It's all about the "finger"
One more thing: it was brought to my attention that some of you wonder?ahem...after all these years...why iPhone does NOT have copy-paste functionality. For those of you who are familiar with the iPhone gestures paradigm I have a simple answer. (Steve shows everybody a finger causing commotion in the crowd. Rene leaves, offended
).
Steve continues:
and for the rest of smartasses out here, you will have a 2-hour discussion with our experts on the topic. (Steve calls on the podium Apple senior VP brass and leaves humming "cut and paste, what a waste?la-la-la-la-la...").
P.S.
On a more serious note, the above "finger gesture" should start making more sense if you read
iPhone Human Interface Guidelines
In the part named
Support Gestures Appropriately, there is a following text:
"However, fingers have one major disadvantage: They are much bigger than a mouse pointer, regardless of their size, their shape, or the dexterity of their owner. In the context of a display screen, fingers can never be as precise as a mouse pointer. Additionally,
there are some actions users can take with the combination of a mouse and keyboard that are difficult to replicate using fingers alone. These actions include text selection, drag-and-drop operations, and cut, copy, and paste actions.
Fortunately, you can meet the challenges of a finger-based input system by having a good user interface design. For the most part, this means making sure your layout accommodates the average size of a fingertip and
by finding alternatives to drag-and-drop and cut, copy, and paste. It also means responding to finger movements with the actions users expect."