I want these people who are running around saying there's no other way to design Samsung's stuff to explain to me one thing.
Why, of all the devices on earth, does Samsung's tablet exactly mimic Apple's USB connector?
I've got a Galaxy Tab sitting right next to me, here. The design isn't just similar, the dimensions are nearly identical.
Explain it to me. Please. If you can offer a compelling case for why Samsung isn't a shameless industrial design thief that can also account for their USB connector, I will be very impressed. It is, to me, the smoking gun. Don't tell me it's the only way to design a low-profile USB connector. It's the only way when Apple does it – everyone else has been doing fine with USB mini and micro.
Facts that form a good starting point for understanding that Samsung's defense is not open and shut:
(1) Some copying is legal.
(2) Some copying is illegal.
(3) The line between (1) and (2) is not clearly drawn.
(4) Many companies copy Apple -- some legally and some illegally.
(5) Samsung copies Apple a lot closer then most other mainstream (read: non-pirate) companies do.
...
The problem with Samsung is why (5)?
To say "that's the only way to design something" flies in the face of (4). Why can't Samsung differentiate their tablet as well as (say) the HTC Flyer?
They appear to be interested in looking as identical to Apple's products as possible -- to the point where Samsung lawyers can't even quickly say which is which when a judge holds both products over their head. When the copying is this blatant and close, accusations of piracy are unavoidable.
I'm not saying Samsung's guilty of crossing the line between legal and illegal - that's what experts and lawyers and judges are paid to do. But I'm saying they are knowingly closer to the line then most companies are comfortable being and that it's silly to casually dismiss the idea that Samsung could have infringed Apple's IP (as people here frequently do).
Here this is a nice photo frame samsung made in 2006, interestingly no one sued anyone for it. Apple is just full of bullshit and does everything to halt sales of their competitor.
This is akin to that "everything that can be invented, has been invented" quote, and equally lacking in foresight.
The reason many competitor products look similar or worse than apple products, is because we have unimaginative industrial designers that think like this blogger.
The next generation of apple tablets will find a way to distinguish themselves from their competitors, despite having already created 'the perfect design'.
I have a Galaxy Tab, too and there is no USB connector. I'm quite sure of this because I had to buy a $20 add-on that hackishly turns the PDMI port into a USB port and looks freakishly ugly while doing so. PDMI is, of course, an industry standard.
I really wish they had put an actual USB port on the thing, or at least a place to put a micro SD card. But if anyone is copying Apple's whole "we don't believe in strain relief" nonsense, I really do hope they stop that. Damaged cables are not beautiful. They make the device look like junk.
I know at least one Android tablet that has an extra power connector because apparently it's USB micro connector can not provide sufficient power.
Maybe the Apple USB connector is not even protected design and Samsung was allowed to use it? Is it actually compatible to the Apple connector.
Once you go for a wider connector, perhaps again there are not that many options if you want to be thin. It has to be some kind of slot of some length. Presumably the amount of pins is fixed, and you want a minimum length per pin for good connectivity? (I am just guessing, don't know much about electronics).
Anyway, do you feel offended by a slot in a tablet? Does it really matter that much?
How about the MILLIONS of apple USB cables out there by iphone and ipad and ipod users where these same users may buy a samsung device and still be able to use their cables.
I have ~10 apple USB cables. I keep 1 in my backpack, 1 in the car, 1 in the bedroom, I have a 6' long one I bought from deal extreme and several others in various places.
I have an iPad - but I'm open to other devices and I hate it when I cant usethe cables I have.
(I have about 8 dell power adapters for the same reasons)
So why aren't we reading articles saying 'Sales of Samsung USB cables banned' rather than 'Sales of Samsung Tablets banned'?
I agree that the USB cable is rather a smoking gun - but it's the only one. If that's what's wrong, attack that. Don't go and use that to argue about everything else.
I hate mini-usb, for some reason the fit has never been good for me. I'm fine with Apple's USB connector being the standard fit for our mobile devices. And this means if someone has a Samsung tablet at their house, I can charge my iPad.
