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

[nwxtl88]

For the fun of it, I took a photo of the iPad, printed it at the actual size and played around holding it and using it. As most people here stated, you have to wrap your thumb (or thumbs) around the front, and for me, they pretty well took up the width of the bezel.

Then, I played around with several applications on my iPod Touch, and as expected, there were many that a touch on the screen (touch and hold) was input for something (move the insertion point in text, move the marker in measuring tools, move the game piece, select a square, etc.).

Perhaps is some applications one can rest a thumb on the active area, but in many others you can't. What a surprise, the Apple engineers got it right.

 

[Sydde]

Thing is, by my math, the bezel represents more than a third of the iPad's total real estate. That would add up to nearly half a pound of excess weight, though alternative designs would probably not eliminate a full half-pound. The screen itself appears to be around 6"x8" (a little less, but not much), so one could reasonably expect a full inch reduction in the length (accounting for the home button) and about 1.5" in width. With rolled up edges (case rolling up around the screen), the weight would be much closer to a half Kg. The reduced size and weight and a textured finish would reduce the clamping force needed to hold it in the first place, and the edge roll would help you keep your thumb off the screen, as well as protecting it. In addition, the smaller screen would be slightly less fragile.

 

[G4R2]

As many have observed, you wouldn't hold an iPad the same way you hold the iPhone.

Simple experiment: Rotate an iPhone in your hand. The iPhone will be rotated by your fingertips, with opposing fingertips stabilizing the iPhone between them.

Now try this on a notebook. You'll need two hands and your thumbs will overlap over the edge of the book as your rotate it. It's easy to see where Apple's engineers felt that a wider bezel then the iPhone makes sense.

You would also hold an iPhone differently then an iPad. An iPhone essentially rests in the palm of your hand. An iPad would be grasped like a book from the edge with four fingers underneath and a thumb up top to clamp it. Once again, this position makes the design choice obvious.

Form follows function and function, in this case, involves grasping the device from the edges with thumbs overlapping on the edges.

 

[marksman]

Thing is, by my math, the bezel represents more than a third of the iPad's total real estate. That would add up to nearly half a pound of excess weight, though alternative designs would probably not eliminate a full half-pound. The screen itself appears to be around 6"x8" (a little less, but not much), so one could reasonably expect a full inch reduction in the length (accounting for the home button) and about 1.5" in width. With rolled up edges (case rolling up around the screen), the weight would be much closer to a half Kg. The reduced size and weight and a textured finish would reduce the clamping force needed to hold it in the first place, and the edge roll would help you keep your thumb off the screen, as well as protecting it. In addition, the smaller screen would be slightly less fragile.

You think the bezel weighs as much as the screen?

 

[nutmac]

If you speak to anyone who has held and used iPad, the common theme will be that bezels aren't as ugly as photos suggest and they make total ergonomic sense.

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

As an experiment, try holding a notebook or notepad of similar size. Observe where your fingers rest. Now, try holding it in a way you suggested and use other finger to simulate multi-touch inputs.

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.

That's certainly doable but what does it accomplish? What good is having a display area that does not accept any input and is often obscured by your fingers? Look at eBook readers. All of them have uniformly similar bezels because they are necessary. Now look at regular books. They all have similar margins because they are necessary. Do you want to move your fingers all the time to read contents underneath?

Perhaps your suggestion will allow smaller iPad (or larger iPad screen), but your suggestion reminds me of visible mouse pointer on many PowerPoint presentation, except that mouse pointers are far less conspicuous.

 

[CylonGlitch]

For the fun of it, I took a photo of the iPad, printed it at the actual size and played around holding it and using it. As most people here stated, you have to wrap your thumb (or thumbs) around the front, and for me, they pretty well took up the width of the bezel.

If you wouldn't mind, could you attach / send me the image so I can play with it? I would do it myself, but at work right now.

 

[TheMechanic]

If you wouldn't mind, could you attach / send me the image so I can play with it? I would do it myself, but at work right now.

Why don't you just grab a photo of the iPad from Apple's website?

I did that and printed it but obviously it is to light. To achieve the real iPad feeling you have to put something underneath the paper that has roughly the weight of the iPad.
That way you will see that the iPad is quite heavy when you hold it with just one hand.

 

[CylonGlitch]

Why don't you just grab a photo of the iPad from Apple's website?

I know, but just kinda busy right now, just thought that if you had it all set to print I could borrow that. Oh well, no big deal.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

its not a question of a thinner bezel. The screen is only 9.7 inches. you can make the screen bigger which takes up more energy.

You can also make the device smaller, making the it look like a thinner bezel, but then if apple is using their battery technology on this device, you are shrinking the size of the battery.

You lose that way as well. That's my initial impression.

 

[Ruahrc]

Thing is, by my math, the bezel represents more than a third of the iPad's total real estate. That would add up to nearly half a pound of excess weight, though alternative designs would probably not eliminate a full half-pound. The screen itself appears to be around 6"x8" (a little less, but not much), so one could reasonably expect a full inch reduction in the length (accounting for the home button) and about 1.5" in width. With rolled up edges (case rolling up around the screen), the weight would be much closer to a half Kg. The reduced size and weight and a textured finish would reduce the clamping force needed to hold it in the first place, and the edge roll would help you keep your thumb off the screen, as well as protecting it. In addition, the smaller screen would be slightly less fragile.

The bezel is not just there for handholding. I'm sure that the motherboard components and (especially) the battery are taking up the space beneath the bezel as well. So if you cut away the bezel, you will not have as much room for the circuitry, and most importantly, probably will need a smaller battery as well. It's not as simple as just cutting the bezel away and getting the exact same device only a little smaller and lighter. I can guarantee you that Apple did not waste any of the space in the iPad.

I thought the bezel looked a bit large at first but am becoming more used to it. And, when you get to thinking, the usability aspects of the larger bezel are a necessary function for the ergonomics of the iPad. Especially for a device that is operated via touch, there is a lot more sublety to it than people give it initial credit for. That's what separates the product designers at Apple from the random people on the internet who 3D modeled or photoshopped mockups. They put all their effort into making something that looks flashy and cool but probably don't give much or any thought into how usable such a design would actually be, and are forced to make some compromises in order to keep it usable.

Ruahrc

 

[mrgreen4242]

Did some quick math on this, based on the specs listed on Apple's site.

Overall device size: 9.56"x7.47" (12.13" diag)
Screen size: 7.68"x5.76" (9.7" diag)
Bezel: .85" on each side

So, we're getting worked up about .85"? I don't have a ruler handy, but what's the measure of distance from the bottom/top edge of an iPod touch/iPhone to the screen? Probably not much less than half an inch. So roughly a quarter an inch more?