Yeah, in case you haven't guessed yet, I don't buy it. I'm not sure who this "source" is (and there should be an unwritten rule of journalism that anyone who wears a nametag at a convention booth doesn't get to count as a "source," unless they're talking about nametag news), but if someone from Apple says that implementation was the only reason they haven't put copy-and-paste on the iPhone, then either they're lying, or they're just plain too full of themselves. Let's not forget, despite their achievements, that this is the company that created the worst error message implementation known to man -- the iPhone won't be a failure if the copy and paste is a little more complicated than most other functions. They haven't figured out how to implement it? Surely they've seen this-- they know it's possible.
But here's why my reasoning falls down: I can't think of another reason Apple would keep it off the iPhone. Do they think people don't need to cut and paste? Is the RIAA expanding their fight against copying music to copying and pasting everything? Does Steve just never visit any sites besides Apple.com and thus never have to copy and paste anything? I don't buy the "implementation" argument but I don't, unfortunately, have a better one to put in its place.
[Via Mac Rumors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-28-2008 @ 7:39PM
Bassir said...
They're just trying to find the perfect way to do it.
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1-28-2008 @ 7:44PM
Greg said...
I agree that Apple has some "interesting" error messages, but if you are going to claim that they devised the worst error message known to man, then you had better come up with something else as your example. For one thing, the dialog box cited in the Language Log editorial is NOT an error message. Second, while I grant you that the cited message, and a few others can be confusing, they pale in comparison to the cryptic [real] error messages in either Windows or quite a few iterations of Mac System 7, 8 and 9. Third, even as satire, I am not sure what your point is. The fact that Apple has created crummy dialogue boxes in no way indicates whether they might be trying to do C&P very well. Seems to me that, while C&P on the Mac is not perfect, it has sufficiently withstood the test of time that Apple might in fact care very much about getting it right on the iPhone.
Having said all that, I actually agree with the overall humor of your piece. Surely they have seen the suggested approaches out there, and surely they are aware we want it. So, what the f*** is the holdup?
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1-28-2008 @ 8:08PM
Craig said...
Apple could make the Apple TV a success by putting a tuner in it. Without a tuner it's just an Apple.
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1-28-2008 @ 8:10PM
Hard of Hearing said...
Why would seeing a parody video showing a mockup of C&P on an iPhone mean that Apple would "know it's possible"?
Are you saying that everything we see on YouTube is true?
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1-28-2008 @ 8:16PM
KeynoteKen said...
I find most of the alternatives to be derivative of mouse driven interfaces. Of course, this is expected since that's what most people are used to. Heck, before the iPhone, it was common knowledge that the best way to navigate on a handheld device was to use a menuing system and a stylus (to simulate the tiny point of a mouse on a screen).
1-28-2008 @ 8:11PM
Joel said...
I seriously don't think I know anyone who is computer literate that is so ignorant that they couldn't understand that saying "don't change" will result in NO CHANGE and "Change all" will result in A CHANGE!!!
I seriously wonder about people sometimes.
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1-29-2008 @ 12:30AM
Macskeeball said...
Usability expert Steve Krug has a whole book named after a rule of thumb he calls, "Don't make me think." Attention to the details matters. As Krug put it, like good lighting in a store, it just makes everything seem *better*.
Therefore, the author of that post on the Language Log makes a valid point about that dialog box.
1-29-2008 @ 1:24AM
Dan said...
I agree. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that "Change all" is the Yes the author of that post was looking for, and that "Don't Change" is the No he is looking for. My six year old Nephew had no problem understanding the dialog box labeled here as "the worst error message implementation".
If you want a cryptic error message try this one out.
Blue Screen of Death
What in that message tell me the user what caused the problem?
1-28-2008 @ 8:11PM
KeynoteKen said...
Apple is known for holding releases to work on what some would feel are trivial things, but end up setting the product apart (like the simplicity of the iPod interface). I think there are several proposals, but one implementation likely hasn't passed all the tests of ease and flexibility. The iPhone is selling well without it, so it obviously can wait until they get it right.
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1-28-2008 @ 8:20PM
smrtguy29485 said...