This article is fraught with frustratingly-incorrect use of the word "design". The author continually mistakes "design" for visual appearance.
"Apple never designed the iPad. They undesigned the tablet. They focused on creating the simplest form possible. Every single decision is based on usability, readability, comfort, and focusing your eyes on the content itself."
That's exactly what design is: finding the problems that need to be solved and devising a solution that solves them. One that respects usability, readability, comfort, etc.
"The shape of a tablet has nothing to do with design. It is simple logic."
Wrong again.
"Again, this has nothing to do with design. The width of the margin is an engineering problem with only one solution."
And again. It is a design decision.
"Again, none of this is a design problem. It is all about usability."
Because usability has nothing to do with design... nope.
"What has happened here is that Samsung has been forced to add design elements that don't need to be there."
Here you mean "visual elements" not "design elements".
"Again, this has nothing to do with design. This is an engineering constraint." (talking about the batteries)
Still wrong, it has something to do with design. This however is the only one that gets close to its claim.
The author makes a lot of interesting points, but he clearly doesn't know what "design" means.
I was going to post more or less the same thing. I'd add that if you read any book on software engineering you will see the word "design" used repeatedly, more often than not referring to the process of solving a problem. This is also true of other engineering textbooks. Design is about solving problems therefore design is engineering.
The author invested quite some time to make his point, however, I disagree.
First of all, if this is the only possible way for a tablet to look, why did all the other Microsoft tablets up to the iPad look vastly different?
Second, there're two famuos quotes:
"The obvious is always least understood."
and
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." - Galileo Galilei
The problem here is that Apple invested a lot of time and thinking into designing a fantastic solution to a problem. But that doesn't mean that it is the only solution. Instead, people are now seeing the world from this point of view, and can't fathom that there is any other solution to this problem - just like before the iPad everybody thought that the Windows Tablet Design was the best solution.
Does the author really believe that the iPad design is the answer to all questions? The final? I bet there're better, more intriguing, more beautiful, and more usable designs that yet have to be discovered.
Yeah, I thought some of the points contradicted too. At one point he says a curved edge is better for holding, but it is "impossible" to engineer it that way due to batteries. Then he says the Sony S tablet's curve makes it unusable. hmmm....
I've never used the S tablet, but it does seem like it might be more comfortable to hold in portrait mode. I almost never use my iPad lying flat on the table and when I do it is usually an uncomfortable reading angle unless I prop it.
Maybe, but how successful were those Microsoft tablets.
"the only possible way for a tablet to look"
He never said that, he is claiming that most of the properties Apple is disputing are the best way to design an object like this, which is a perfectly reasonable argument.
See, to me, Samsung does have an issue here, but it's not about the "rounded rectangle" shape or the "reasonably thick black bezel": it's the fact they have both of those, like the iPad, but then also surround them with a marginal silver border.
I own both the Galaxy Tab 10.1" and an iPad 2, and I actually do get confused between the two all the time, when looking at them from above. They're about the same thickness and reasonably similar shapes, and with the same "rounded rectangle with a black bezel surrounded by a silver frame" I honestly have grabbed the wrong tablet before. To contrast, I never get confused with my HP TouchPad or my Kindle Fire (although that one is smaller).
I'd be perfectly happy if Samsung just switched to a matte black border instead, and Apple should be too: it would, at least from what I've seen, fix most of the confusion here between the two products.
Notice the color, shape and style of the laptops you see, especially their displays. They nearly all have black bezel, are rectangular with rounded corners. It basically has all the features you mention.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab looks as much like they ripped a display off one of their laptops as it does like an iPad. It is essentially their brand, the style of design they have applied for years across much of their range. That's one reason they happen to look more like the iPad than some of the other tablet makers.
Perhaps this is somewhat off topic, but what do you actually use so many tablets for? I can definitely see the appeal of a tablet, but I can't really imagine a usage scenario that requires the specific features of one of four different tablets.
Apple didn't give design advice to Samsung because they're arrogant. It's because for them to argue that their patents are being infringed, they have to point out alternative designs that could have achieved the same effect.
