Macworld: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever ...

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29 Replies Last post: Jul 28, 2008 9:17 AM by rockosmodurnlife 1 2 Previous Next

Macworld

5,959 posts since
Nov 30, 2007

Jul 22, 2008 9:18 AM

Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

Post your comments for Copy-and-paste: now more than ever here

Daren_Mitchell

78 posts since
Oct 12, 2004

1. Jul 22, 2008 9:38 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

Amen!

kimhill

42 posts since
Aug 28, 2004

2. Jul 22, 2008 9:43 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

We're dying out here waiting for copy & paste.

Keep up the pressure, MacWorld....

cal_gecko

136 posts since
Jul 8, 2006

3. Jul 22, 2008 9:53 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

Definitely would be nice to have... right up there with MMS..

MorrisTheCat

162 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

4. Jul 22, 2008 9:54 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

Totally, completely agree, and I don't even have an iPhone or iPod touch!
I can think of dozens upon dozens of applications that i'd love to see on this platform that are just plain hampered without copy/paste functions.

I read Apple's official reasoning behind the delay, but I really think they have miscalculated with this. I find it hard to imagine what was so pressing to include in this go-round that it pushed copy/paste off the top of the list. Come on Apple! What are you thinking? The Newton had it, Palms have had it, every smart phone out there has it… EXCEPT the iPhone. Glaring hole if I ever saw one.

SLLhotD

13 posts since
Jun 28, 2008

5. Jul 22, 2008 10:05 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

There are always flaws

SLLhotD
web.mac.com/dheeraj_flyboy
youtube.com/SLLhotD

kboone34

63 posts since
Feb 19, 2004

6. Jul 22, 2008 10:06 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

While I just can't put my finger on it, it is clear to me that Apple has intentionally held back on this one. Note to Mr. Jobs. At this point, there is no other feature that is wanted or requested more. So in plain english, here's my request. (1) COPY . . . . . STOP (2) PASTE . . . .STOP. If that is the only improvement/update/upgrade that you make in a 12 month period, it would more than satisfy me and I'm sure most of the iPhone/iPod touch community. Please Apple, for the last time. Copy and Paste. Mark my word, when you implement & announce it at a keynote, there will be a roar from the crowd, that will blow you off the stage. So how shall I end this rant of mine? COPY AND PASTE PLEASE

kimhill

42 posts since
Aug 28, 2004

7. Jul 22, 2008 10:08 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

One of the problems here is that not enough people are complaining about the lack of copy & paste now. It's not because they don't care, it's because after a year, they've been beaten down. I'm not sure that Apple grasps the difference.

Every day, thousands of iPhone users have a compromised experience because of the lack of copy & paste. Time for Apple to finally step up.

SpinThis!

21 posts since
May 3, 2001

8. Jul 22, 2008 10:24 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

MMS is likely to never get implemented... people need to stop asking for it and start using e-mail. As more phones move away from MMS and have e-mail on their mobile devices, eventually this won't be a problem.

As for copy and paste, I don't think it's as easy to implement as everyone seems to imply. I've seen plenty of "mockups" for copy/paste and most are convoluted at best. If anyone can do better, it's Apple. Design is one thing... making sure it works well in all applications without potentially breaking the paradigm is another and is tremdendously important.

Second, Apple is laying the groundwork for a new platform... so anything they do is likely to be there for the long haul, unchanged. It's a shame Apple didn't get to this before the SDK was released but that's just the way it happened.

I would imagine when Apple release a new version of the iPhone software in September when the push implementation is enabled, let's hope they nail down copy/paste at that time.

NaOH

80 posts since
Oct 4, 2004

9. Jul 22, 2008 10:33 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

One of the things that was quoted as a reason for there being no copy and paste in the past, was the lack of an intuitive gesture to access the copy and paste function.

After having used the iPhone 2.0 system, I think the obvious way of accessing copy and paste is through the magnifying glass that comes up when you hold your finger against editable text.

This feature appears intended to allow precision positioning of the cursor for editing text.

I would imagine it could be implemented by making the magnifying glass glow if you continue to hold still after the magnifying glass appears. Once it is glowing, you can highlight text. Once you let go, a menu appears that gives access to copy and paste commands.

If I can come up with a way to make the feature accessible, I'm sure Apple's user interface engineers have thought of dozens of better ways.

I'm not convinced that the reason why they are reluctant to allow copy and paste is related to the user interface.

Could it be a security issue? Copy and paste needs to allocate an area of memory for the copied data to reside. That area might have to be outside the application sandbox. If that is the case, it could lead to a security vulnerability.

Whatever the reason may be, Apple are being uncommonly reluctant to provide a feature that every iPhone user I know has mentioned as its main shortcoming.

maclia

41 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

10. Jul 22, 2008 10:40 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

As long as we are talking wish list a little, I'd like to be able to organize my iPhone icons on my computer (presumably in iTunes), rather than on the iPhone screen. It's hard to juggle through multiple screens while dragging an icon, among other things....

durkn

7 posts since
Feb 27, 2008

11. Jul 22, 2008 10:48 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

We need:
Copy & Paste
Printing - bluetooth & network
Mail - more options to customize

Argelius

8 posts since
Aug 31, 2006

12. Jul 22, 2008 10:53 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

Who knows how much weight "customer feedback has on these sorts of decisions, but I can't hurt to submit the suggestion directly to Apple:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

SpinThis!

21 posts since
May 3, 2001

13. Jul 22, 2008 11:00 AM

in response to: NaOH

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

NaOH wrote:
I'm not convinced that the reason why they are reluctant to allow copy and paste is related to the user interface.
Whatever the reason may be, Apple are being uncommonly reluctant to provide a feature that every iPhone user I know has mentioned as its main shortcoming.

Apple's not reluctant... they just ran out of time. Joswiak mentioned the developers had a priority list and simply ran out of time. I don't know why people are so hung up on that answer... the app store, writing documentation, the new features in 2.0, MobileMe, etc. There's only so much time in a day—Apple engineers already work 90 hour weeks (and love it!)

macFanDave

578 posts since
Mar 4, 2004

14. Jul 22, 2008 11:00 AM

in response to: Macworld

Re: Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

The compiling of the list Joswiak refers to must have been an interesting scene. There was probably an enormous elephant in the room with the words "Copy and Paste" printed on its side, while Joz and the rest of the Apple folk tried to forget it was there.

Especially with innovative input methods like ShapeWriter, it would be great if I could write a bunch of text there and paste it into another app where text-entry is SO pre-7/11!

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Jul 22, 2008 9:18 AM

Copy-and-paste: now more than ever

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