What I want from Macworld this year
Macworld is right around the corner and I thought I’d throw my two wishlist items out there, so that if they’re actually delivered I can be that much happier than the next guy because I wrote my wishlist down. (Ah, the lessons of Santa.) Both wishes are iPhone-related, and both would make it a much better writing device. (2009 resolutions: stop carrying pens around, make significant progress in killing what remains of my penmanship, and quit fantasizing about that new Curve 8900.)
First, landscape mode in email. I have big thumbs (all the better for hitchhiking!), and I find it much easier to type in landscape mode. I recently picked up the WriteRoom app for note taking, but that’s five bucks I shouldn’t have had to spend, as much as I enjoy supporting ISVs who ship elegant software that takes advantage of a weakness in their host.
Second, a haptic feedback option. There have been rumors on the internets for about a year now that Apple is partnering with a provider of haptic tech, but we’ve seen nothing yet. The touchscreen Blackerry tried to do this, but failed – in the few minutes I spent with the device it just didn’t feel right. (Then again, I’ve grown accustomed to the iPhone.) When I’m doing email I usually turn on the typing sound…but based on the occasional lag in the audible “click” from the speaker I’m not sure if the thing’s fast enough to do a micro- vibrate-on-type right. If it worked, my gut is that it would help make typing on glass for more than a few sentences muuuuch more enjoyable.
It’s 2009, the year of modest expectations. I’m not asking for a solid state sub $500 netbook, or a 7” iPod Touch or even a ship date for Snow Leopard. All I want is for the iPhone to be as great a device for content creation as it is for content consumption. A boy can dream, right?