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View Full Version : Jobs: If you see a stylus or a task manager, 'they blew it'



blur xc
April 8th, 2010, 08:43 PM
Thoughts on Apple's (Jobs's) ideas about how multitasking should be handled?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/jobs-if-you-see-a-stylus-or-a-task-manager-they-blew-it/



BM

Dawei87
April 8th, 2010, 08:46 PM
i dont get it... they dont want me to manage multiple tasks?

Tristam Green
April 8th, 2010, 08:47 PM
That thing at the bottom of the screen on iPhone OS4 looks awfully familiar.

Like something I could manage my tasks...


Where have I seen such a thing?

whiskeylover
April 8th, 2010, 08:55 PM
i dont get it... they dont want me to manage multiple tasks?

Everybody knows that if you run 2 apps at the same time, it interferes with the smooth scrolling of the app icon pages : )

juancarlospaco
April 8th, 2010, 09:01 PM
IAM multitasking, maybe Jobs is slow.

ve4cib
April 8th, 2010, 10:35 PM
I kind of like having the option to use a stylus. Makes hand-written notes and drawings a whole lot easier. *shrug* Just me I suppose. Requiring a stylus is bad, but having the option is good IMO.

samalex
April 8th, 2010, 10:40 PM
Thoughts on Apple's (Jobs's) ideas about how multitasking should be handled?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/jobs-if-you-see-a-stylus-or-a-task-manager-they-blew-it/


I can see his point where if the applications are stable and manage themselves plus if each closes gracefully as needed, there isn't any need for a task manager. And if apps that don't keep active when they are the focus, like a website or ibook, I can see those apps saving their current state and unloading, then reloading when you bring them back to focus ... giving the appearance of multitasking. So there is no close per say. And for other apps like Pandora and Skype you can quit playing audio or close a call when you need to then likewise the state of the app is saved when you remove focus from that app so it doesn't reside in memory.

So if this is all true I can see why a task manager isn't needed ... there aren't any running tasks per say to manage.

As for a stylus, the display may not have been made for input from a stylus, which if that's the case then again I can see his point. I can however see an app being written to all you to take hand written notes on the iPad, which that would be awesome, and a stylus is the only way to input such content. But again if the display wasn't written to accept input at such a small insertion point (few pixels wide with a stylus as opposed to 50-100 pixels wide with a finger) then he has a valid point there as well.

Sam

blur xc
April 8th, 2010, 11:11 PM
I can see his point where if the applications are stable and manage themselves plus if each closes gracefully as needed, there isn't any need for a task manager. And if apps that don't keep active when they are the focus, like a website or ibook, I can see those apps saving their current state and unloading, then reloading when you bring them back to focus ... giving the appearance of multitasking. So there is no close per say. And for other apps like Pandora and Skype you can quit playing audio or close a call when you need to then likewise the state of the app is saved when you remove focus from that app so it doesn't reside in memory.

So if this is all true I can see why a task manager isn't needed ... there aren't any running tasks per say to manage.

As for a stylus, the display may not have been made for input from a stylus, which if that's the case then again I can see his point. I can however see an app being written to all you to take hand written notes on the iPad, which that would be awesome, and a stylus is the only way to input such content. But again if the display wasn't written to accept input at such a small insertion point (few pixels wide with a stylus as opposed to 50-100 pixels wide with a finger) then he has a valid point there as well.

Sam

I've tried using a stylus in the iphone and it doesn't work. I have fat fingers and precise touching can be challenging at times- especially when playing a timed game (bejeweled blitz).

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I like my running apps running and I like my closed apps shut down.

BM

blur xc
April 9th, 2010, 06:23 PM
"Apple blew it" - http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/iphone-os-4-hands-on/

check the video out, starting at about the 2:40 mark...

BM

ve4cib
April 9th, 2010, 08:41 PM
I've tried using a stylus in the iphone and it doesn't work. I have fat fingers and precise touching can be challenging at times- especially when playing a timed game (bejeweled blitz).

Capactive touchscreens (like the ones Apple uses) require a conductive object touching them to function. That's why your finger (which is oily, wet, and conductive) works, but your fingernail (which is dry and made of generally-non-conductive keratin) doesn't work. Since styluses are made to not scratch screens they're typically made out of soft plastics, which are also non-conductive.

You might be able to make a conductive stylus by coating the tip of a normal stylus in some kind of conductive paint. I wouldn't advise using a metal stylus since that could easily scratch the screen.

cbecker78
April 9th, 2010, 09:13 PM
@blur xc - google capacitive stylus (or search amazon) there are actually some commercially available that you can buy- though reviews are mixed on performance. I've always thought a simple metal stylus (with a nice rounded tip) ought to get the job done just fine, though I don't have a cap-touchscreen to test the hypothesis with.

In general- I don't have a clue what that comment from Jobs meant. Are we just supposed to use the Force to switch from one task to the next? Or is he just calling out some difference between a window manager and a manager for "tasks" (i.e., something that forces a process to quit?)...

phrostbyte
April 9th, 2010, 10:29 PM
I don't know why Apple keeps letting Steve Jobs talk to the press.

gletob
April 9th, 2010, 11:25 PM
Capactive touchscreens (like the ones Apple uses) require a conductive object touching them to function. That's why your finger (which is oily, wet, and conductive) works, but your fingernail (which is dry and made of generally-non-conductive keratin) doesn't work. Since styluses are made to not scratch screens they're typically made out of soft plastics, which are also non-conductive.

You might be able to make a conductive stylus by coating the tip of a normal stylus in some kind of conductive paint. I wouldn't advise using a metal stylus since that could easily scratch the screen.

Or you could just be like the Japanese and use Sausage!

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-02/meat-iphone-sausage-stylus

ve4cib
April 10th, 2010, 01:21 AM
Or you could just be like the Japanese and use Sausage!

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-02/meat-iphone-sausage-stylus

According to the article that was South Korea, not Japan. But regardless of the country that's pretty weird.

mkendall
April 10th, 2010, 04:19 AM
Mmmm... sausage. But for some reason I would have expected this from the Germans, not the Koreans.