Why did you choose THAT color?

[Nevzorus]

Hi! As the title says, why did you choose white over black, or black over white? What was your main reasons?

I do not have an iPad yet but if i get one, i'll be getting the white one. Plenty of people say that the white iPad distracts you and since my deskcomputer and TV are silver, i do not think that the white will distract me at all. I looked at the white iPad in the store and played with it for about 30 minutes and after a while, i forgot about the color and it just went poof like it does on my black iPhone 4. The white iPad looks sexy too and goes well with EVERY color, the black iPad/iPhone does not go very well with all the colors.

 

[Rodster]

I'm color blind which is why I have white and black iPad's.

 

[Redjericho]

Hi! As the title says, why did you choose white over black, or black over white? What was your main reasons?

I do not have an iPad yet but if i get one, i'll be getting the white one. Plenty of people say that the white iPad distracts you and since my deskcomputer and TV are silver, i do not think that the white will distract me at all. I looked at the white iPad in the store and played with it for about 30 minutes and after a while, i forgot about the color and it just went poof like it does on my black iPhone 4. The white iPad looks sexy too and goes well with EVERY color, the black iPad/iPhone does not go very well with all the colors.

While I had an iPad 1 for 2 years, it was black, and I found myself bothered by fingerprints and smudges on the black part of the glass. I upgraded to the iPad 3 and chose white, I will not be going back to black. You cannot see smudges, it makes it easier on my eyes when in darkness, and an iPad with a freshly cleaned, black screen and white outline looks very pleasing.

It's not that big of a deal though honestly, but my preference is white, I'm sure people have reasons they prefer black, even if it's just because every apple device they've ever had was black, and they don't plan on breaking the tradition. If it really made a huge difference, apple would only offer the superior.

 

[jojoba]

I just kind of like the look of white. Haven't really thought much more about it than that.

 

[Night Spring]

I like the black. Plus, I think the white looks cheap -- it looks more plasticky for some reason. But mostly, I just like the black.

 

[Ipadfever]

If watching a lot of movies in the dark it would be ideal to get black but if not its just simply a personal preference.

 

[stevearm]

Black. Photos and graphics in general look better on black

 

[Ecoh]

I just got my very first smart phone. It had to be a white iPhone. Just liked the clean fresh way it looked. After using the white iPhone I began thinking I might prefer the white iPad. Black was just looking like old tech.

I have many framed photos hanging in the house, none have black mats, most have white or cream colored mats. Why would the screen of the iPad not look better with white around the edges ? Then I remembered a TV I bought for the bedroom many years ago. It was in a white case, and I remember really disliking it after awhile, had it for about 15 years. So I ended up with a black iPad, no real reason other than emotions at the moment.

 

[aPple nErd]

white cause its looks better and in the case with my iPod touch, its newer

 

[TyroneShoes2]

To me, black makes much more sense. The human vision system is naturally attracted to the brighter things in the field of view (a holdover of cave-man survival instinct), and stuff that is dark is basically ignored. You don't want the bezel to compete for your attention with the image, you want the bezel to disappear into the edges of your field of view so that you never have to think about it, consciously or unconsciously.

If you have a black iPad, the image falls off naturally into the black bezel. If you have a white iPad, there is a constant stark (and annoyingly unnecessary) reminder of where the limitations of the image suddenly and unnaturally juxtapose against a white, bright bezel. Same thing with a TV; it makes no ergonomic sense for the bezel to be anything other than black. You never watch the bezel, you watch the image on the screen, so it makes no sense to have the bezel compete with the image and scream out exactly where it is all of the time. We don't care about the bezel, we care about what we are watching; the image. Go away, bezel, stop bothering me.

So it is a larger question than whether you might think a white bezel looks cooler than a black bezel (actually, both are equally very cool). Its not a question of whether you prefer the color white in a vacuum by itself compared to the color black in a vacuum by itself; it's more about how you might use it, and about how one color might be helpful while the other maybe not so much. It's about how a black bezel aids viewing while a white bezel competes with the image and distracts from viewing. With a black bezel, form follows function naturally. With a white bezel, form becomes diametrically opposed to function.

Yes, it's subtle; yes, it's psychological. But having a black bezel instead of a white one removes a constant unconscious irritant, and contentment often depends on our ability to avoid constant unconscious irritants, which can be a much stronger force than simply what color you might prefer.

Now a phone is different; we don't typically watch an image for long stretches, we simply glance at it occasionally. That said, if I watched movies or played Orbital for long periods on my iPhone, I would want the bezel to be black there as well.

 

[FastEddiebags]

I chose black because they were out of white and I didn't feel like waiting for an Ipad when the color doesn't really matter to me. I wanted a white one in the first place because I have a white Iphone.

 

[-TYLER]

Black, because they are obviously faster.

 

[iamdavekennedy]

I have a white one, my two housemates both have black (one iPad 2, one iPad '3') and despite mine being the oldest of the three, it looks the newest, the black ones are absolute dust traps too - I'm sure the white obviously is also, but it's not visible.

