I, Cringely has an article with a stupid title: Fear of Flying - Why
the iPad 2 Isn't Even Better.
The straw man argument he sets up: If Steve Jobs wants to claim that
post-PC equipment is supposed to be more intuitive, the iPad 2 should have better cut and paste.
This is an overblown statement for several reasons.
- He offers no proof that easy copy/paste is a post-PC requirement.
It's just as likely to be a lingering function of the older PC
model.
- The word "intuitive" itself is misleading. What I think is
intuitive may not match his definition.
- The reasons to limit copy/paste may not be technical; they could be
wrapped up in the legal detail called copyright.
Lack of competitive pressure for this feature indicates either that
Apple's choice is correct or that the solution is just as hard for the
competition to solve.
The Requirements Have Changed
To view a web page, open an app, or play a game should not require
that I copy and paste. That's why this is a post-PC market, not a PC
market: The requirements have changed. If you still want to write a
book or a report for school or work, you're better off with a desktop
or laptop computer with a real keyboard and pointing device and word
processing program. It may be possible to write using an iPad, but it
is not going to be the easiest way.
The iPad is focused as a content consumption tool, not a content
creation tool. The reason we are willing to sacrifice a keyboard and
mouse is because we aren't doing all of our regular PC activities. The
need for copy/paste is low for the implementation for content
consumption.
What Cringely needs to get his head around is what exactly is
important to the post-PC users? Battery life, a wide variety of
copy-protected content (movies, TV shows, books, magazines, music,
etc.), connectivity, apps, etc. are the life blood of the device.
Intuitive Is a Euphemism
Steve Job's statement that something is "more intuitive" is a
euphemism.* Birds flying south for the winter is an intuitive behavior
for birds. People, on the other hand, rely on learning and experience
to develop habits that we then treat as intuitive. For me, it is
"intuitive" that I either use control-C for copy or I highlight and
then right click my mouse to select the text I want to copy.
Truthfully, that is not intuitive; it was learned from years of
use.
Maybe over time the changes in user behavior will become more
adapted to this new product, and new "intuitive" behaviors will be made
possible that will extend to the roles of copying and pasting, but it
is likely that these "intuitive" steps will not match how it is done on
a PC.
The learning curve for new multitouch controls has to be steep, and
throwing in tons of new controls to an unprepared population isn't a
recipe for success. Remember, intuitive is a euphemism. The public will
have to be trained on the new behaviors before they feel intuitive.
Apple and Steve Jobs clearly see the multitouch interaction as a
work in progress. It takes time to train people on the use of a device.
PCs have been around for decades, and many people still don't
understand them. There are people today who don't know keyboard
shortcuts or how to use more than one mouse button to get things done
faster.
At the same time, Apple and all tablet vendors will have to keep
agreements with content providers that may limit what can be copied and
how. Who will buy the "intuitive copy/paste tablet" if you cannot watch
movies, read books, etc. because publishers and studios don't want
their content pirated?
The user who wants better copy/paste is not more important than the
user who wants her favorite movies.
What Apple really wants is for iPad users to interact with the
device without improperly copying and pasting from multiple sources,
since some of those sources may have copyright protection. One possible
solution could be to limit the easy and flexibility of copy and
paste.
Fear Mongering
Cringely's final criticism - that Apple is holding out on features
today so it can add them later to promote its next model - is simple
fear mongering. "Don't buy an iPad now, because the next one will have
better features."
Duh!
I accept that Apple controls what features it will implement (see
Inconsistent Apple) on a
new device, and Apple does it both to maximize profits and to push its
technology agenda.
In this case, I don't see any proof to supports his straw man
argument against Apple. I think that if we accept that other tablet
makers can add these desired features ahead of Apple, then either Apple
doesn't view them as important or Apple is truly not ready to introduce
them.
If this is not an important feature, then delaying cut/paste in
order to implement more competitive features was a smart choice. Apple
has only so much time and money. Every feature has a real cost to
implement and test. Therefore the straw man is false, and Apple's
current copy/paste proves how unimportant this feature is. Apple can
ignore finding a solution, because it doesn't pose a competitive
risk.
Living in the Post PC Era
If Apple is not ready, then something is making the task more
difficult than all the other problems Apple has solved with iPad user
controls. That is also in Apple's favor, because any other company will
have the same difficulties to overcome. Apple is still doing a better
job than people with their mind stuck in the older PC model.
Only a competitor with its mind wrapped around the post-PC model
will be able to best Apple at this task.
Jobs is still right, and Cringely is an overblown windbag with no
perspective of the situation. I find it disingenuous that he had to
create a straw man to attack Apple's way of doing things.
If I were going to attack Jobs' statement, I would ask just how many
people in product development have liberal arts or humanity degrees.
I'm not talking about the people who work in marketing or retail
departments, but people who are developing these post-PC products.
If this is significant, maybe I'll get a degree in French poetry and
apply for a job at Apple - but that sounds less likely to than getting
copy/paste working. 
