Jobs: If you see a stylus or a task manager, 'they blew it'
By Nilay Patel 
posted April 8th 2010 2:48PM
posted April 8th 2010 2:48PM
Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Apple Way, but hey -- tell us how you really feel, Steve.Q: How do you close applications when multitasking?
A: (Scott Forstall) You don't have to. The user just uses things and doesn't ever have to worry about it.
A: (Steve Jobs) It's like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it. In multitasking, if you see a task manager... they blew it. Users shouldn't ever have to think about it.
Time will tell who blew it.
feel this!!!
@mominshahab
ADphone
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@mominshahab
Yea, and I wonder if OSX has a task manager. If it does, then did OSX blow it?
@grapeDrank
Can they do that? Mine's gone out.
@wicketr
If you don't know, you shouldn't be asking that question. Anyway, a tablet is not and arguably should not be using a desktop paradigm for task management.
@mominshahab: It's already rung for Adobe, Motorola, Palm and Microsoft. Next up, RIM, and then, Goog chokes on its own dogfood.
@mominshahab
Sooooo isnt the thing at the bottom of the iphone screen.....showing the stuff that is running...a task manager?
How else will you, I dont know, know what TASK is running?
And a stylus is a bad thing? Nice try, Steve seeing how people are selling stylus to use on you devices.
@grapeDrank LOL. That's funny, but you can't lie. It's true. Users should NOT have to worry about closing anything out. Plain and simple.
@mominshahab
Is he only talking about this in the context of the iPhone/iPad environment? Often times, I find myself having to kill unresponsive apps when I multi-task on Macs, and that wouldn't be nice experience without some kind of a task manager at hand.
@mominshahab
WP7 vs OS4
Neither have task managers, both have stop and resume functions, both can run stuff on the background while the front end is paused on certain apps. (WP7 can do this , two quick example would be loading sites on the background or listening to music)
This isnt the true multitasking us geeks have been waiting for...
If his quote is accurate, either they both blew it or one has copied the other.....which is the greater shame you choose Job? Decide before we decide for you.
@mominshahab lol +1
@mominshahab
Android doesn't come with a task manager?! what is he trying to say?
@mominshahab We'll see. Ultimately, other people have tried to pull this off (we don't need to close apps because of our great multitasking OS), and failed to the point that 3rd party task managers became necessary.
@LAY Thats what I was thinking. That seems like a task manager to me.
@mominshahab
I don't understand how this will work. Give them the benefit of the doubt for now. I'm just curious - if I have 15 Pandora like apps running at once what will happen. I've got to believe that the phone will choke or that the OS will close down apps and make those resources available.
Not sure if that is better than a task manager that I can control.
@Gonzalez4995
I think that there is some confusion between task switcher, task shutter and task manager...well the latter does it all, they just have implemented the task switcher because they think their OS is smart enough to decide when to close any app.
@shhaight I bet five hundred thousand task managers will pop up in the app store and all will be in the top of downloads.
@liquidmonkey They are there already. They typically suck though. They take up screen real estate, when you click them (on accident most of the time) they launch safari. This should be better if it stays in app and is easily dismissible.
Not saying this is anything to get excited about but it is something that sucks with ad supported apps right now.
@LAY
i know, the stylus comment confused me, as im a man my fingers arent slim and womanly, so some tasks are hard to do with fingers
whats wrong with the stylus?
leave me and my manly body alone stephanie jobs!
@LAY
"And a stylus is a bad thing? Nice try, Steve seeing how people are selling stylus to use on you devices."
LOL must have been using a stylus
Reality: 'If you can't receive IM's while in another app, 'they blew it'
@mominshahab It depends. I agree that Task Managers should be avoided. If the OS is sufficiently advanced, the user will never have to manually quit (or force quit) apps.
Regarding the stylus, it depends on the device. With multitouch, there's almost no need for it, but it would've been great to have a Wacom-like experience on the iPad.
@wicketr Is mac a mobile device?....
@LAY So true, so true. LOOOOOL!
@LAY have you ever seen anyone using a stylus with an iPhone?