As for the whole 'distracting bezel' argument, it really isn't something you notice as the brightness and clarity of the screen jumps out more anyway, and if you're watching it in a room light enough for the white bezel to stand out against the content on screen, you usually can't see much other than your reflection in the glass panel anyway!

One problem I do have with the black, that I don't seem to notice on the white, is that when the screen is off, or you're watching a movie with letterboxing, the difference in tone between the black of the bezel and the black of the non-illuminated portions of the screen is so apparent, on the white the lack of side-by-side black/grey tones eliminates that.

So *bizarrely* I actually find the white less distracting than the black! But that may just be my own issues as I also hate that whole black bar/black frame thing on my plasma screen!

 

[docprego]

Black for me because I absolutely could not stand the grey border that appears around the white iPad screen. I'm talking between where the screen ends and the white bezel begins. On the black iPad this is completely a non issue. Also it is a lot more difficult to apply screen protectors on the white iPad than the black.

 

[shyam09]

seriously though, i looked online and generally white > for reading purposes while black is better for games and movies.
I do my fair share of both, but white is a pretty slick color, but strangely, all my accessories (case, sleeve) are in black. haha

 

[jgc]

Black since I planned on watching a lot of movies on it. I probably read an equal amount which would lead me to consider white as well, but it looks a bit plasticky and cheap for some reason. I'm glad I went with black.

 

[ChrisTX]

Personal preference really.

 

[Sith Vol]

My iPad 2 was black. My iPad 3 is white. I'm fine with either color but decided to try out the white and I love it. I like that fingerprints aren't as noticeable and it looks really great. I honestly have not gotten distracted when watching video on it. I plan to get the next iPhone in white as well.

 

[davedvdy]

They both have their pros and cons.

Its generally agreed upon that a black frame presents what's on the screen with the highest level of contrast, colors usually look sharper and tend to "pop" more. This is why u don't find too many white TVs. The black frame blends easily especially for movies with the aspect ratio.

That being said, a white frame can definitely be easier on the eyes (lower perceived contrast), u have less glare on the bezel even in indirect sunlight and can make browser and e-book reading easier as well. Lighter colors are accented eg. (so a scenic daylight beach can look stellar, IMO lol).

 

[Agent-P]

I used to have an iPad 2, and now I have the current one. Both were/are white. I chose this because for one, all my other electronics (TV, camera, Xbox, monitor, etc), save for my phone, are all black. I wanted something different. Also, my phone is white and I really like the way it looks. For me it was basically because I got tired of looking at black devices all the time.

 

[hobsgrg]

I have black as that was the only model in stock

 

[sinser]

I like a lot the white one..but...I'm starting to hate the black border between the display and the bezel. Mine is also uneven, thin on one side, thick on the other, and it annoys me a bit.

 

[migdaddy]

Have a white 4s so I wanted a black iPad. Sometimes wish I would have gotten white.

 

[Nevzorus]

To me, black makes much more sense. The human vision system is naturally attracted to the brighter things in the field of view (a holdover of cave-man survival instinct), and stuff that is dark is basically ignored. You don't want the bezel to compete for your attention with the image, you want the bezel to disappear into the edges of your field of view so that you never have to think about it, consciously or unconsciously.

If you have a black iPad, the image falls off naturally into the black bezel. If you have a white iPad, there is a constant stark (and annoyingly unnecessary) reminder of where the limitations of the image suddenly and unnaturally juxtapose against a white, bright bezel. Same thing with a TV; it makes no ergonomic sense for the bezel to be anything other than black. You never watch the bezel, you watch the image on the screen, so it makes no sense to have the bezel compete with the image and scream out exactly where it is all of the time. We don't care about the bezel, we care about what we are watching; the image. Go away, bezel, stop bothering me.

So it is a larger question than whether you might think a white bezel looks cooler than a black bezel (actually, both are equally very cool). Its not a question of whether you prefer the color white in a vacuum by itself compared to the color black in a vacuum by itself; it's more about how you might use it, and about how one color might be helpful while the other maybe not so much. It's about how a black bezel aids viewing while a white bezel competes with the image and distracts from viewing. With a black bezel, form follows function naturally. With a white bezel, form becomes diametrically opposed to function.

Yes, it's subtle; yes, it's psychological. But having a black bezel instead of a white one removes a constant unconscious irritant, and contentment often depends on our ability to avoid constant unconscious irritants, which can be a much stronger force than simply what color you might prefer.

Now a phone is different; we don't typically watch an image for long stretches, we simply glance at it occasionally. That said, if I watched movies or played Orbital for long periods on my iPhone, I would want the bezel to be black there as well.

I've never seen such a good answer about the color before, applauds to you!

To the others: Good answers! Another question if you'd like to answer one more: What OTHER color would you want your iPad to be if you could choose whatever you wanted on the bezel?

 

[erasr]

Just bought the black version. Mainly because I already have a white iPhone and I slightly regret getting the that one. No matter what people say, for months now I've heard girls say they love the white iPhone and want one. It's 100% more of a feminine colour and you can deny that all you want but as I say, I guarantee most girls have white iPhones.

Black iPad, white cover
Looks brilliant.