I don't get why some of you think a thinner bezel would be hard to use.

[wikoogle]

I don't get why you guys think it's so hard to use it with a thin bezel.

When you are using the bezel on the iPhone (while holding it horizontally, there is more than enough room for your thumb on the bezel with room to spare. And yet Apple opted to make the bezel on the ipad much bigger than the bezel on the iPhone. Doesn't make sense. Since the bezel on the iPhone is plenty big enough for your thumbs, why make the iPad bezel so much bigger?

I frequently use my iPhone Vertically, and have my thumb resting on the touch screen and it works fine. I just lightly raise up the thumb whenever I'm gesturing but otherwise just have my thumb resting on the screen and the software already handles it perfectly/ignores my thumb.

Try it out yourself if you don't believe me.

Besides apple can easily code the software so that it knows that thumbs placed at the edge are interpreted as holding the device. No one uses the very edge of the screen to do gestures. Besides you wouldn't be doing gestures, you would have a relatively stable placement of athumb at the very edge. That would be very easy to code for to ignore.

So what's the problem with an thin bezel exactly. It would definately make the product far more attractive looking. If you're opposed to touching your olegophobic touch screen on principle or something, just get a thicker case for your iPad. Problem solved.

 

[flopticalcube]

A larger pad would be more difficult to hold with one hand than an iPhone. Your palm would also get in the way.

 

[MacDawg]

It would definately make the product far more attractive looking.

In your opinion, it would make the product far more attractive looking
For me, it doesn't matter

I have no real way of knowing Apple's reasons for the size of the bezel
- something to do with the innards?
- strength of the case?
- support?

I don't know and I don't really care

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[jav6454]

No problem with the bezel. In fact I think it's good it is there. My main reason is because that way you have something to hold it and not have to touch the screen or make an unintentional touch.

 

[lordhamster]

I think the iPad would have looked sexier with a full edge to edge screen. However its wider than my one hand could grasp it if I were to hold it edge to edge. A bezel is a simple solution I guess. Maybe they could have made it thinner. I guess it will be hard to say till we have held it and actually used it. I'm sure they had some industrial designers trying out various different options on this.

 

[al256]

I frequently use my iPhone , and have my thumb resting on the touch screen and it works fine. I just lightly raise up the thumb whenever I'm gesturing but otherwise just have my thumb resting on the screen and the software already handles it perfectly/ignores my thumb.

The iPad is not the same size as the iPhone. I cannot grip an iPad with one hand. I need a way to use my thumb to more or less clamp the iPad. This same behavior can be seen when the iPhone is held horizontally. Suddenly you can have enough bezel space to clamp your thumb onto the iPhone. It's nonsense to complain about the size of the bezel of the iPad. It's there so you can hold on it firmly. The iPad is 3.1 times the width of the iPhone.

 

[mac jones]

I don't get why you guys think it's so hard to use it with a thin bezel.

I frequently use my iPhone , and have my thumb resting on the touch screen and it works fine. I just lightly raise up the thumb whenever I'm gesturing but otherwise just have my thumb resting on the screen and the software already handles it perfectly/ignores my thumb.

Try it out yourself if you don't believe me.

So what's the problem with an thin bezel exactly. It would definately make the product far more attractive looking. If you're opposed to touching your olegophobic touch screen on principle or something, just get a thicker case for your iPad. Problem solved.

excellent points.

However, holding it for extended periods may be best with a natural grip (more area to grip?).

I'm sure it would be fine without so much bezel. (just maybe not as comfortable). Who knows.

Also, they tried all shapes so the consensus must have been this and I agree with them.

As a matter of fact, knowing Apples penchant for minimalist design it must of hurt

 

[Carouser]

Hey guys, why does my briefcase have a handle on it, when I can hold my wallet just fine without a handle?

Or to paraphrase what al256 said: the iPad has a different center of gravity, different proportions and dimensions, and greater mass than an iPhone.

 

[miles01110]

Or to paraphrase what al256 said: the iPad has a different center of gravity, different proportions and dimensions, and greater mass than an iPhone.

No kidding, but having a "different center of gravity" is pretty much a meaningless concept. The center of gravity is located....at the center of gravity.

