Jeff Chausse
Digital Strategy + Design
Thoughts on the iPhone Multitasking Thing
There’s a lot of rallying for full multitasking support on the iPhone, but a lot of that passion is misplaced. I don’t think Apple will ever support “real” multitasking on the iPhone.
Why? Because the main point of multitasking is to be able to move quickly from one application to another. But this goal can be solved in ways other than running multiple programs simultaneously. If a program can return to the exact state you left it in, in a matter of seconds, from a cold start – what does it matter to the user if it was “running” or not, while you weren’t using it? That’s the approach Apple took, and it’s a wise one. It works the vast majority of the time, only failing when third party apps are too slow, or neglect to return you to the exact state you were in when you left. Betting on faster processors and memory instead of gigantic batteries to handle needlessly-running, multiple simultaneous processes, was a very forward-thinking move – and an environmentally sensitive one to boot.
Apple basically waited for Moore’s Law to make multitasking (mostly) irrelevant. What’s interesting is that, as Moore’s Law chugs along, it could drive user-friendly computers to move in the opposite direction.
Battery life is one reason Apple doesn’t support multitasking on the iPhone. The other is complexity. You (the user) can avoid the battery drain problem by multitasking wisely. But that requires a whole lot of abstract thinking. Users have to be savvy enough to figure out how many processor cycles an app is likely to use in the background, and figure out what to quit, and when. I use a jailbroken iPhone because I really want background audio apps, and even I (a well-trained “computing professional”) fail to “multitask responsibly” – my battery giving out when I least expect it. The “it just works like magic” value proposition of Apple products takes an enormous hit when complex issues like processor cycle usage are exposed to the user.
The complexity issue of multitasking can be solved by Moore’s Law + time. It will evaporate when computers that can run unlimited processes simultaneously come into being. At that point, there will be no need to close any app, ever. Don’t think that day will come? Well, 20 years ago, did you ever think you’d be able to put every piece of media you own into a pocket-sized hard drive? Moore’s Law causes drastic paradigm shifts across decades. That day will come.
But…
There’s one component of computing devices that is notoriously resistant to Moore’s Law – which evolves at a glacial pace compared to processors, memory, and hard drives: the battery. We may never have a portable battery powerful enough to reliably support this “everything-always-running” world. And that’s why this future computing paradigm will likely never hit the iPhone (at least not for many decades).
In a world without utterly transparent multitasking, the only way Apple can preserve their “magic” is to follow a piecemeal strategy of tackling the symptoms of all this multitasking wishing. Aside from quickly switching between apps, there are three reasons people want multitasking. Apple has already tackled two, and is definitely working on the third, right now.
Multitasking use case #1: Working with data between multiple apps
Apple tackled this first by introducing a very clever “cut and paste” system. Granted, it’s no substitute for having multiple application windows open simultaneously, side by side, but only the most hard-core nerds would argue for a need to run something like a programming IDE on a phone.
Multitasking use case #2: Letting one app send you information while you’re using another app
Apple later tackled this problem with their “Push service“. Of course, it’s not perfect – it’s limited to simplistic Javascript-style “alert boxes” – but it handles the huge majority of use cases just fine. Of course, it requires an always-on server component to work – but in this day and age, if you’re scared of “the cloud”, you probably shouldn’t be developing software.
Multitasking use case #3: Background audio
Here’s the real sticky one, still horribly broken, and desperately crying out for a solution. Pandora and Simplify Media are awesome audio applications (and there are others), but they’re pretty much useless to me without background processing – because I rarely have nothing to do except listen to music. I don’t turn off my radio when I read email on my computer, why should that happen on my phone?
So, how’s Apple going to tackle this one? I think I know the answer, and I think a lot of people won’t like it. See, there is one audio app that can run in the background – it’s the “iPod” app. I predict Apple is going to enumerate everything other music apps do, that iPod doesn’t – and add those features to the iPod app. (Remember that Lala acquisition?). Apple’s not afraid of telling users they don’t need apps that duplicate what the iPhone’s built-in apps can do (it’s definitely not afraid of telling developers that) It’s a sort of “boil the ocean” strategy, but Apple already boiled the music ocean once…
A Thought on the iPhone Keyboard
While reading an article partly about the iPhone user experience, a thought dawned on me about the virtual keyboard. Like many other people, I was afraid that the lack of tactile feedback would be disorienting and difficult to get accustomed to. And, like most people who have moved to the iPhone, I’ve found that it really isn’t. That got me thinking about the whole nature of “touch typing”.
Think back to high school (those of you who actually took typing classes). What was the “sales pitch” the teacher gave you about “touch typing”? Well, it made you more efficient by stopping you from having to repeatedly move your eyes from the keyboard to the screen (or, er, paper – at least when I was in high school).
