a bit of a mess because
people want "multitasking", because they want to use the iPhone/iPad
appliances like their iMac/MacBook/MacPro computers.


-- 
Eugene
http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/