I cannot grip an iPad with one hand.

...because you've tried?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

It's simple. An iPhone is meant to held in the palm of the hand with fingers gripping the edge. You can't hold an iPad the same way you hold an iPhone. You need to make a "C" vise type grip that requires you to touch the top. So you need some place for your fingers to grip that is not part of the active screen.

 

[Sydde]

The rev C. model will have a quarter inch rolled edge that sinks the screen down a little, to help protect it while also giving you a good grip. The long edge will have probably 3/16ths (4mm) bezels. The finish will be a sweet satiny anodized metal, perhaps with a polished apple in the middle - this will improve traction. The rolled edge and inset screen will make it more difficult for geeks to disassemble the unit without damaging it.

 

[Carouser]

No kidding, but having a "different center of gravity" is pretty much a meaningless concept. The center of gravity is located....at the center of gravity.

Yeah, no kidding! I figured it was clear I meant 'the center of gravity is in a different position in relation to the hand(s) holding it'. Thanks though!

 

[roland.g]

Eliminate the bezel and go with a 6 fingered pivoting glove on the back so you can use it with either hand and rotate it. Or maybe just 3 holes like a bowling ball.

 

[al256]

...because you've tried?

It's a guess, but trying gripping 3 (taped?) iPhones in one hand. I'll break down the math for you: 7.47 inches wide divided by 2.4 inches wide or one standard iPad width divided by one standard iPhone 3GS width= 3.1125 iPhones 3GS's.

Does the iPad's width seem that easily grip-able to you now? I can hold two iPhones in my hand from my thumb to ring finger but not three and one tenth.

 

[marksman]

I am going to side with the engineers who made it and actually got to use it and not some guy on an internet forum who 1) has never touched it 2) has a weird habit of noticing the width of a bezel like it makes much difference except for what works for holding the device.

 

[dave1812dave]

It's simple. An iPhone is meant to held in the palm of the hand with fingers gripping the edge. You can't hold an iPad the same way you hold an iPhone. You need to make a "C" vise type grip that requires you to touch the top. So you need some place for your fingers to grip that is not part of the active screen.

Apple has already shown stands for the Ipad--no bezel would be needed when it's sitting in a dock--I'd rather have a larger screen--right to the edge of the device. I'm also not convinced a bezel is "necessary" when it is used sans-dock. JMO.

 

[wikoogle]

When you are using the bezel on the iPhone (while holding it horizontally, there is more than enough room for your thumb on the bezel with room to spare. And yet Apple opted to make the bezel on the ipad much bigger than the bezel on the iPhone. Doesn't make sense. Since the bezel on the iPhone is plenty big enough for your thumbs, why make the iPad bezel so much bigger?

It would even work if the bezel was nonexistent. Apple can easily code the software so that it knows that thumbs placed at the edge are interpreted as holding the device. No one uses the very edge of the screen to do gestures. Besides you wouldn't be doing gestures, you would have a relatively stable placement of athumb at the very edge. That would be very easy to code for to ignore.

 

[al256]

Apple can easily code the software so that it knows that thumbs placed at the edge are interpreted as holding the device. No one uses the very edge of the screen to do gestures. Besides you wouldn't be doing gestures, you would have a relatively stable placement of athumb at the very edge. That would be very easy to code for to ignore.

What about in the future where iPads could use the bezel for hot corners? http://gizmodo.com/5462586/apple-patents-touch-sensitive-bezel-for-hot-corners-action

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Apple has already shown stands for the Ipad--no bezel would be needed when it's sitting in a dock--I'd rather have a larger screen--right to the edge of the device. I'm also not convinced a bezel is "necessary" when it is used sans-dock. JMO.

The stand is an accessory. The iPad is primarily a hand-held device, hence SJ's comments that's it's more "intimate." If you are not convinced a bezel is necessary take a 8x10 piece of glass and tape a 8x10 magazine article to it. Now pick up the glass and trying to comfortably read it w/o shuffling your hands around to read the text your fingers are hiding.

