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Jan 28, 08 - 02:00 pm Comment from: DLMeyer

Now ... that's an obvious way of doing things. Guess you need to be highly conversant in both iPhoneOSX and Mac OSX in order to catch that little detail.
Hello, Apple? If this is a "full OSX", maybe it ought to be a bit more compatible with the previous and alternate versions of OSX?
Sorry, while Sven is technically "wrong" about this, I can easily understand how well over 90% of iPhone users could be similarly "wrong". Heck, I just read the 'tip' and I'm not sure I could manage this the first (or second, or even third) try.
Dave

I love you too

Jan 28, 08 - 02:03 pm Comment from: Wun Dum Gai

Are we converging towards a PDA?

. . . cough cough

Jan 28, 08 - 02:08 pm Comment from: Petey

I think I have the solution to this problem...

How about when you press down on the screen and the magnifying glass appears, hold it down for one more second longer and then it turns into a cursor which you can then highlight the text to copy and paste?

To then copy the selected text you tap once and to paste you tap twice.

Apple - if you use this idea you can pay me in Apple Hardware

Jan 28, 08 - 02:09 pm Comment from: BiZarRo BaLlmEr

Nice job. But can't we make a scissor motion with our fingers to cut and then a paste motion (like a paint brush) to insert?

Scew the loupe, screw the pinching, screw the addition of copy/paste to the iPhone.

Just redesign the whole thing and get it right this time.

iPhone II *hurray!!*

And for christsake, ditch the assine glossy displays on the Mac's. Or at least give seasoned pros the option of matte finish on all product lines.

I'm tired of not being able to see parts of the computer screen and crappy film glare filters totally suck on such nice equipment.

Jan 28, 08 - 02:12 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

Of course we are converging toward a PDA. Considering what the SDK will open up, I don't see any other way.

What the hell is wrong w/ the dude in the video? He's lips are trembling and then he speaks but nothing comes out of his mouth..did he try to eat an iphone or something?

Jan 28, 08 - 02:16 pm Comment from: IKON

Until this method is officialy implemented, I'll stick with the post-its.

Jan 28, 08 - 02:21 pm Comment from: Ampar

Clutch Cargo lives! Spinner and Paddlefoot were probably running the camera.

What about this:

Put 2 fingers down on the screen and hold it. This causes 2 loupes to come up, as well as a small menu to appear at the bottom of the screen that gives you the option of 'cut' 'copy' or paste. These loupes do not go away when you lift your fingers off the screen. You can then position the first loop at the start of text you want to select and the second loop at the end of the text. Once you have made your text selection, you choose an action on the menu at the bottom of the screen. Tap anywhere else on the screen to cancel the mode.

Jan 28, 08 - 02:46 pm Comment from: shiftOpt k

hahaha!! that video is hilarious! and I think that might be a great way to do copy/paste… i'm really ready for it that's for sure.

jbella,
i've actually thought of it being done in a similar way to the way you described also. something like simply tapping with 2 fingers, then spreading them over the text to highlight what you want to copy. only problem with my way is the whole zooming aspect of the iphone os. ah well, i'm sure apple will figure it out sooner or later.

Jan 28, 08 - 02:56 pm Comment from: Jamie

how about some iScissors?

@Old Mac Man

Macwin's Law:

"As an online discussion on MDN grows longer, the probability of a complaint involving glossy screens approaches one."

What about search function? If I want to find out when I scheduled something, I have to go hunting through the Calendar or go back to my Mac. Hopefully search functionality will accompany cut and paste.

Why does everyone assume that the only thing anyone will want to copy and paste is text?

Jan 28, 08 - 03:19 pm Comment from: Ampar

On the Zune, you just put your hand through the glass and move things around. All you need are plenty of bandages and a hit of acid.

Jan 28, 08 - 03:20 pm Comment from: bobchr

Exactly. That's only one reason why I've been calling on all you Monday morning software engineers out there to come up with a proposal rather than bitch, whine and kvetch. At least someone is trying.

Jan 28, 08 - 03:35 pm Comment from: Sixvodkas

Old Mac Man

Anyone calling themselves a "Pro", ought to be using Pro equipment and not entry level consumer boxes.

Every flippin' one of Apple's "Pro" machines has the option for the dullard matte screens, so either buy Pro equipment for your professional needs, or learn how to click the correct option when you're ordering a computer.

