Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Tall screens are BAD marketing gimmicks.

oplix

oplix

Suspended
Original poster
Jun 29, 2008
1,460
487
New York, NY
Tall screens that are not 16:9 are straight gimmicks. It’s Samsung that thought - how do we innovate screen size without making the phone wider? Then everyone else followed . There is really nothing great about tall screens. About 0.00001% of web content is designed for portrait.

Tall screens exist strictly as a marketing gimmick to advertise bigger screen size in a thinner phone.

This fad/phase of tall screens is supposed to get people reinvigorated about buying smartphones which have been largely unchanged for years now. Once this feature is normalized throughout the industry, marketing will come up with a new gimmick.

The real innovation would have been to make a bezelless 16:9 phone. Unfortunately, this is all preplanned based on marketing. The consumer will have to suffer at least several years of these useless designs before they “fix” it and start selling bezelless 16:9 phones.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: sguser, joshen, Oliveira46 and 13 others
oplix said:
Tall screens that are not 16:9 are straight gimmicks. It’s Samsung that thought - how do we innovate screen size without making the phone wider? Then everyone else followed . There is really nothing great about tall screens. About 0.00001% of web content is designed for portrait.

Tall screens exist strictly as a marketing gimmick to advertise bigger screen size in a thinner phone.

The real innovation would have been to make a bezelless 16:9 phone. Unfortunately, this is all preplanned based on marketing. The consumer will have to suffer at least several years of these useless designs before they “fix” it and start selling bezelless 16:9 phones.
Click to expand...


It was actually Apple with the iPhone 5.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ramiarna, mofly_9, T'hain Esh Kelch and 8 others
oplix said:
Tall screens that are not 16:9 are straight gimmicks. It’s Samsung that thought - how do we innovate screen size without making the phone wider? Then everyone else followed . There is really nothing great about tall screens. About 0.00001% of web content is designed for portrait.

Tall screens exist strictly as a marketing gimmick to advertise bigger screen size in a thinner phone.

This fad/phase of tall screens is supposed to get people reinvigorated about buying smartphones which have been largely unchanged for years now. Once this feature is normalized throughout the industry, marketing will come up with a new gimmick.

The real innovation would have been to make a bezelless 16:9 phone. Unfortunately, this is all preplanned based on marketing. The consumer will have to suffer at least several years of these useless designs before they “fix” it and start selling bezelless 16:9 phones.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ramiarna, macfacts, macTW and 1 other person
Diorama said:
Well what percentage of web users are viewing portrait? Because if that number is accurate* then web developers need to pull their finger out.


*it isn’t.
Click to expand...

Misunderstanding. The point is that there is no specific content for tall screens.
 
oplix said:
Tall screens that are not 16:9 are straight gimmicks. It’s Samsung that thought - how do we innovate screen size without making the phone wider? Then everyone else followed . There is really nothing great about tall screens. About 0.00001% of web content is designed for portrait.

Tall screens exist strictly as a marketing gimmick to advertise bigger screen size in a thinner phone.

This fad/phase of tall screens is supposed to get people reinvigorated about buying smartphones which have been largely unchanged for years now. Once this feature is normalized throughout the industry, marketing will come up with a new gimmick.

The real innovation would have been to make a bezelless 16:9 phone. Unfortunately, this is all preplanned based on marketing. The consumer will have to suffer at least several years of these useless designs before they “fix” it and start selling bezelless 16:9 phones.
Click to expand...

totally agree. i futuristic slick and slim totally bezeless 16:9 design would be the best.
the they could even enlarge the screen a few mm for the regular and + size.
 
Why limit yourself to an aspect ratio that suits *some* video?

Phones are used for a million other things. Look at the iPad, Apple made it 4:3 because video is just one thing you can do with it. Same thing with a phone.

Most websites have adaptive layouts that look great in portrait.

And it’s not a marketing choice, it’s a design choice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Closingracer, Demo Kit, SR71 and 1 other person
oplix said:
Misunderstanding. The point is that there is no specific content for tall screens.
Click to expand...

Right, but you know what they are good for? Viewing 16:9 content AND having on screen navigation buttons not intrude on the area that's playing the media.
 
