rant: all widgets converting numbers to text are useless

[Gazanfer]

seeing all screenshots here and xda-dev, it seems that everyone is using them.

they don't make reading time or temperature easier, they don't serve any purpose, they don't look cool as you think they do.

if I see someone using that kind of thing, I will definitely lose all my respect for that person.

there is a reason we (humans, smart ones) use numbers, so that we don't have to deal with reading sentences to have an idea of some numerical value.

also "oh, I made minutes bold, so it looks even cooler!"

no it doesn't. you're an idiot.

we all know you don't use that after 2 days. you either go back to the way that makes sense, or you use the time on top-bar.

 

[Killyouridols]

Yeah! I'm dead set against people having a choice too!

DOWN WITH THIS KIND OF THING!

 

[Killyouridols]

Some People CHOOSE to have white cars or trainers, despite them looking dirtier then Black. Does that make them idiots too? No, They chose them because they like the look. Are they any less practical? No, they offer the same use.

I don't use Text Widgets, but I can see why some do. TBH the analogue clock selection is poor in general.

I don't NEED a weather widget, I can look out the window, but I CHOOSE to have one

 

[MutantCheese]

I don't care for it either, but who am I to impose my feelings on others. You don't like it, you don't have to do it. This is the core of Android philosophy.

 

[Gazanfer]

Some People CHOOSE to have white cars or trainers, despite them looking dirtier then Black. Does that make them idiots too? No, They chose them because they like the look. Are they any less practical? No, they offer the same use.

I don't use Text Widgets, but I can see why some do. TBH the analogue clock selection is poor in general.

I don't NEED a weather widget, I can look out the window, but I CHOOSE to have one

- your analogy is not correct. having a white car or trainer is a choice. Color doesn't change usability of the item (in this case). having text instead of numbers make it unusable. Similar analogy would be "choosing to have your car have 2.5 wheels".
- analog clock is not good, yes, but it has it's novelty value, because it was in use for all the time before we had digital ones. it's understandable to use them. besides, looking at analog clock, you can make calculations, it makes sense. you can say "i see that i have 2 times more time to beginning of an hour since this hour started" etc.
- this isn't about need. you can choose to have information such as weather, there is nothing wrong with it. (besides, if you can tell exact temperature just by looking outside, well, let's burn down all weather stuff we have built over the centuries, and use you instead).
- when you see that temperature goes from 5 to 10, you can say "temperature just doubled assuming 0 is the freezing point (C)". when you see temperature goes from "five" to "ten", you have to first convert them to numbers, and then have this information. doing this conversion in your mind quickly and maybe without knowing doesn't make you any smarter. you're still an idiot for choosing to have this information represented with unsuitable language.

 

[Killyouridols]

Your argument is based on usability related to Calculations, which some people can do, whether related to text or numbers.

I can still work out how long it is to 3pm whether it is written as '2:15', '14:15' or 'quarter past two'...

 

[Gazanfer]

I don't care for it either, but who am I to impose my feelings on others. You don't like it, you don't have to do it. This is the core of Android philosophy.

no,
there is a right way and wrong way of doing things. line between them might not be clear in some cases, but in this case it's very clear.

time (as we use it) is a numerical value, so it needs to be represented with numbers. can you have a choice? yes, but be careful, your choices tell people a lot about you. (example: as I said, I think all people using them are idiots)

this is not android philosophy. do not make things seem more than they are. android is an OS, not a philosopher. it's meant to make life easier for us, so we don't have to deal with shit that can be calculable by a machine.

 

[jraskell]

having text instead of numbers make it unusable.

Based on that statement, I'm thinking you've got special limitations that you believe everyone has, cause I can assure you with 100% confidence that having test instead of numbers does not make anything even remotely unusable for me.

Makes me wonder what you would think of my big binary clock on the main page of my phone. That I can understand being unusable to most people, but after being a developer for 15+ years now, I can read binary and hex just as easy as I can read decimal, and dare I say, plain text.

You are perfectly free to think whatever you want, but ironically, the only thing this thread is doing is making YOU look like... well, I think you get the picture.

 

[Gazanfer]

Based on that statement, I'm thinking you've got special limitations that you believe everyone has, cause I can assure you with 100% confidence that having test instead of numbers does not make anything even remotely unusable for me.

Makes me wonder what you would think of my big binary clock on the main page of my phone. That I can understand being unusable to most people, but after being a developer for 15+ years now, I can read binary and hex just as easy as I can read decimal, and dare I say, plain text.

You are perfectly free to think whatever you want, but ironically, the only thing this thread is doing is making YOU look like... well, I think you get the picture.

- please write down your way of thinking when you calculate how much time you have left for a meeting at fifteenThirty, and the time is twelve at the moment. as I said, making this calculation quickly and without knowing doesn't change the fact. you HAVE TO convert them to numbers first.
- there is nothing wrong with binary clock. if you can use it, good for you, it's just another mathematical way of representing numbers. it's not any different than using regular numerical clock. I can't read it efficiently, so I don't use it, but it has foolproof ways of calculations (unlike language), so it's acceptable. base10, base2, who cares...

 

[ZachMob]

Some people just like the look.

 

[zoukis05]

Based on the original rant, and those that followed all by the OP I have now decided that I should be using a clock widget with text rather than numbers.

 

[Gazanfer]

Based on the original rant, and those that followed all by the OP I have now decided that I should be using a clock widget with text rather than numbers.

If you decide how to receive time information based on your feelings towards someone you don't know, I feel sorry for you.

