Gruber on the iPhone: Consuming, Not Creating
In a larger piece on why the iPhone doesn’t have a clipboard, copy-and-paste, and other things, John Gruber caught my eye with this comment:
The trade-off is that tap-and-drag is not available for selecting a range of text. I’m convinced this trade-off is worth it, if for no other reason than that I primarily use my iPhone for consuming — reading, viewing, listening, looking — far more than I use it for creating. Scrolling is important for reading; selecting is importing for writing. Better for the iPhone to optimize for reading.
Grubes nails it for me. I’ve been thinking about getting rid of my iBook, and today when I went down to my grandmother’s, I only took the iPhone. I consumed plenty of things on the Internet while I was down there, but given that I wasn’t going to create anything, it was just fine. And honestly, I don’t find myself creating much while on the road. So I think I probably will get rid of the iBook. iPhone consumption FTW!
This mirrors what I’ve been seeing. People coming to the iPhone from traditional cell phones are particularly happy with it because “creating content” on their mobile device isn’t something they are accustomed to anyway.
Conversely, I would go raving nuts trying to use the iPhone as my mobile device.
August 12th, 2007 at 18:20If you’re trying to get rid of your iBook, I know Sean’s been contemplating getting a laptop. Drop us an e-mail and we might be willing to buy it from you.
I like keeping my Powerbook if for no other reason than photo consumption on the road. An iPhone wouldn’t have a prayer of keeping up with all of the photos I managed to take while on the road. A laptop is definitely necessary for this.
August 14th, 2007 at 00:01[...] been nice and not gone postal on the iPhone release. But I read this today, thanks to Merlin, and I’m on the verge of [...]
August 15th, 2007 at 23:06