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Yeah, but they’re not copying it because it’s a good design. They are copying it to look like Apple. That’s because the only purpose of the notch is to differ

Yeah, but they’re not copying it because it’s a good design. They are copying it to look like Apple. That’s because the only purpose of the notch is to differentiate Apple phones from every other smart phone. It’s all about branding - https://medium.com/swlh/the-iphone-x-notch-is-all-about-branding-aef4f34c365b https://medium.com/swlh/the-iphone-x-notch-is-all-about-bran...

matthewmacleod 9y ago
Literally the only purpose of the notch is to provide space for the god-dammed technology in the phone.
- hungerstrike 9y ago
  Incorrect. I just told you what the only purpose of it is and gave you a whole article about it. Somehow we’ve had sensing instruments facing us for years now without notches. And yet, here we are. It’s funny how Apple can get everybody talking about their stuff isn’t it?
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Literally the only purpose of the notch is to provide space for the god-dammed technology in the phone. No, it's not. It's either for differentiation or to be able to (like the Essential PH-1 before it) claim an “edge to edge” screen (even though in Apple's case this excludes a big part of the top edge), but it's not to make room for the “technology”, which obviously would fit just fine with a rectangular screen and a top bezel.
  - matthewmacleod 9y ago
    In other words, you are suggesting the technology take up more room than needed. Your loss, I suppose.
    - hungerstrike 9y ago
      No, in other words he is suggesting that the technology take up an area of screen that makes sense instead of one that doesn't make sense at all.
      - matthewmacleod 9y ago
        Makes sense to me. Looks fine, has some extra real estate on the screen… can’t see the downside really.
        hungerstrike 9y ago
        The shape of technology is more important than how much room it takes up. There's a reason why we all have rectangular phones and not round, triangle or square ones! Your argument that "the technology [must not] take up more room than needed" is simply false. I can point to plenty of Apple products where the technology was fit into a bigger box than needed so that the box didn't look misshapen.
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    That sounds like both cases are a function of both aesthetics and the tech. I’m looking at my iPhone SE, and I’d kill for a notch in a bigger screen, that maintained the overall form factor of the existing phone. Right now about two finger-widths, one each above and below the screen, just exist to hold the home button and sensors. It seems like a marked improvement to enlarge the screen, and add a notch at the top. Maybe this is one of those things that seems awkward until you make some direct comparisons with the alternatives.
tinus_hn 9y ago
That’s kind of a stupid move by Apple then, considering everybody hates it. Or maybe they don’t.
jmull 9y ago
Your article speculates about why Apple doesn’t hide the notch, but doesn’t address why it’s there in the first place. It’s there to have a place to house the various front facing sensors/emitters while sharing verticals space with usable screen area. Once you decide to do that you have to answer the question of how to deal with the border line between the two. Obviously, you don’t want something ugly. (1) hide the border. This means anything and everything displayed on-screen next to the notch has to be on a black background. (2) create a non-ugly border and let it show. Perhaps the decision to go with (2) was influenced by branding considerations but it’s a secondary decision, not the “only purpose. And (1) isn’t exactly a great option, regardless.
- hungerstrike 9y ago
  Who exactly was asking for front-facing sensors to "[share] verticals space with usable screen area"? We've had front-facing sensors for a decade now. You put them in a bezel. Everybody is fine with bezels and you never hear anybody complaining about them. It's very telling that the Apple-ogetics never say "I love the notch", instead they say things like "it didn't bother me after a while". Huge difference. It's kinda like how they decided that the Macbook Pro needs to be lighter no matter what. I guess their logic is that "less is more", which is essentially a trite way of claiming that what you're doing is right without having to prove anything. Apple is just bad at design IMO. They always have been. Their OSes and their software have always had the just about the worst UI that I've ever seen and their hardware offerings have always been foisted on ignorant people who actually buy the less is more "logic".
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    I didn’t agree much of what you had to say, but it was your opinion to express and that’s fine. Did you really have to break down and call people “tool-bags” at the end though? I can promise you it only prevents whatever point you might have from being heard.
    - hungerstrike 9y ago
      I'm okay with people not agreeing with me. It's a common plight for intelligent folk and I've pretty much had to be okay with it since childhood. Thanks for your suggestion though! I changed it to "ignorant people".