 

[zoukis05]

If you choose to decide how to receive time information based on your feelings towards someone you don't know, I feel sorry for you.

I have no feelings towards you. I am curious to see if I have the troubles you are claiming people SHOULD be having when using text rather than digits.
When I see numbers (either written out or digits) I believe that I would have no trouble deciphering time remaining until a meeting. However, I cannot make that determination without giving it a try. Personally I prefer the look of my beautiful widgets clock, but I'm willing to go text for a few days.

 

[Depth Afield]

seeing all screenshots here and xda-dev, it seems that everyone is using them.

they don't make reading time or temperature easier, they don't serve any purpose, they don't look cool as you think they do.

if I see someone using that kind of shit, I will definitely lose all my respect for that person.

there is a reason we (humans, smart ones) use numbers, so that we don't have to deal with reading sentences to have an idea of some numerical value.

also "oh, I made minutes bold, so it looks even cooler!"

no it doesn't. you're an idiot.

we all know you don't use that shit after 2 days. you either go back to the way that makes sense, or you use the time on top-bar.

Don't even get me started on people who fail to use capitalization. Or paragraphs.

edit:
The zero point of any thermodynamic temperature scale, such as Kelvin or Rankine, is set at absolute zero. By international agreement, absolute zero is defined as 0K on the Kelvin scale and as −273.15

 

[Gazanfer]

Don't even get me started on people who fail to use capitalization. Or paragraphs.

edit:
The zero point of any thermodynamic temperature scale, such as Kelvin or Rankine, is set at absolute zero. By international agreement, absolute zero is defined as 0K on the Kelvin scale and as −273.15

 

[zoukis05]

Update:
I am 1 hour into using the clockr. I have had zero trouble determining the time at any point in the last hour. I know that I have an hour and a half left until I leave for my lunch meeting, and that's without breaking out a calculator or pen and paper to do the math!

 

[Gazanfer]

Update:
I am 1 hour into using the clockr. I have had zero trouble determining the time at any point in the last hour. I know that I have an hour and a half left until I leave for my lunch meeting, and that's without breaking out a calculator or pen and paper to do the math!

are you a joke? who said using pen and paper lol

everyone over 5 can look at the text representation of the time and make calculations in a second, the point is, it's the idiot way to represent a numerical value in text, and then convert it to number IN YOUR HEAD everytime you look at it.

also, here is something I wrote before:

- please write down your way of thinking when you calculate how much time you have left for a meeting at fifteenThirty, and the time is twelve at the moment. as I said, making this calculation quickly and without knowing doesn't change the fact. you HAVE TO convert them to numbers first.

 

[Killyouridols]

Update:
I am 1 hour into using the clockr. I have had zero trouble determining the time at any point in the last hour. I know that I have an hour and a half left until I leave for my lunch meeting, and that's without breaking out a calculator or pen and paper to do the math!

It's madness I tell ya, MADNESS!!

 

[jraskell]

- please write down your way of thinking when you calculate how much time you have left for a meeting at fifteenThirty, and the time is twelve at the moment. as I said, making this calculation quickly and without knowing doesn't change the fact. you HAVE TO convert them to numbers first.
- there is nothing wrong with binary clock. if you can use it, good for you, it's just another mathematical way of representing numbers. it's not any different than using regular numerical clock. I can't read it efficiently, so I don't use it, but it has foolproof ways of calculations (unlike language), so it's acceptable. base10, base2, who cares...

The mental conversion from fifteenThirty to 15:30 and twelve to 12:00 are virtually instant. It takes only as long as it takes to read it, and it doesn't take me any longer to read fifteenThirty than it does to read 15:30.

 

[Gazanfer]

The mental conversion from fifteenThirty to 15:30 and twelve to 12:00 are virtually instant. It takes only as long as it takes to read it, and it doesn't take me any longer to read fifteenThirty than it does to read 15:30.

virtually instant is still slower than instant.
idiocy part is, the value is numerical in the beginning! you take the value, represent it in words, which belong to one language only, make it use more space; and for what? to later convert it to what it was before, but in your head?

 

[Slug]

Here's something Android Forums doesn't like - posts describing people as "idiots" for arranging a smartphone homescreen the way they prefer, as opposed to how some other random interwebz poster would arrange theirs.

Differing opinions are fine, but to insist that only certain ways of visually representing information are "right" and all others are "wrong" isn't.

 

[zoukis05]

virtually instant is still slower than instant.
idiocy part is, the value is numerical in the beginning! you take the value, represent it in words, which belong to one language only, make it use more space; and for what? to later convert it to what it was before, but in your head?

I don't know about this whole conversion in your head thing. As I type this my phone reads elevenNINETEEN. I see that, and can think 11:19 instantly. The same as if someone asked me the time and I had a digital time on there that said 11:19 I would reply to them eleven nineteen. It would occur INSTANTLY!!! Imagine that.

 

[Slug]

Thread reopened.

All posts should be polite, respectful, and address the topic of the discussion rather than attack personalities contributing to it. Members should also contribute in a positive manner; if you've nothing constructive to add then please don't bother.

Thank you.

 

[Gazanfer]

hey guys,

after thread mod locked the thread and unlocked it again, I see wrongs in my ways, and I feel very sorry for calling some people idiots.

no one in the whole world is an idiot, there are no right and wrong ways of doing things, everything is a choice. because otherwise people might get offended. and we don't want that to happen, because it might hurt them.

we are all living in a world full of flowers and rainbows.

 

[Gazanfer]

also, my following message is deleted. I think mod deleted it by mistake [...]