@tombray

There’s lots of material out there trying to help Ruby newcomers understand symbols, but I thought this little bit of code might help clear things up:

class Foo
  attr_accessor :test
  
  def initialize
    puts :test.object_id
  end
end

class Bar
  attr_accessor :test
  
  def initialize
    puts :test.object_id
  end  
end

b = Foo.new
c = Bar.new

The initialize method of each of these classes prints out the id of the :test symbol, which will always be the same because a symbol is just a globally unique identifier.  Foo and Bar can have different values for test, the symbol :test is just used by the attr_accessor method to generate getters and setters.  ActionScript developers who are familiar with using objects as keys in a Dictionary will notice some similarities.

I was one of those losers who waited in line for hours to get my hands on the first iPhone.  I was even one of the losers who waited in line for the second iPhone.  But when the 3GS came out, I paused.  I didn’t think it was good enough for me to justify the upgrade and I really wanted a phone with Flash support.

See, I like to use my phone as my morning paper — I reach for it when my alarm goes off and I start my day by reading my favorite blogs before I get out of bed.  The problem is that everyday, each of those blogs has at least one video I want to watch but can’t.

So, I started researching Android phones and had my eye on the HTC Incredible for months.  I made the switch last Thursday and I have to tell you I absolutely love it.  I’m still waiting for Flash 10.1 support, but it does have Flash Lite which will get me by until 10.1 drops.

If you’re a frustrated iPhone user and thinking about making the switch, go for it!  (Or wait for the Samsung Galaxy S, which looks like it’s going to be awesome)

Steve, if this is the future, you can keep it.

Comparing the performance of HTML 5 & Flash.

This is the future I want: http://blogs.adobe.com/cantrell/archives/2010/04/one_application_five_screens.html

And here’s a thorough analysis of Steve Job’s recent letter about HTML 5 and Flash:
http://jessewarden.com/2010/04/steve-jobs-on-flash-correcting-the-lies.html