IP laws are screwed up, but a lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon out of ignorance. It's like people who get mad because a brand comes down hard on folks using their trademark. It's a legal requirement that they enforce the trademark, otherwise they lose it.
Oh for frak's sake, Apple. This design came out before the iPad and looks identical to it. HN readers, you especially should know about this since it was all over the front page forever:
This article is probably falling for the cognitive bias (whose name I forget), where what actually happened looks inevitable in retrospect, but looked much more undecided in prospect.
Contrast all the other tablet PCs and so forth which have had a tendency to be sharp-cornered and bulky with asymmetric elements like buttons. The idea of having no favored orientation, for example, is innovative. Most historical tablets had one way up, and it was SVGA landscape.
Apple need be careful what they insist others do - it may be done, and well, and Apple prohibited from doing it too. Example:
the color of the margin should be the same as the background color of the content
This after insisting on a sufficient inactive margin, and going on to say the technology doesn't exist. The thought ends with the conclusion of a one-inch-ish black margin.
But wait: what if a tablet DID run its display area to the edge? just with the understanding among developers that any user activity within a specified margin would be ignored, either for lack of sensors or programed disuse. Bingo: Apple's odd requirements of no margin (per se) and no black is satisfied and surpassed by a superior user experience of relevant, dynamic borders; anything from automatic color matching to extending a background image to the edges or even putting useful dynamic information & imagery in the margin may/would be preferred to a space-occupying dead black zone. ...then Samsung patents the idea, leaving Apple with, well, a dead black space-occupying margin.
Methinks the term "malicious obedience" applies. Careful what you ask for...
> since a tablet has to work with any content, the only color that is both neutral and more subdued than any other...is black.
As well as white, silver, beige, or any of the hundreds possible distinct shades of gray. Throughout 1980-90s, computer monitors were beige, and that was considered to be a classy, neutral, subdued color that works with any content, just like black is considered today. I'm not saying beige is better; I'm just saying that this whole thing that black is "the only possible color" is annoying. Apple themselves make a white iPad as well as covers in different colors, so clearly black is not the only game in town.
Oh, and I've held Sony Tablet S, and it works just fine in portrait orientation; as a matter of fact Sony's tablet is easier to hold with one hand in portrait mode than iPad is. What a bunch of whiners.
They could have made the margins with a raised border, like the Kindle, and still had a black border, rectangular with rounded corners, flat back tablet that didn't look quite so much like an iPad.
They could have put their logo in a shallow etching on that margin.
The margin could be plastic, rubber, or any other material more comfortable for grip and/or better for protecting the screen.
They also could easily have the thumb margin on only 1 side, provided their software allows the user to flip the device upside down to switch between left-handed and right-handed users.
They could have put the speakers as a visible part of the top or bottom margin.
They could have the margin be a screen that does not have touch capabilities and is there simply to extend the background color all the way to the edge.
They could design a new battery that would fit around the outer rim of the tablet internally so that the middle of the device could be thinner. This would be technically difficult and expensive though.
Also, simplicity is very obvious when you see it, but before you see it you might not think of reducing things down quite that far. Case in point: Apple's device is not as simple as the one the author at baekdal.com designed because Apple's has a home button, a lock button, and volume buttons. Those are not necessary, but Apple designed them into the iPad.
What I like about the rounded corners debate is the Job's quote/story:
Steve suddenly got more intense. "Rectangles with rounded corners are everywhere! Just look around this room!". And sure enough, there were lots of them, like the whiteboard and some of the desks and tables. Then he pointed out the window. "And look outside, there's even more, practically everywhere you look!". He even persuaded Bill to take a quick walk around the block with him, pointing out every rectangle with rounded corners that he could find.
So, are they everywhere, or are they innovative? ;)
I'm not convinced that rounded corners are anything more than a trend right now.
Aesthetically, many beautiful objects have sharp corners - tables, windows, and computer screens, not to mention the universal reading tablet, a.k.a. the piece of paper. Our eyes haven't had a problem staying focused inside these rectangles.
