Halfway through, he says:

When the first generation [of iPhone] came out I offered the view, based on my experience of releases and refinements in this field, that iPhone the Third would be The One. I still believe this to be true. Any wishlist for hardware and software improvements in v3.0 would be bound to hope for – nay demand – the following:

So, what did St Stephen of Fry wish for? And can 2023 iPhones and Android match His expectations?

Fry's Wishlist

1. Cut and paste. I mean come on!!

Yes! Inexplicably this was a Hard Problem™ for multiple devices. Even Windows Phone 7 launched without such basic text editing. The iPhone eventually got this in 2009.

2. iPhone version of Safari to be Flash capable.

No! In 2010, Steve Jobs published his "Thoughts On Flash" letter. He (correctly) described all the problems with Flash and why it would never be suitable for the iPhone.

You may not remember, but Flash was ubiquitous at the time. Symbian phones had (rudimentary) Flash players, as did early Android phones. That wasn't enough to save the publication format. Nor was there enough consumer pressure to force Apple into supporting it.

3. Video recording: iPhone should be like a Flip

Yes. It may surprise you to learn that the original iPhone couldn't record video! Nearly every cameraphone on the market could. But not iOS.

4. Upgrade of camera (xenon flash, higher res)

Yes. Again, the original iPhone had a 2MP camera and no flash - compared to the contemporary Nokia N95 which had a 5MP sensor, Carl Zeiss lens, and a flash. Nowadays the iPhone has more cameras on it than seems possible.

5. Front facing video camera for 3G video calls

Yes and no. Again, the first few iPhones had no FFC. It wasn't until 2010's iPhone 4 that it got the ability to do video calls.

But! Only via Facetime. I don't think the iPhone has ever supported the GSM specification for carrier video calling. To be fair, mobile networks repeatedly shat the bed in terms of pricing their calling options, so repeatedly had their lunch stolen by "Over The Top" services like Facetime and WhatsApp.

6. MMS

Ish? Because the aforementioned carriers decided to price MMS as a premium product, most users turned to WhatsApp or similar. But, as Fry predicted, iOS 3 came with MMS.

7. User file management capabilities

Steve Jobs suggested that users didn't understand filesystems. And, therefore, the app should manage its specific files. That's a design decision which iOS still embodies. While there are now some limited ways to manage files, you're mostly at the mercy of the individual apps.

Of course, in a self-fulfilling-prophecy, people who grew up with an iPhone don't understand how file systems work.

Android, of course, doesn't give a shit at will happily let apps crap all over the filesystem.

8. Bluetooth that is worthy of the name. File transfers between different phones and platforms is a minimum requirement.

Hahaha! No. In 2013, iOS 7 introduced AirDrop which made it possible to transfer large files quickly between iOS devices and other Mac devices. But there's no way to send Bluetooth files to the filthy scum who use Android. Ewww!

9. A memory card slot.

No. And fuck you for asking! If you fill up your device, just buy a new one!!!

To be fair, the latest iPhones do offer a terabyte of storage. And, nowadays, it is getting rarer to find an Android which will take a MicroSD card.

10. AM/FM radio. (Mobile TV too, why not?)

What, are you some kind of Communist who wants to listen to music for free?!?! Just buy your songs from iTunes like a normal person.

Although there were adapters for radio signals there was never any native support for free-to-air radio. Several Android devices support AM/FM and use a standard headphone cable as an antenna.

As for TV? There is a standard for mobile broadcast called DVB-H. But it was only ever supported by a few Nokia phones and never any Android devices.

11. Better (and removable) battery.

Better? Yes? Removable? Again, fuck you for asking. Buy a new phone or pay for an expensive replacement.

12. Built in projector (this prolly won’t come till V4, but you never know)

I love the idea of iPhone users having a high-intensity light source with which to dazzle people! Sadly, this technology never came to iPhone. There are a few Android devices with built-in projectors but it still remains a niche bit of tech. There are too many compromises around picture quality, power consumption, and heat to make it worthwhile.

13. Customisable glossary for Apple’s predictive text input system. BlackBerry has a superb autotext that allows BB units still to outperform iPhone when it comes to input.

