[LINK] Disaster management on an Apple iPhone

[Stilgherrian]

On 17/7/07 10:13 AM, "Tom Worthington" <Tom.Worthington at tomw.net.au> wrote:
> More generally, I wonder how the iPhone will effect the development
> of web applications and interfaces.

Well, the lads at 37 Signals, who've created such excellent web-based
applications and Basecamp and Highrise, recjon that developing for the
iPhone is a delight:

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/475-designing-for-the-iphone-is-a-refresh
ing-experience

    I remarked that I loved the constraints. For example, we know
    the exact screen size/resolution, we know the exact typeface,
    we know how the face renders on the screen, we know the colors,
    we know the browser, etc.

    Then Ryan nailed it: Designing for the iPhone is like a hybrid
    of print and web design.

    The web we all know is rife with uncertainty. We don¹t know
    the viewer¹s screen size or resolution, we don¹t know the
    gamma of someone¹s screen, we don¹t know if they¹ve got a
    certain typeface and/or exactly how that face renders on in
    their browser, we don¹t know the browser they¹re going to use,
    etc.

    But paper, on the other hand, is full of controls. Fixed size,
    fixed faces, fixed colors. What you print is exactly what
    someone sees (assuming you¹ve done your homework on color and
    paper, etc).

    So the iPhone is a weird mix. It¹s the web, and things can
    scroll, and the data is pulled from remote servers, but it¹s
    also a fixed width, a fixed browser, fixed typefaces, etc.
    It¹s pretty cool and a really refreshing design exercise.

    In other ways it¹s also like going back to the early days of
    the web when people¹s connections were a lot slower. The EDGE
    network and mobile phone latency emphasizes the need to keep
    page size down, images sparse, etc. It¹s a return to the
    power of text, shape, color, and basic HTML.

    I love it.

Of course some Linkers will hate 37Signals' products because they have the
temerity to use JavaScript, but hey...

Stil


-- 
Stilgherrian http://stilgherrian.com/
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