Aibocyrus said:
It kind of does. You were the one that said Samsung was the innovator. The poster was just bringing the iPhone 5 to your attention since they were the ones that did it first.
Click to expand...
iPhone 5 is a tall phone that IS 16:9. The OP specifically stated tall phones that are NOT 16:9. So no, Apple did not do it first. iPhone 4s and below were 3:2.
[doublepost=1508252003][/doublepost]
ultravegeta1981 said:
.
Click to expand...
Again, doesn't have anything to do with what the OP is talking about; reread the post. The OP is referring to tall screens that are not 16:9, iPhone 5 was a 16:9.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MisterMillz
Mlrollin91 said:
iPhone 5 is a tall phone that IS 16:9. The OP specifically stated tall phones that are NOT 16:9. So no, Apple did not do it first. iPhone 4s and below were 3:2.
[doublepost=1508252003][/doublepost]
Again, doesn't have anything to do with what the OP is talking about; reread the post. The OP is referring to tall screens that are not 16:9, iPhone 5 was a 16:9.
Click to expand...


Does it really matter? Apple is the one who went tall screen with the 5. People jokes about it being a remote controller.

Some people just want to bash Samsung.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Demo Kit
I like the iPad screen ratio best. I wish they made iPhone that with that screen shape.

The letter box screen ratio is my main reason NOT to buy the iPhone X
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ad13
ultravegeta1981 said:
Does it really matter? Apple is the one who went tall screen with the 5. People jokes about it being a remote controller.

Some people just want to bash Samsung.
Click to expand...

And yet you are still wrong and missing the point of the thread. Samsung S3 was introduced before the iPhone 5 and had a tall screen.

Apple went to the 16:9 aspect ratio, the one the OP is calling a non-gimmick. He is saying anything taller than 16:9 is a gimmick, like the iPhone X. I don't understand why you are making it about something else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oliveira46
oplix said:
Tall screens that are not 16:9 are straight gimmicks. It’s Samsung that thought - how do we innovate screen size without making the phone wider? Then everyone else followed . There is really nothing great about tall screens. About 0.00001% of web content is designed for portrait.

Tall screens exist strictly as a marketing gimmick to advertise bigger screen size in a thinner phone.

This fad/phase of tall screens is supposed to get people reinvigorated about buying smartphones which have been largely unchanged for years now. Once this feature is normalized throughout the industry, marketing will come up with a new gimmick.

The real innovation would have been to make a bezelless 16:9 phone. Unfortunately, this is all preplanned based on marketing. The consumer will have to suffer at least several years of these useless designs before they “fix” it and start selling bezelless 16:9 phones.
Click to expand...
As long as Apple doesn't take away from the width, and shrinks the top/bottom bezels rather than making the form factor too much taller, I welcome more usable area at the top and bottom.

Unfortunately, the iPhone X is more like a taller version of the regular iPhone, not Plus. As a Plus owner, I feel it's better to wait until next year than get a compromised device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Quu and MisterMillz
What is it about 16:9 that makes it the one true display size for phones?

I haven't had a chance to try this in person, but it at least appears the taller displays make split-screen nicer to use.

I don't think your content claim makes sense. Ok, maybe video doesn't take advantage of it. But most web content and apps flow to fill the screen.

That said, I want a small phone that I can use one-handed. But a tall phone that is not too wide could work for my preferences if I could use the top portion that is out of my thumb's reach for things I don't need to touch (e.g. video playback, status info, information requested from touches in the lower portion, split screen if swapping the panes is very quick, etc) while having everything else within reach.

If the phone is going to be tall anyway, might as well fill it up with screen as long as that doesn't compromise usability or other important aspects. But I'd rather have a smaller phone body as long as we're not making compromises (e.g. losing battery life); I just don't care what the aspect ratio is as long as I can comfortably use it one-handed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Demo Kit
Mlrollin91 said:
I feel like a broken record. The OP claimed tall screens that ARE NOT 16:9 are a gimmick. The iPhone 5 is 16:9.
Click to expand...
Yeah I saw that above AFTER I posted.

For the record though, what's the ratio with the 6 series?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back