Yes, eventually. Early iPhones let you add custom text shortcuts albeit with some truly atrocious hacks.

14. Email to be widescreen capable.

It is bizarre that early iPhones didn't let you use landscape orientation in some key apps. Thankfully, this is now possible. INNOVATION!

15. Attachable proprietary or third party peripherals: keyboard, projector (if not built in see wish 12), printer etc. Maybe not necessary if iPhone implementation of Bluetooth gets the kick up the arse it needs.

*sigh* Apple's proprietary Lightning port and strict licencing programme means that there are some peripherals. It isn't like Android where you can shove in an OTG cable and use basically any USB device.

Coda

After his main list, Fry says:

I would add to that list three demands that are more to do with the way Apple and the network companies limit the iPhone’s power.

Oh, this should be good…!

1. Jailbreaking to be tolerated – encouraged, even

I hear Jobs spinning in his grave just thinking about it. Those who violate the holy sanctity of the iPhone must be cast out!

To be fair, the main reason for jailbreaking back in 2008 was to enable 3rd party app stores. It will be interesting to see if recent anticompetitive investigations will reignite this debate.

Also of interest is the way that Apple adopted some of the customisations released by the jailbreak community.

2. Unlocking not to be hobbled by iTunes

Back in 2009, I was frustrated that iTunes was needed to set up an iPhone. Nowadays, you don't need a separate computer and unlocking is handled remotely.

3. Apps designers to be freer to innovate yet further.

Well, yes and no. There are lots of interesting apps. But if designers are too innovative, or not socially conservative enough, their apps won't get released.

Again, this is an excellent reason to require Apple to allow alternative app stores.

Verdict

Overall, Stephen Fry did a good job of predicting what Steve Jobs would eventually launch.

It's interesting to remember that it wasn't obvious that the iPhone would succeed. It launched without features which the rest of the industry had decided were essential, but which regular customers didn't seem to care for.

Would I love to see an iPhone with a projector, 3rd party app store, and a built-in TV tuner which can save video to an SD card, while I use my USB keyboard to shuffle files on the filesystem? Sure! But that's what Android is for.

⏻ ⏼ ⭘ ⏽ ⏾

They’re available to use in the browser, in emails, and messages.

Here’s how they look, in both dark and light mode:

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Anyone with iOS 14 able to see these 5 symbols?
If not - who do I still know at Apple that is willing to listen to me grouch at them?

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

If you've got the new iOS, I'd love to know how our new Unicode Power Symbols render.
⏻ ⏼ ⏽ ⭘ ⏾
UnicodePowerSymbol.com
THANKS GANG!

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Mark Baker

@Mark_Baker_UK

Replying to @edent@edent Yup can see them on iOS 14 👍 pic.x.com/hpue9dgaku

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Sadly, Android users still can’t take advantage of these new symbols. Although Google have added them to their Noto fonts – they show a curious reluctance in rolling them out to Android. Hopefully this new iOS availability will help them reconsider.

If you’d like to add these symbols to your computer or your website, you can download the Power Symbols font or Google's Noto Sans Symbols 2.

Huge thanks to the gang at Apple for helping bring these characters to millions of users. It's fantastic to see a tiny proposal to a standard suddenly be made available world-wide. Although it isn't technically an emoji, I'm excited to see people using it for all sorts of things.

At the time, I wrote:

The revenue share is 70/30. I really think MS have missed a trick here. It’s an “industry standard” price point because no one wants to get in to a price war. Increasing the share that goes to the developer would be an excellent way to convince wavering developers to adopt the platform.

Back in 2010, BlackBerry charged developers 30% as did Nokia Ovi, and HP's WebOS, app stores from Opera and Samsung charged the same amount, even the Amazon app store charged 30%. None have shifted their pricing in the last decade.

That's curious, isn't it? Surely a new entrant into the market - or one struggling to retain market share - would have picked a different revenue split?

What a coincidence that they all, independently, came to the conclusion that 30% was a fair and reasonable amount to charge developers.

In a healthy, competitive market, I would expect these companies to attempt to undercut each other. Sure, some of them offer incentives to large developers - and others offer promotions to smaller developers. But where's the price war to attract developers?

