Multitasking is Overrated
Here we are in the beginning of June, and so it must be only weeks away: the release of iPhone OS4. Shiny and new, OS4 has folders and wallpapers and integrated mail accounts … and, of course, the one most requested feature that everyone has been requesting since iPhone OS1.0 first saw the light of day: multitasking.
Can you feel the excitement? Millions of frustrated customers, all of whom hate their iPhones and iPads purchased despite the devices’ complete lack of functionality as lowly unitaskers, will finally, after all this time, have a gadget they can use. Ashamed jailbreakers, each one forced into violating their OS just for the simple pleasure of running two apps at once, will finally be able to restore their iDevices to purity, putting the Dev-Team out of business. And a legion of hardened critics will finally commit to buying an iDevice, now that their most prominent and fatal criticism–the one they just can’t seem to shut up about–has been addressed and the iPhone is finally on par with its competitors, against whom it’s been woefully lagging in this vital area. Can you feel excitement?
Can you?
Of course you can’t. Because despite the presumed hype, multitasking–the oft-leveled and much ballyhooed criticism of iDevice haters everywhere–simply isn’t a very big deal. It seems like it should be; there isn’t an article, a conversation, or even a comments thread on the entire Internet about an Apple iDevice where it doesn’t come up. But at the end of the day, multitasking in OS4 is more hype than help.
Take the iPad, for example. When it was first announced, it was the one criticism was nearly universal: the damn thing couldn’t multitask. Nevermind that it was running iPhone OS3, which everyone knew couldn’t multitask. The punditry spaketh, and they thought it was a dumb idea. How could Apple be so short-sighted? How could they design a tablet that only ran one app at a time? No one will want a tablet device that doesn’t multitask!
And here we are now: two months after launch and two million unitasking units later, the iPad is a certified hit. It’s a funny old world.
I think multitasking has been such a big deal only because the critics have latched onto it as a lazy criticism, an excuse for not buying something they wouldn’t buy anyway. And since news stories thrive on controversy, the lack of multitasking has given reporters an easy way to “balance” their coverage with some perceived deficiency in the iDevices. But for those of us who use these devices everyday, multitasking just isn’t that important.
Okay, I admit that I can’t speak for everyone. It’s quite possible that there are some iDevice owners out there who hate their iPhones because of this, and for whom each app closed so that another can be opened is like an act of self-hating flagellation. Likewise, I’m sure there probably are a few potential buyers for whom multitasking was the sole dealbreaker, and whom will now happily invest in an iPod Touch or iPad once OS4 hits. Anything’s possible.
What I can say for sure is that, from the point of view of someone who uses these devices everyday: it’s not some fatal flaw. For example, I’ve taken to doing a lot of writing on my own iPad since I bought it. As I write, I routinely need to go back and forth between Pages and Safari to find links, check facts, or whatever. When I need to, I just close one app and open another. Switching out between apps on the iPad isn’t a problem. When I close Pages or Safari, both apps automatically save my place; and since this isn’t Windows, the programs don’t take forever to load. Multitasking on the iPad might save me a second or two of time, but otherwise it will not add a great deal to my user experience.
Aw, man, I just GOTTA tweet about this! Curse you, OS3!
On an iPhone, I can see a stronger argument for multitasking, as it relates to taking calls while you’re in-app. But outside of that, how often is the average user doing something on their iPhone or iPod Touch that requires multitasking? I don’t normally feel the urge to pause in the middle of Doodle Jump so I can tweet about it. Once again, I suppose that being able to swap between a productivity app–say, QuickOffice or Evernote–and Safari or e-mail would be nice, but I can do just as easily as I do on my iPad. With either iDevice, multitasking is not something that I need in order to do what it is that I do with them.
Will it be a nice additional feature? Sure. Might it shave a few seconds off my productivity, or allow me to make that odd tweet in the middle of a game? I suppose. But it certainly won’t do much to change the way I use my devices everyday, because I can already do the things I want to do, one app at a time.
I know I’ll take a lot of flack for this line of thinking. In fact, in a couple of web forums, I already have. I’ve been told that “not wanting” multitasking means that I must not be capable of doing more than one thing at a time (in other words, I’m a simpleton), or that not acknowledging the deific power of multitasking means that I must be either getting hoodwinked by Apple’s slick salesmanship, or even that I’m just an Apple fanboy who’s drinking the Steve Jobs Kool-Aid. But then, I’ve found that any public acknowledgment at all on the Internet that an Apple iDevice is anything more than an expensive dud will draw a slew of ad hominum attacks.
In the end, will multitasking enhance usability? Sure, but not by leaps and bounds. The biggest benefit of having multitasking will not be in my experience as a user. Instead, it will be in my experience as an iDevice owner who constantly has to put up with the same tired Apple bashing every time I dare express my fondness for my choice of portable computing. For that, at least, I will celebrate the arrival of multitasking … and then I’ll prepare for the next line of attack. After all, the iPhone only has one button, so it clearly must be inferior to devices with two or more buttons. Right?
If you like this story, share it with your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, and More. Just click on an icon above to share.
Related posts:
- iPhone OS 4.0 to Offer Multitasking
- iPhone 4.0 Multitasking Rumors Strengthen
- OS 4.0 Beyond Multitasking