The video's implementation is certainly not feasible. Watch it again. To select text, you bring up the loupe and tap the second finger, turning it into select mode. Now, once you have copied text, to paste it, you do exactly the same thing.
But wait, what if I didn't really want to have copied the previous clipping? It doesn't matter, up pops the clipboard, with options to Cancel or Paste. No matter how much I may want to copy, the iPhone won't let me. I don't think that Apple would really provide support for a system that lets you copy once piece of text before rebooting to copy a second.
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1-28-2008 @ 8:44PM
labrats5 said...
I agree completely. Also, what if I wanted to copy something from within an app that doesn't feature the loop? Like, say, a web page, or a song from my library. No, there seems to be only two ways to do this. One is to put some sort of edit options button withing every app, but that is ugly. The far better but more difficult thing to do would be to designate some gesture that would trigger a copy&paste mode from within most every app. I would suggest double tapping with two fingers, but there are others that could work better.
1-28-2008 @ 8:40PM
Jeff said...
Why would not buy that statement? It is a really big thing to have implemented correctly. Rather than deal with all the problems and venom that come with poor implementation, they are choosing to roll it out right.
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1-28-2008 @ 8:49PM
dannito said...
Like hellodon said, remember the thing about missing Safari's magnifying glass. How to copy something there?!
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1-28-2008 @ 8:51PM
roz said...
holding down the loop and tapping again seems like the right thing. I am not sure what should happen after that.
maybe a single tap would initiate select mode, the loop could change color, drag or next tap to show end point selected range. tap on selection to copy, tap away to cancel, stroke to the right to delete.
go to paste target, hold get into loop, double tap second finger to paste.
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1-28-2008 @ 8:56PM
LightMan said...
Hey could one of you hackers make a cut & paste deamon that could monitor the keyboard/text boxes for a special cut and paste keystrokes/screen taps?
Worst error messages ever! When I first got my iphone, there was a message saying it couldn't talk to my phone, and to restart itunes. after about 10 restarts, I looked up the message in google, and the answer was I was running 64 bit windows! Why couldn't they just say it doesn't work in 64 bit windows!!
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1-28-2008 @ 9:03PM
Ireland said...
My Copy & Paste concept is here on AI: http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=83743
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1-28-2008 @ 9:17PM
MacBookOwner said...
"Does Steve just never visit any sites besides Apple.com and thus never have to copy and paste anything?"
I've used my iPhone since last June, and never have to copy paste anything, and I visit more than just Apple.com.
However, I also don't expect my iPhone to be a computer substitute-it has other uses-Browsing the web, finding directions, watching movies, and listening to music. Oh, and making and receiving calls. None of which require copy and paste to be useful. I also don't miss Flash at all.
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1-29-2008 @ 1:02AM
punkassjim said...
Hear hear. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate the fact that I have to wait until I get back to my Mac before I can do "productive" work. I like having a smartphone, but I can't stand the fact that my work is following me everywhere. I'm cool without copy-paste, I'm cool without Flash (I actually love that there's no Flash, and I'm even a Flash developer), and I'd rather have a limited/elegant phone over a feature-packed/inelegant phone.
1-28-2008 @ 9:24PM
Quine said...
The worst error message ever is, without a doubt, the one i just encountered trying to fix my friend's dell printer on her windows xp machine. Note, the window did not mention dell or a printer at all, I just know the window was spawned by the dell printer driver.
Title: Error
Window Body: An unknown error has occured
Buttons: OK
That's it. Nothing happened to precipitate that, nothing to follow it. When I turned on the printer, tried to print, or tried to uninstall the driver, it popped that up.
So I did what any good person would do to fix a windows system with such an error: reformatted the volume and reinstalled windows. :)
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1-28-2008 @ 9:52PM
BigPaise said...
Hey, it's a phone. It has a microphone. Just pull up the loupe, say "select", drag the loupe, say "cut" or "copy". Move the loupe somewhere else and say "paste". Otherwise, for the voice impaired, have cut, copy, paste buttons (to be touched with another finger) pop up whenever the loupe is activated.
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