 

[dave1812dave]

The stand is an accessory. The iPad is primarily a hand-held device, hence SJ's comments that's it's more "intimate." If you are not convinced a bezel is necessary take a 8x10 piece of glass and tape a 8x10 magazine article to it. Now pick up the glass and trying to comfortably read it w/o shuffling your hands around to read the text your fingers are hiding.

Why couldn't the OS include borders around the text, making it easier to read? I hate how some letters are cut off when reading on screens that have NO border. White space around text helps with readability. that white space could serve as a "buffer zone" for a narrow-bezel device like the iPad. And an option to change the width of the border would be nice, like on some of the e-reader apps for iPhone.

 

[wikoogle]

Why couldn't the OS include borders around the text, making it easier to read? I hate how some letters are cut off when reading on screens that have NO border. White space around text helps with readability. that white space could serve as a "buffer zone" for a narrow-bezel device like the iPad. And an option to change the width of the border would be nice, like on some of the e-reader apps for iPhone.

Exactly for books and magazines, they could easily do that, and to top it off software could be programmed to ignore a thumb placed on the very edges of the screen.

I just don't understand why the bezel in the iPad needed to be thicked than the bezel at the top and the bottom of the iPhone. The iPhone bezel is more than roomy enough for thumbs, so why did they have to make the iPad bezel so much thicker than that?

 

[chris975d]

No kidding, but having a "different center of gravity" is pretty much a meaningless concept. The center of gravity is located....at the center of gravity.



...because you've tried?

I think the "different center of gravity" point is actually valid in this instance. With the iPhone, no matter how you hold it, the center of gravity is always more or less in your palm, therefore your palm supports the vast majority of the weight of the device, greatly reducing the amount of clamping force needed by your thumbs on the edges of the screen. With a device the size of the iPad, unless you are using it with the device resting on your forearm, the center of gravity is going to be outside the dimensions of your palm, therefore more "clamping force" will be needed on the top edge to counter this, and more surface area to clamp onto (the thicker bezel) is needed. And yes, an adult "might" have enough finger strength to use just the edge of their thumb to provide that clamping force (if the bezel were thinner), but this is a device that Apple is hoping will eventually begin to replace textbooks, and smaller customers (early teens, children) might need more space to hold on to. Apple has plenty of ergonomic engineers working on it's projects, and I'm sure that through testing, they found out that this is the optimal bezel width for the device.

 

[CylonGlitch]

I just don't understand why the bezel in the iPad needed to be thicked than the bezel at the top and the bottom of the iPhone. The iPhone bezel is more than roomy enough for thumbs, so why did they have to make the iPad bezel so much thicker than that?

On the iPhone, it is very easy to hold with one hand while just holding onto the bezel. For the iPad you can't just hold it in one hand, you'll need to grasp it to hold it firm. Now, you'll say that it is OK to have your thumb cover part of it, but to me, and it seems like, to Apple, this is not acceptable. I HATE when my finger covers any part of the screen. I actually don't like touching the screen either, but I'm getting used to wiping off the fingerprints. But block the screen with my finger, no thanks. I don't like iPhone apps that require my finger to be touching the screen all the time because it annoys me. I'm guessing they did some research on this as well and found that more people feel this way then don't because they designed it this way.

I think it looks, "ODD" that there is a fat bezel around it, but I prefer it that way. I do kinda wish they would have put touch areas around the edges so that the apps could make them customizable buttons . . . but that's ok.

 

[shrimpdesign]

That's your argument? Apple, who has been prototyping and building the iPad for over a year, is too stupid to get the bezel right?

Who should we trust? You (who has only seen pictures of the iPad) or Apple's iPad team, who has been using the actual product for months and months?

Please.

 

[Carouser]

Another point I think wasn't raised is that the bezel needs to be there not just for your fingers, but for your eyes. There's a reason why TVs and monitors have borders; it's not just for technological reasons. It helps distinguish visual stimuli and it means you don't alternate focus between the edge of the device and whatever is behind it. A bezel of some sort is necessary, I'm not sure the benefits of making the current one narrower.

It would definately make the product far more attractive looking.

Are you sure? I bet the design team devoted some consideration to the proportions of the device.