See? Matte dulls the brain.

The suggested method in the article is too complicated. Remember how the iPhone came without a big, thick manual? Apple wants to keep it simple. You want to be able to turn on the iPhone and copy/paste with little or no instruction.

@shreddrick

Isn't it obviuos that the the guy who does the talking has added a layer from iPhone videos. He just added a hole to get his mouth through. Faster than finding lip sync spots from the video.

Simple -- hold down two fingers for half a second to begin the highlight cursor.

MDN MW = "faith" as in, I have faith that the iPhone will have simple features such as copy/paste and search.

Jan 28, 08 - 03:52 pm Comment from: Petey

Lol - that guys mouth has been pasted on in post production.

rofl!

Jan 28, 08 - 04:06 pm Comment from: The Other Steve

Petey -
I was just about to say/type the same thing but you beat me to it.
Only difference is when text is selected, the Cut-Copy-Paste buttons appear at the bottom of the screen. Maybe even add a "Select All" button when the text curser is present.

Simple, intuitive, and your still only use one finger.

(I think it goes without saying that anything posted here is free for Apple to use)

Anyone calling themselves a "Pro", ought to be using Pro equipment and not entry level consumer boxes.

Duh, I have a PowerMac G5 with 30" glorious matte and a MacBook Pro matte.

It's all the idiots I have to take care of who foolishly bought a glossy screen computer and complaining of headaches and eyestrain.

Jan 28, 08 - 04:29 pm Comment from: MacBill

Apple is so idiotic. They INVENTED the concept of copying-and-pasting (and many other functions) through the use of drop-down menus in every program... and then they COMPLETELY THREW AWAY DROP-DOWN MENUS WITH THE iPHONE! You can't have an advanced device without drop-down menus for your more advanced functions! Apple, just give us a drop-down menu at the top of the screen, and then you can add copy/paste and a whole slew of other much-needed functionality! This is just one of the reasons the Treo is still, to this day, a much more advanced smartphone than the iPhone.

"You can't have an advanced device without drop-down menus for your more advanced functions!"

DARN RIGHT! And you can't have a handheld device with a touchscreen with NO STYLUS!!! oh, wait...

They did kinda blow it on the iPhone/Touch. It should have been one tap on some text to place the cursor and 2 and 3 taps to select word and the whole thing. And then, yeah, pull down menus to cut/copy/paste/select all, etc. I don't think they can use the tap and hold to bring up a "context menu". That's a Windows Table PC behavior that Microsoft may have patented.

Crap, you can't even cut/copy/past files from the finder menu in regular OSX, so I'm sure they'll at least come up with something goofy for the iPhone/Touch.

Can we ban Old Mac Man from making yet another comment about glossy screens?

Jan 28, 08 - 07:41 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Great video, although I feel the iPhone has neglected the obvious use of tongues to do much of the heavy lifting.......

Simply hold the phone firmly in one hand and throw it in the closest river. Then come to the realisation that you got sucked in, get over it and buy a phone that does what you want it to do.

This is waaay too complicated, and Jobs would probably agree with me.
A button for select text, then tap to select and then small buttons for copy and paste up at the top or bottom would be much easier to figure out for the average Joe. Holding one finger and then tapping another and all than junk is not intuitive.

These ideas are all well and good, but they're all trying to shoehorn a desktop UI metaphor into the iPhone.

I think the whole concept of selecting a block of text and copying and pasting should be rethought.

The clipboard thing has always been less than ideal because it requires that you hold some awareness of an additional system mode in your mind ("What state is the clipboard in right now?"). Multi-clipboard utilities, while helpful in some situations, only complicate that mental chore further.

Don't try to tell me you've never hit "Paste" only to get something completely unexpected, or you've never blown something away by copying over the existing clipboard contents.

How about eliminating the concept of a clipboard intermediary entirely, and along with it the need to do that initial "copy" step? Why, when I'm composing something, can I not simply tell it to fetch and suck in a block of text (or other content) from anywhere else in the system?

While we're at it, let's replace the need to drag tediously and meticulously across just the right letters/words in a block of text to get what we want. What about treating text as grab-able, movable, subdividable blocks (paragraphs, sentences, words, whatever) instead of a giant, wrapped linear "snake" like it is now? (Yes, I know you can double-click to select a word, tripe for the paragraph, whatever - enhance these and make them THE way to interact with text)

Just my 10 cents