@mominshahab
Looks like Engadget did, by failing to find any other news in the past 2.5 hours. I bet nothing else is happening anywhere else in the world of tech...right?
@crunc You sign credit card transactions at Apple retail stores on an iPhone with a...
@2South Why, yes it is. http://www.circleid.com/posts/steve_jobs_apple_is_a_mobile_device_company/
@mominshahab
Hrm - Hey Steve - you know about webOS right? about how I can close and open cards without a task "manager" app?
So you're saying that once I open an app on my iphone it's stuck on my bottom bar and I can't "close" it? - so how does this differ from the home button/launcher page then?
PS - Courier will make you eat your words - Stylus input + Universities = WIN. (writing out math calculations / diagrams with my finger = fail)
@mominshahab
Basically this is how it should look: All of Apple's individual apps will be able to multitask without putting significant resource use and therefore they didn't blow it. If third-party companies are unable to code their apps using that same ability then they messed up.
However, there might be some function that wouldn't allow an app to run if it would stall or crash while displaying some message that says this third-party app wasn't coded to work right with the OS4 multitasking.
@mominshahab
We use the task manger everyday in our full desktop OS (which the baby iPhone OS will not replace) , you see the task manger is the Dock in MAC OS X and the Superpar in Windows 7, Yes there is detailed task manger (ctrl-shift-esc) where you can kill application or see which application eating your RAM and/or CPU power, which i enjoy using from time to time, sorry SJ but my full OS blew you.
@mominshahab - Stylus a bad thing? Everyone doesn't have "pointy lady fingers". Some fingers are just to fat my friend and there ain't enough real estate on a phone screen to make big enough buttons to accommodate. Why not have both?
@Kohai
I do NOT want my device to decide which apps to close and which to keep running. Steve Jobs is losing his mind, big time.
And a stylus is still the most natural way for input without using a key board. As a visually oriented person, I like to see what I'm writing and I need to be able to sketch and draw with some kind of control. My index finger doesn't cut it. This is why I'll be the first in line for a Courier when it arrives.
@mominshahab What I don't understand is that if u have any compu knowledge u would jailbreak your iPhones and then use sbsettings and backgrounder to get much better results then what this will provide
@mominshahab Thats what she said.
@joe23521: A line for Courier? Hahahahahahahaha. By the time Microsoft releases a Courier, Apple will be selling a five inch iPad for $199.
So much delusion. So much fail.
Hands up for android
@2South Isn't a Macbook a mobile device?
@LAY If it had a stylus so I could annotate my PDFs (mainly academic papers) I'd buy that thing. But as long as it doesn't I don't see a need for an iPad.
@wicketr
Isn't the dock just a version of a task manager too?
I guess Palm WebOs, which can close apps without a task manager, is the only one who didn't blow it then....
@angermeans They'd better, or everyone will be rebooting whenever that "Low Memory" message pops up.
@LAY actually they really don't sell stylus's for the iphone, they sell sausages that can work as a stylus or a handy little snack while you're on the train.
@Ariel Bender
Good luck carring your 11" iPad, your 5" iPad and your 3.5" iPhone around with you.
If a 5" iPad costs $199 how much is your iPhone 4GS ? Lol
Talking of vapourware you know the price of a device that has yet to be confirmed how did you manage that ?
@wicketr Last I checked, OSX isn't on tablets.
@fourthletter: It won't be long before carriers will be subsidizing most, if not all, of the cost of an iPhone given how much revenue they generate. I would be surprised, but not shocked, if the day when you can get the entry-level iPhone for free with a two-year contract is here within 18 months - say for holiday 2011. The App Store and iAd for Apple and Devs and Voice/Data/Search for Apple and telecoms will be where the real money is - watch out, Googol. Regarding the 5 inch iPad, it will land within 12 months.
WTF isn't there a "my profile" link somewhere on Engadget? I have to leave a comment to get my user id so i can see the previous comments i left. sheesh.
@mominshahab Oh, Steve Jobs, King of the Straw Man argument.
@shhaight Doesn't come with it, but I damn love Taskiller for knowing what's going on on my phone.
@LAY There is a difference between task 'manager' and task 'switcher'. A huge difference. Get with the program.