I doubt anyone has said "My favourite app is £1 cheaper on Android, time to ditch my iPhone and buy a Samsung!" But we know from the game console market that exclusive games drive purchases. Recently, Apple forced the removal of the popular "Dark Sky" app from Android - presumably because they wanted users to switch. Attracting developers and convincing them to concentrate on your platform doesn't rely on increased revenue share - but it sure can't hurt.

Obviously, I don't allege that they have acted as a cartel. I mean, just because Apple and Google colluded to suppress workers' wages, doesn't mean they've done so to suppress developers' income. A wide-ranging conspiracy to overcharge developers and pass those costs on to end-users seems unlikely. But I wonder why, in the last ten years, no one has challenged this seemingly arbitrary percentage.

And I wonder which app store will be the first to break ranks?

(Actually, Symbian's ownership and relationship with Nokia is complex. But let's gloss over that for now.)

Symbian was, for its time, a brilliant OS. It ran 3D games smoothly, had terrific hardware support, a decent ecosystem for developers. And it was bloody annoying for users.

Every few minutes, Symbian would interrupt you to ask "Are you sure you want this app to connect to the Internet?"

"Are you super sure that you want it to connect to a secure site?"

"Would you like me to try to remember your choice?"

On and on it went. And then, with great fanfare, Apple and Google disrupted them.

Apple's model was "We have a curated store of artisanal apps, each one backed up by a legal entity with a DUNS number. We check them so you don't have to. Everything on our store is trustworthy."

Ha!

Google's model was "We'll tell you what kind of crap this app will use. Don't like it? Don't use it! YOLO!"

That, of course, led to ostensibly harmless apps asking for ridiculously invasive permissions.

Because, as it turns out, a Libertarian free-for-all doesn't work. It requires rational people to have an educated understanding of the risks they face. Millions of people installed dodgy apps, saw the one-time prompt, and lost control of their data.

With the latest releases of Android and iOS, we're back to where we started. Both now prompt you the first time an app asks for access. Both give you regular reminders of which apps may be snaffling your data. Both let you manage access and selectively deny apps.

There are many (many!) reasons why Symbian lost the Great Mobile Wars. But it is somehow fitting to see the return of design decisions they made decades ago.

That's it. Read a letter, type in which words have been redacted. If you get it right, you're rewarded with the next letter.

I can't understand why this game hasn't been made before. There's literally nothing to have stopped this game being developed on early 8-bit microcomputers. It is interactive fiction - but unlike any I've played before. Rather than changing the plot with your decisions, you merely have to decipher the censored letters you have received to move the story along.

Because you learn about the characters while reading their intimate letters to one and other - and you pick up clues based on their personalities - it's easy to get drawn in to their world. While there is an element of crossword puzzle about it (what 5 letter word for sadness fits here?) there is a huge amount of satisfaction to be gained by trying to think like the letter-writers. In many ways, it's the perfect replacement for CAPTCHA - can you prove you have the contextual understanding and emotional depth of a human?

As the game progresses, the tension creeps in. The pain and suffering expressed in the letters leads to a heartbreaking conclusion.

The game itself is short. I completed it in a few evenings of sporadic play. But it certainly represents value for money. Currently £1.22 - it is a short story, full of twists and turns, which forces you to think about what you're reading in a way I simply haven't encountered before.

Buy Blackbar for Android. Buy Blackbar for iOS.

Apple is at an interesting nexus with its iPhone. It's hugely popular, vastly profitable, beloved by millions, and plagiarised by its competitors. The only fly in the ointment? It's just a little bit dull!

Dull is, of course, another word for consistent. Predictable. Comforting. Pick up an original iPhone and the newly released model and see if you can spot the difference in the user interface. Yes, the screen is nicer and the processor is faster - but the same basic grid of static icons have persisted throughout the last 5 years. The basic UI elements haven't changed a great deal since inception.

Customers love the fact that they don't have to learn a new set of icons and interactions. That one of the reasons that iPhone users are statistically unlikely to churn away from the platform. Not only do all their games, apps, music, and settings seamlessly transfer to the new device - so does their learned behaviour.