The big draw for rounded corners is comfort. But we've been using sharp rectangular folders, binders, magazines, etc. for decades without complaint.
Apple used the rounded corner to great effect, and for now it seems like the only possible design choice. But some point, someone is going to produce an elegant matboard-thin computer tablet with "sharp" corners that don't cut your fingers, and suddenly the rounded corner will seem like a childish relic of the naughts.
Obligatory folklore.org [1]... design is often how to incorporate what we already know and see in the digital world... regarding your comment about folders, if you do a google image search for "folder" you'll find most of them are rounded. In drawer at home, most of the folders have rounded edges where possible (ie, not at the hinge of the folder due to increased tear potential).
' Steve suddenly got more intense. "Rectangles with rounded corners are everywhere! Just look around this room!". And sure enough, there were lots of them, like the whiteboard and some of the desks and tables. Then he pointed out the window. "And look outside, there's even more, practically everywhere you look!". He even persuaded Bill to take a quick walk around the block with him, pointing out every rectangle with rounded corners that he could find. '
I do not know where the author got his "curved lines pull people in" effect.
I also feel like simple vignettes on the corners would make tablets seem much more sophisticated and intricate.
Another related URL: http://www.artlebedev.com/mandership/147/ here Lebedev talks about the difference between simplicity and primitivism. This probably most closely hints at what I think is wrong with Apple's design.
Am I the only person who doesn't care? Apple produced a well designed piece of hardware. It is superior to other designs, so therefore I would like my tablets to have that design, regardless of what the actual OS is or what company built it.
On a side note, HN is usually strongly against patents. The argument is that it is all about execution and patents only retard innovation. Why is everyone up in arms when it is Apple getting copied? They innovated and now the rest of the market is absorbing that design into their products, because it is superior. This is good, for everyone.
Well argued rebuttal of Apple's claim about Samsung copying its tablet design. Although I disagree on color. Before the iPhone, and after, electronic devices have been all sorts of color. For example, the Kindle debuted in off white. Moto Razrs came in pink. Black is not the only logical solution.
As the Nokia Lumia 800 has shown, there is still a lot of room for design in smartphones that don't resemble the iPhone as well. Samsung has no excuse.
The appearance of TV's have converged upon the current form of minimalism and simplicity given the current technology available--all screen, small black border. Isn't this simply what's happening in the tablet market?
Why must the courts protect consumers from potential confusion among competing tablets but not among competing but similar looking TV's?
Seems like an abuse of the legal system, which has soured me to Apple's products.
Very interesting. I agree with a lot of what the author says, and I think that aspects of Apple's case against Samsung are spurious, to say the least. However, I also see one major flaw in his argument.
If this design is obvious, why then do all tablets made trior to the iPad look nothing like the iPad? (Windows Tablets, Apple Newton, Specialist Medical Tablets, Grid Tablet, etc etc)
There are fair points here but in terms of the bezel having to be black - neither my Kindle (grey) nor the screen surround of my Macbook (brushed silver) are black and they're both completely usable.
That's amazing - this site managed to come up with CSS that prevents the font from getting bigger even when I ctrl-+ the page. Thanks for making it impossible for me to read, asshats.
[+] [-] danilocampos|14 years ago|reply
Why, of all the devices on earth, does Samsung's tablet exactly mimic Apple's USB connector?
I've got a Galaxy Tab sitting right next to me, here. The design isn't just similar, the dimensions are nearly identical.
Explain it to me. Please. If you can offer a compelling case for why Samsung isn't a shameless industrial design thief that can also account for their USB connector, I will be very impressed. It is, to me, the smoking gun. Don't tell me it's the only way to design a low-profile USB connector. It's the only way when Apple does it – everyone else has been doing fine with USB mini and micro.
Samsung: http://i.imgur.com/eyqGw.jpg
Apple: http://i.imgur.com/nh0eI.jpg
Everyone else: http://i.imgur.com/vpPhZ.jpg
Oh, and for thoroughness, how Amazon designed a beautiful USB micro cable that looked nothing at all like Apple's: http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Replacement-Display-Generation-...