Now think about the iPhone. Where’s the keyboard? Where’s the screen? Your eyes never have to move more than 3 inches to jump between the two. AND, with the large visual pop-up key feedback (the real stroke of genius), you can rely on your peripheral vision to ensure correct keypresses, and still never take your eyes off of the entered text. Apple simply took a negative limitation of a mobile device (limited room for both display and input), and turned it into a positive – the ability to support a virtual keyboard by replacing tactile feedback with peripheral visual feedback.
Turning limitations into advantages is a hallmark of both great marketing and great user experience design. Whenever you’re in the process of designing a transformative product like the iPhone, always be sure to ask yourself “What old rules no long apply?”
Skyhook Wireless gets USA today treatment
I guess it may be unhealthy for me to obsess over companies that I unsuccessfully interviewed at, but Skyhook Wireless just has a really cool technology that’s fun to keep tabs on. Their big news is that they just got their stuff built into the iPhone, which is something they were considering a longshot bet when I interviewed there just 4 or 5 months ago. Congrats to them. They just got written up in USA Today. Oddly, USA Today lists them as having 270 employees. When I interviewed there, last summer, I think they had about 15. Either USA Today needs to do its fact checking, or they’re counting the part-time drivers as employees, or Skyhook had an impressive 2,000% increase in headcount in just a few months.
A bit of an ironic twist: I got a tad lost when I was heading to my interview there, and was on foot with only a Blackjack cell phone to guide me. If I had a Skyhook enabled iPhone, it would have made things a lot easier.
My Take on Amazon Kindle
Another year another eBook reader. Ignoring the Kindle’s circa 1981 industrial design, here’s a simple experiment to explain why eBooks will never succeed:
- Make a list of the top 10 biggest geeks you know
- Make a list of the 10 people you know who own the most books
Create a Venn diagram of these lists.
If the geeks don’t want their books digitized, who does?
Google Android Revealed
The cat’s out of the bag. Google has revealed their mobile phone domination plans, and the Android OS looks pretty sweet. Download the SDK to get the emulator for the full experience.
Oh yeah, they’re also giving away a pile of money to early developers – get coding!
Apple Repair Pricing
Apple 4GB iPhone price: $299
Apple 4GB Out-of-Warranty repair price (regardless of what’s wrong): $199.
Apple’s Out-of-Warranty pricing seems to work this way: Charge as much money as possible without convincing the user just to buy a new product. Thereby, A) Making them feel like an idiot for breaking the item, and B.) Not giving them the satisfaction of at least getting a shiny new item.
I bring this up for no particular reason. Oh wait, I forgot my Twitter posts show up on my blog… Wish me luck.
ReQall – Way Better than Voice Memo for iPhone
As someone who often thinks up brilliant* ideas while driving, I’ve been looking for a safe way to make note of them in the car. I’ve got me this iPhone here, but it has no Voice Memo feature. Nor is it possible to leave myself a voicemail with it. (At least not without some crazy setup). What’s a guy to do?
Well, I just discovered ReQall.com, and it is way cool. Just sign up, call a special phone number and leave a message whenever the urge strikes you. They will then take that message and transcribe it to text – using actual human beings – (you can request a no-human version if you’re paranoid, though you risk set so doubling the killer delete select all).
You can then peruse your memos online later via the regular web or via a special iPhone interface.
I’m not sure how these guys make money, but there are plenty of hooks in the system for them to throw ads into. Haven’t hit them yet, though, and I’d be willing to put up with an occasional commercial message for this service – as long as they don’t affect the memo recording process.
* ideas may not be brilliant
MagSafe-ish adapter for Headphones
A company called RePlug has made a dongle of sorts that will convert any 1/4 inch jack + device into a MagSafe type connection. Pretty cool, and smart that they went with one of the most ubiquitous types of cable for its initial product launch, but one of the most obvious, eager audiences would be G3/G4 PowerBook/iBook owners.
iPhone Update Arrives
iPhone version 1.1 software has been released. Update yer phones via iTunes.
New features according to the installer:
- iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
- Louder speakerphone and receiver volume
- Home Button double-click shortcut to phone favorites or music controls
- Space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
- Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape
- Stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather can be re-ordered
- Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
- Support for TV Out
- Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally
- New Passcode lock time intervals
- Adjustable alert volume
Oddly enough, the non-sortable cities in the Weather app really was annoying me… Aside from the Wi-Fi Music Store, I think I could take or leave all the rest… I’d love for Home Button double-click to bring me to Safari bookmarks…
MagStay PRO — Another Apple Accessory I Don’t Understand
The ironically named “ThoughtOut.biz” has created the MagStay PRO, a handly little plastic widget which prevents Apple’s MagSafe power adapter from accidentally being removed from your MacBook Pro. Which, incidentally, is the entire purpose of the MagSafe connector. But who am I to tell people that they shouldn’t pay $11.99 to de-fling-off-table-proof their laptop.