The problem that Apple now faces is how it will incorporate innovative new features into the iPhone without disturbing the existing paradigm of static icons and modal dialogue boxes. It has successfully manage to cram in Android's notification bar without too much trouble. Will it be able to add widgets, screen gestures, radial menus, lateral scrolling, and all the other UI tools which customers are learning to love on other platforms?

This was the problem that Nokia faced with Symbian. The Symbian UI was clean, uncluttered, simple and static - much like iOS. Customers bought Symbian phones in their droves because they appreciated the design consistency.

Then things changed.

The Internet became popular and all of a sudden Symbian users were bombarded by notifications "helpfully" asking them if they were really sure that they want wanted to connect to the Internet?

Notifications - for so long the preserve of SMS only - suddenly had to be extended to MySpace and Facebook.

Apps needed to run in the background to provide a constant source of information to the user.

The architecture and UI of Symbian just wasn't up to the job. Even the very latest - and possibly last - device, the N8, feels like a phone from 10 years ago with the modern features shoehorned in. Last year, Symbian was taken out to the woodshed and shot by Stephen Elop. It was a small mercy (and one likely to be visited on Elop by the Nokia shareholders before too long).

Is the iPhone about to reach that tipping point? Users with "unlimited" data plans are still forced to download certain large items over wifi. Users dissatisfied with the browser or the mapping apps are unable to set other apps to take over their duties. Power users are frustrated that they can't use better keyboards.

All little niggles, for now - and all straightforward to fix. But in fixing those problems, and modernising the UI, Apple risks alienating its core customers

But it's getting obvious that Android has a serious design problem - even with the gorgeous new "Holo" theme for ICS.

The issue is one of consistency. Users have limited cognitive surplus and often rely on muscle memory to perform tasks. So anything which forces applications to behave in a similar way is often highly appreciated.

One thing which is bugging me about the Galaxy Nexus and ICS is the placement of the "Menu" button. This button is used to open up a program's options, or access its functions. It always used to be a physical key on the device - now it has become virtual.

A virtual key isn't of itself a huge problem - but the placement of it is.

In some apps it appears at the top of the screen, in others it's on the bottom, and on some the button appears in the virtual button bar. Take a look at these examples:

In Twitter, the menu button is on the virtual button bar

In the browser, the menu button is on the top.

In Gmail, the menu button is at the bottom of the screen, but not on the virtual bar.

In the stock SMS app, the menu button starts at the bottom...

...but then jumps to the top!

So every time you go in to an app, you have to search for the menu button and remember where it is for that app for that particular context.

What a total annoyance. You can't just remember once and get used to it - you have to check on every single screen of every single app. No reliance on muscle memory is possible. All very frustrating.

Now, Android isn't alone in this. I remember the last time I used iOS being frustrated with the number of different ways there were to delete an item in stock apps. Sometimes there was an icon (although rarely the same one), sometime you had to swipe, sometime you had to tap-and-hold.

It's a symptom of a lack of strict guidelines. I've worked on a project where - due to no one person being in charge of UI - we ended up with six different icons to represent delete - one of which was identical to the "close window" button!

It's one of those tiny little stumbling blocks which gradually builds up into the user resenting the interface. This is the sort of mistake that professionals in the UI / UX field should not be making.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Prediction*: iPhone5 & Samsung Galaxy S 3 to have IDENTICAL hardware. Battle of the OS / ecosystems!

*Well, wishful thinking!

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Wouldn't it be great if there was a proper show-down between the two major players? You could really compare which OS was best given the same hardware. Is iOS's camera software better than Android's when given the same lens and CCD? Which runs faster when CPU, GPU, and memory are identical?

According to WP-Life, Samsung's Galaxy S III will run both Android and Windows Phone 7!

Judging by the article, there will be some cosmetic changes - but the basic hardware will be the same.

What a show that will be! I think WP7 is a beautiful but flawed OS. Android is powerful, but struggles on anything less than excellent hardware.

One day - one glorious day! - we may see hardware which will accept any software. Imagine, just like a PC, being able to buy the hardware and then choose which OS you want on it. I've written about porting Android to Nokia hardware, and I run Ubuntu on my MacBook Pro.

A true ecosystem involves freedom to move between platforms without artificial restrictions.