Maybe Apple had a time machine and traveled into the future, stealing Samsung's wholly original USB cable design?
[+] [-] ljf|14 years ago|reply
Info on PDMI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI Image of Dell Streak PDMI: http://www.images.technologyking.co.uk/25032011/hgggg.jpg
[+] [-] Steko|14 years ago|reply
(1) Some copying is legal.
(2) Some copying is illegal.
(3) The line between (1) and (2) is not clearly drawn.
(4) Many companies copy Apple -- some legally and some illegally.
(5) Samsung copies Apple a lot closer then most other mainstream (read: non-pirate) companies do.
...
The problem with Samsung is why (5)?
To say "that's the only way to design something" flies in the face of (4). Why can't Samsung differentiate their tablet as well as (say) the HTC Flyer?
They appear to be interested in looking as identical to Apple's products as possible -- to the point where Samsung lawyers can't even quickly say which is which when a judge holds both products over their head. When the copying is this blatant and close, accusations of piracy are unavoidable.
I'm not saying Samsung's guilty of crossing the line between legal and illegal - that's what experts and lawyers and judges are paid to do. But I'm saying they are knowingly closer to the line then most companies are comfortable being and that it's silly to casually dismiss the idea that Samsung could have infringed Apple's IP (as people here frequently do).
[+] [-] ergo14|14 years ago|reply
Here this is a nice photo frame samsung made in 2006, interestingly no one sued anyone for it. Apple is just full of bullshit and does everything to halt sales of their competitor.
[+] [-] secoif|14 years ago|reply
The reason many competitor products look similar or worse than apple products, is because we have unimaginative industrial designers that think like this blogger.
The next generation of apple tablets will find a way to distinguish themselves from their competitors, despite having already created 'the perfect design'.
[+] [-] Natsu|14 years ago|reply
I really wish they had put an actual USB port on the thing, or at least a place to put a micro SD card. But if anyone is copying Apple's whole "we don't believe in strain relief" nonsense, I really do hope they stop that. Damaged cables are not beautiful. They make the device look like junk.
[+] [-] moskie|14 years ago|reply
But I do wish it was a more standard USB port, like the micro one that Amazon's adopted.
[+] [-] Tichy|14 years ago|reply
Maybe the Apple USB connector is not even protected design and Samsung was allowed to use it? Is it actually compatible to the Apple connector.
Once you go for a wider connector, perhaps again there are not that many options if you want to be thin. It has to be some kind of slot of some length. Presumably the amount of pins is fixed, and you want a minimum length per pin for good connectivity? (I am just guessing, don't know much about electronics).
Anyway, do you feel offended by a slot in a tablet? Does it really matter that much?
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] samstave|14 years ago|reply
I have ~10 apple USB cables. I keep 1 in my backpack, 1 in the car, 1 in the bedroom, I have a 6' long one I bought from deal extreme and several others in various places.
I have an iPad - but I'm open to other devices and I hate it when I cant usethe cables I have.
(I have about 8 dell power adapters for the same reasons)
[+] [-] Qz|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] WayneDB|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NickPollard|14 years ago|reply
I agree that the USB cable is rather a smoking gun - but it's the only one. If that's what's wrong, attack that. Don't go and use that to argue about everything else.
[+] [-] ebzlo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ianstormtaylor|14 years ago|reply
"Apple never designed the iPad. They undesigned the tablet. They focused on creating the simplest form possible. Every single decision is based on usability, readability, comfort, and focusing your eyes on the content itself."
That's exactly what design is: finding the problems that need to be solved and devising a solution that solves them. One that respects usability, readability, comfort, etc.
"The shape of a tablet has nothing to do with design. It is simple logic."
Wrong again.
"Again, this has nothing to do with design. The width of the margin is an engineering problem with only one solution."
And again. It is a design decision.
"Again, none of this is a design problem. It is all about usability."
Because usability has nothing to do with design... nope.
