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Smartphone Screen Real Estate: How Big Is Big Enough?
MojoKid writes "Aside from the terrible nickname (it sounds like a term for the spoiled offspring of fabulous people), phablets are somewhat controversial because they seem to be the epitome of inflated phone sizes. A lot of people wanted bigger, and this is 'bigger' to the extreme. A larger screen on a smartphone is attractive for obvious reasons, but surely there's a limit. So how big is too big? If you're not into parsing out the particulars of form factors and use cases, here's a really easy way to figure out if your phone or phablet is too big: Can you hold the device in one hand and 1) unlock the phone, 2) type out a text message with your thumb, and 3) adjust the volume with the rocker without using your other hand? If not, you might need a smaller phone."
The criteria presuppose that you *want* to be able to use your phone with only one hand. I am mal-coordinated enough that I can only use my phone with two hands, no matter how big or small it is, so surely the criteria for me are: 1) does it fit in my pocket? 2) can I hold it up to my ear and make a telephone call comfortably? 3) can I hold it in one hand and use it with the other comfortably? 4) is the screen large enough that it can display what I want to see at a reasonable resolution?
"Too big" is when not enough people will want to buy it to make it worthwhile to produce.
Anything else is just subjective.
To me, a 9.7" tablet is too big, but iPad's continued sales prove that this is merely my subjective (minority) opinion.
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The number ONE question should have been:
Can you comfortably phone someone or receive phone call without resorting to earplug?
> Can you dial a useful number without looking at your phone?
"Siri, call Sam's business number!"
There are phones of every size from 2" to 8" (and even 10" with a bit of hacking).
Some people call a lot, some don't
Some people text a lot, some don't
Some people read a lot on their phones, some don't. And some have good eyesight, others not.
Some people spend a lot of time in transit, some don't
Some people have big hands, some don't
There's a right size for every customer and use case.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Or you can show some mental flexibility, deal with the fact that not everything in the world has to be tailored to your particular quirks to be functional and adapt.
Erm ... why? No really ... Why! The vast majority of accommodations we are talking about are software features. These are adjustments and settings which can be customised. Remember when it was announced that Vista would have a non-customisable startup sound? People went mental. To what extent are you willing to flex? Should all phones look and sound 100% identically? Should we all be forced to fit in one mould of a turleneck wearing sociopath?
Maybe the vendors can show some flexibility. Some people like swipe to unlock, some like pin to unlock, some pattern unlock, some face detection, and some don't lock at all and pressing any button simply wakes the phone at the home screen. My phone gives me that choice, and why shouldn't it for a measly few lines of code.