5 ms·

I think the market is pretty confused right now. As compared to 2007 when Apple first launched its iPhone and then again when it launched the iPad. I guess we

I think the market is pretty confused right now. As compared to 2007 when Apple first launched its iPhone and then again when it launched the iPad. I guess we don't really know the resolution we as human beings prefer. With Linus Torvalds asking for a new Desktop Resolution as a standard I think we would need to wait and watch for the disruption to kick in.

cstross 14y ago
(Resolution is not the same as Size. Resolution = pixels per inch; size = number of inches. OK?) The interesting thing about the Galaxy Note is that as it moves the slider between the 7" tablet and 3.5-4" smartphone sizes it hits an interesting sweet spot. It's obviously better than the regular phone at displaying text, albeit not as good as the 7" (which is roughly the same display area as an A-format paperback book -- this is not a coincidence, IMO). But it's vastly better than the 7" format at being a mobile phone: the separation of microphone (at bottom) and speaker (at top) make the 7" form factor something of a non-starter for voice calls unless a headset or speakerphone system is used. (A curved 7" tablet, mimicking the shape of a traditional phone handset, might work better as a phone, but would be far less pocketable.) So my guess is that phablets will have a strong niche market among people who do a lot of textual/web work on the move but don't want to carry a phone and a tablet around. The real issue this opens is text input -- how to do it best when your device is uncomfortably large for one-handed use, but too cramped for two-handed -- and the pen is a relatively elegant solution to this, whatever Steve Jobs might have thought about the "scribble thing". In some ways it may make sense to view the Galaxy Note as the logical descendant of the Apple Newton (beefed up, different OS, added phone/internet functions) than of the regular Android/iOS multi-touch phone lineage.
- Stratoscope 14y ago
  > Resolution = pixels per inch; size = number of inches. I tend to think the same way you do, with resolution meaning pixels per inch, which is a very important number to me. But I don't think that is how the term is commonly used. Resolution usually means the total number of pixels in each dimension, independent of the size of those pixels. Just look at any display product spec: You'll almost always see "Display resolution 1600x900" (or whatever the numbers are) and almost never see "Display resolution 123 pixels per inch". In most cases you're left to calculate the pixels per inch on your own. For lack of a better term, I've taken to using "density" or "pixel density" to refer to pixels per inch, or else just use DPI or PPI or spell it out.
  - kamesh419 14y ago
    Why pixels per inch? Why not pixels per centimeter? Isn't metric system the standard? :)
    - cstross 14y ago
      Metric is rational and a standard ... except that a good chunk of our global computer industry is dominated by American corporations, and they still run on the width of the King's Finger :)

cstross 14y ago

(Resolution is not the same as Size. Resolution = pixels per inch; size = number of inches. OK?) The interesting thing about the Galaxy Note is that as it moves the slider between the 7" tablet and 3.5-4" smartphone sizes it hits an interesting sweet spot. It's obviously better than the regular phone at displaying text, albeit not as good as the 7" (which is roughly the same display area as an A-format paperback book -- this is not a coincidence, IMO). But it's vastly better than the 7" format at being a mobile phone: the separation of microphone (at bottom) and speaker (at top) make the 7" form factor something of a non-starter for voice calls unless a headset or speakerphone system is used. (A curved 7" tablet, mimicking the shape of a traditional phone handset, might work better as a phone, but would be far less pocketable.) So my guess is that phablets will have a strong niche market among people who do a lot of textual/web work on the move but don't want to carry a phone and a tablet around. The real issue this opens is text input -- how to do it best when your device is uncomfortably large for one-handed use, but too cramped for two-handed -- and the pen is a relatively elegant solution to this, whatever Steve Jobs might have thought about the "scribble thing". In some ways it may make sense to view the Galaxy Note as the logical descendant of the Apple Newton (beefed up, different OS, added phone/internet functions) than of the regular Android/iOS multi-touch phone lineage.

Stratoscope 14y ago
> Resolution = pixels per inch; size = number of inches. I tend to think the same way you do, with resolution meaning pixels per inch, which is a very important number to me. But I don't think that is how the term is commonly used. Resolution usually means the total number of pixels in each dimension, independent of the size of those pixels. Just look at any display product spec: You'll almost always see "Display resolution 1600x900" (or whatever the numbers are) and almost never see "Display resolution 123 pixels per inch". In most cases you're left to calculate the pixels per inch on your own. For lack of a better term, I've taken to using "density" or "pixel density" to refer to pixels per inch, or else just use DPI or PPI or spell it out.
- kamesh419 14y ago
  Why pixels per inch? Why not pixels per centimeter? Isn't metric system the standard? :)
  - cstross 14y ago
    Metric is rational and a standard ... except that a good chunk of our global computer industry is dominated by American corporations, and they still run on the width of the King's Finger :)