"What has happened here is that Samsung has been forced to add design elements that don't need to be there."
Here you mean "visual elements" not "design elements".
"Again, this has nothing to do with design. This is an engineering constraint." (talking about the batteries)
Still wrong, it has something to do with design. This however is the only one that gets close to its claim.
The author makes a lot of interesting points, but he clearly doesn't know what "design" means.
[+] [-] sbuk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Helianthus|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carldall|14 years ago|reply
First of all, if this is the only possible way for a tablet to look, why did all the other Microsoft tablets up to the iPad look vastly different?
Second, there're two famuos quotes:
"The obvious is always least understood."
and
"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." - Galileo Galilei
The problem here is that Apple invested a lot of time and thinking into designing a fantastic solution to a problem. But that doesn't mean that it is the only solution. Instead, people are now seeing the world from this point of view, and can't fathom that there is any other solution to this problem - just like before the iPad everybody thought that the Windows Tablet Design was the best solution.
Does the author really believe that the iPad design is the answer to all questions? The final? I bet there're better, more intriguing, more beautiful, and more usable designs that yet have to be discovered.
[+] [-] nimblegorilla|14 years ago|reply
I've never used the S tablet, but it does seem like it might be more comfortable to hold in portrait mode. I almost never use my iPad lying flat on the table and when I do it is usually an uncomfortable reading angle unless I prop it.
[+] [-] ianstormtaylor|14 years ago|reply
"the only possible way for a tablet to look"
He never said that, he is claiming that most of the properties Apple is disputing are the best way to design an object like this, which is a perfectly reasonable argument.
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] akashkgarg|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Xuzz|14 years ago|reply
I own both the Galaxy Tab 10.1" and an iPad 2, and I actually do get confused between the two all the time, when looking at them from above. They're about the same thickness and reasonably similar shapes, and with the same "rounded rectangle with a black bezel surrounded by a silver frame" I honestly have grabbed the wrong tablet before. To contrast, I never get confused with my HP TouchPad or my Kindle Fire (although that one is smaller).
I'd be perfectly happy if Samsung just switched to a matte black border instead, and Apple should be too: it would, at least from what I've seen, fix most of the confusion here between the two products.
[+] [-] cma|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jessriedel|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zmmmmm|14 years ago|reply
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=samsung+laptop&tbm=isc...
Notice the color, shape and style of the laptops you see, especially their displays. They nearly all have black bezel, are rectangular with rounded corners. It basically has all the features you mention.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab looks as much like they ripped a display off one of their laptops as it does like an iPad. It is essentially their brand, the style of design they have applied for years across much of their range. That's one reason they happen to look more like the iPad than some of the other tablet makers.
[+] [-] X-Istence|14 years ago|reply
It seems almost all manufacturers have gone to the same sort of packaging that Apple has been doing for years.
[+] [-] leoedin|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 9oliYQjP|14 years ago|reply
IP laws are screwed up, but a lot of people are jumping on this bandwagon out of ignorance. It's like people who get mad because a brand comes down hard on folks using their trademark. It's a legal requirement that they enforce the trademark, otherwise they lose it.
[+] [-] blhack|14 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JooJoo
Here's an article from June 2009 that you could almost literally just swap the word Apple and iPad into.
http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-protot...
[+] [-] ricardobeat|14 years ago|reply
This is what a 1st gen iPod touch looked like in 2007: http://media.gdgt.com/img/product/1/101/ipod-touch-1st-gen-3...
On top of that, designs aren't pulled from thin air, you can subtract at least 1-2 years from the launch date.
[+] [-] Steko|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dazbradbury|14 years ago|reply
"iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices"
Clearly, JooJoo was copied from Apple.
[+] [-] JulianMorrison|14 years ago|reply
Contrast all the other tablet PCs and so forth which have had a tendency to be sharp-cornered and bulky with asymmetric elements like buttons. The idea of having no favored orientation, for example, is innovative. Most historical tablets had one way up, and it was SVGA landscape.
