One of my biggest questions right now, which may in fact be elementary, is whether platform-wide functions that are basic to any modern computing device (like copying/cutting and pasting text, for example) will be present on the iPhone, since the iPhone's OS doesn't seem to have a consistent top-level menu format for all applications, but rather a dedicated and unique interface design for each application.
My gut reaction is 'of course; how could they not include that ability?' But I actually wonder how well this would work in terms of selecting text with the touchscreen interface as opposed to the relative precision of the scrollwheel or "pearl" on a Blackberry. I also saw no evidence of a contextual menu (also something common on Blackberrys and other smartphones with 'softkeys') in any application, so I wonder how a cut/paste function would even be accessed on the iPhone.
Maybe I'm being paranoid and Apple has a brilliant answer to this question, but so far what they're promoting in terms of the interface 'experience' seems focused more on an aesthetic sexiness and less on certain core usability issues, like this one. It's nice to know that when I flick my finger a bunch of album covers will flip by all pretty-like, but I'd also like to know that I could copy a url from Safari and paste it into an email or text message, or maybe copy information in an email and paste it into a note or calendar appointment.
Are functions like this so basic that Apple won't even bother covering them in their promotional demos, or have they skimped on something (several things?) that should be indispensable in a device of this caliber? Thoughts?
My gut reaction is 'of course; how could they not include that ability?' But I actually wonder how well this would work in terms of selecting text with the touchscreen interface as opposed to the relative precision of the scrollwheel or "pearl" on a Blackberry. I also saw no evidence of a contextual menu (also something common on Blackberrys and other smartphones with 'softkeys') in any application, so I wonder how a cut/paste function would even be accessed on the iPhone.
Maybe I'm being paranoid and Apple has a brilliant answer to this question, but so far what they're promoting in terms of the interface 'experience' seems focused more on an aesthetic sexiness and less on certain core usability issues, like this one. It's nice to know that when I flick my finger a bunch of album covers will flip by all pretty-like, but I'd also like to know that I could copy a url from Safari and paste it into an email or text message, or maybe copy information in an email and paste it into a note or calendar appointment.
Are functions like this so basic that Apple won't even bother covering them in their promotional demos, or have they skimped on something (several things?) that should be indispensable in a device of this caliber? Thoughts?
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