matthewmacleod 9y ago

Literally the only purpose of the notch is to provide space for the god-dammed technology in the phone.

hungerstrike 9y ago
Incorrect. I just told you what the only purpose of it is and gave you a whole article about it. Somehow we’ve had sensing instruments facing us for years now without notches. And yet, here we are. It’s funny how Apple can get everybody talking about their stuff isn’t it?
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Literally the only purpose of the notch is to provide space for the god-dammed technology in the phone. No, it's not. It's either for differentiation or to be able to (like the Essential PH-1 before it) claim an “edge to edge” screen (even though in Apple's case this excludes a big part of the top edge), but it's not to make room for the “technology”, which obviously would fit just fine with a rectangular screen and a top bezel.
- matthewmacleod 9y ago
  In other words, you are suggesting the technology take up more room than needed. Your loss, I suppose.
  - hungerstrike 9y ago
    No, in other words he is suggesting that the technology take up an area of screen that makes sense instead of one that doesn't make sense at all.
    - matthewmacleod 9y ago
      Makes sense to me. Looks fine, has some extra real estate on the screen… can’t see the downside really.
      - hungerstrike 9y ago
        The shape of technology is more important than how much room it takes up. There's a reason why we all have rectangular phones and not round, triangle or square ones! Your argument that "the technology [must not] take up more room than needed" is simply false. I can point to plenty of Apple products where the technology was fit into a bigger box than needed so that the box didn't look misshapen.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  That sounds like both cases are a function of both aesthetics and the tech. I’m looking at my iPhone SE, and I’d kill for a notch in a bigger screen, that maintained the overall form factor of the existing phone. Right now about two finger-widths, one each above and below the screen, just exist to hold the home button and sensors. It seems like a marked improvement to enlarge the screen, and add a notch at the top. Maybe this is one of those things that seems awkward until you make some direct comparisons with the alternatives.

tinus_hn 9y ago

That’s kind of a stupid move by Apple then, considering everybody hates it. Or maybe they don’t.

jmull 9y ago

Your article speculates about why Apple doesn’t hide the notch, but doesn’t address why it’s there in the first place. It’s there to have a place to house the various front facing sensors/emitters while sharing verticals space with usable screen area. Once you decide to do that you have to answer the question of how to deal with the border line between the two. Obviously, you don’t want something ugly. (1) hide the border. This means anything and everything displayed on-screen next to the notch has to be on a black background. (2) create a non-ugly border and let it show. Perhaps the decision to go with (2) was influenced by branding considerations but it’s a secondary decision, not the “only purpose. And (1) isn’t exactly a great option, regardless.

hungerstrike 9y ago
Who exactly was asking for front-facing sensors to "[share] verticals space with usable screen area"? We've had front-facing sensors for a decade now. You put them in a bezel. Everybody is fine with bezels and you never hear anybody complaining about them. It's very telling that the Apple-ogetics never say "I love the notch", instead they say things like "it didn't bother me after a while". Huge difference. It's kinda like how they decided that the Macbook Pro needs to be lighter no matter what. I guess their logic is that "less is more", which is essentially a trite way of claiming that what you're doing is right without having to prove anything. Apple is just bad at design IMO. They always have been. Their OSes and their software have always had the just about the worst UI that I've ever seen and their hardware offerings have always been foisted on ignorant people who actually buy the less is more "logic".
- IntronExon 9y ago
  I didn’t agree much of what you had to say, but it was your opinion to express and that’s fine. Did you really have to break down and call people “tool-bags” at the end though? I can promise you it only prevents whatever point you might have from being heard.
  - hungerstrike 9y ago
    I'm okay with people not agreeing with me. It's a common plight for intelligent folk and I've pretty much had to be okay with it since childhood. Thanks for your suggestion though! I changed it to "ignorant people".