[+] [-] ctdonath|14 years ago|reply
the color of the margin should be the same as the background color of the content
This after insisting on a sufficient inactive margin, and going on to say the technology doesn't exist. The thought ends with the conclusion of a one-inch-ish black margin.
But wait: what if a tablet DID run its display area to the edge? just with the understanding among developers that any user activity within a specified margin would be ignored, either for lack of sensors or programed disuse. Bingo: Apple's odd requirements of no margin (per se) and no black is satisfied and surpassed by a superior user experience of relevant, dynamic borders; anything from automatic color matching to extending a background image to the edges or even putting useful dynamic information & imagery in the margin may/would be preferred to a space-occupying dead black zone. ...then Samsung patents the idea, leaving Apple with, well, a dead black space-occupying margin.
Methinks the term "malicious obedience" applies. Careful what you ask for...
[+] [-] bluekeybox|14 years ago|reply
As well as white, silver, beige, or any of the hundreds possible distinct shades of gray. Throughout 1980-90s, computer monitors were beige, and that was considered to be a classy, neutral, subdued color that works with any content, just like black is considered today. I'm not saying beige is better; I'm just saying that this whole thing that black is "the only possible color" is annoying. Apple themselves make a white iPad as well as covers in different colors, so clearly black is not the only game in town.
Oh, and I've held Sony Tablet S, and it works just fine in portrait orientation; as a matter of fact Sony's tablet is easier to hold with one hand in portrait mode than iPad is. What a bunch of whiners.
[+] [-] webjprgm|14 years ago|reply
They could have put their logo in a shallow etching on that margin.
The margin could be plastic, rubber, or any other material more comfortable for grip and/or better for protecting the screen.
They also could easily have the thumb margin on only 1 side, provided their software allows the user to flip the device upside down to switch between left-handed and right-handed users.
They could have put the speakers as a visible part of the top or bottom margin.
They could have the margin be a screen that does not have touch capabilities and is there simply to extend the background color all the way to the edge.
They could design a new battery that would fit around the outer rim of the tablet internally so that the middle of the device could be thinner. This would be technically difficult and expensive though.
Also, simplicity is very obvious when you see it, but before you see it you might not think of reducing things down quite that far. Case in point: Apple's device is not as simple as the one the author at baekdal.com designed because Apple's has a home button, a lock button, and volume buttons. Those are not necessary, but Apple designed them into the iPad.
[+] [-] Pewpewarrows|14 years ago|reply
http://gdeluxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/20111004-03455...
[+] [-] icebraining|14 years ago|reply
Steve suddenly got more intense. "Rectangles with rounded corners are everywhere! Just look around this room!". And sure enough, there were lots of them, like the whiteboard and some of the desks and tables. Then he pointed out the window. "And look outside, there's even more, practically everywhere you look!". He even persuaded Bill to take a quick walk around the block with him, pointing out every rectangle with rounded corners that he could find.
So, are they everywhere, or are they innovative? ;)
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_E...
[+] [-] bornon5|14 years ago|reply
Aesthetically, many beautiful objects have sharp corners - tables, windows, and computer screens, not to mention the universal reading tablet, a.k.a. the piece of paper. Our eyes haven't had a problem staying focused inside these rectangles.
The big draw for rounded corners is comfort. But we've been using sharp rectangular folders, binders, magazines, etc. for decades without complaint.
Apple used the rounded corner to great effect, and for now it seems like the only possible design choice. But some point, someone is going to produce an elegant matboard-thin computer tablet with "sharp" corners that don't cut your fingers, and suddenly the rounded corner will seem like a childish relic of the naughts.
[+] [-] r00fus|14 years ago|reply
' Steve suddenly got more intense. "Rectangles with rounded corners are everywhere! Just look around this room!". And sure enough, there were lots of them, like the whiteboard and some of the desks and tables. Then he pointed out the window. "And look outside, there's even more, practically everywhere you look!". He even persuaded Bill to take a quick walk around the block with him, pointing out every rectangle with rounded corners that he could find. '
[1] http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Round_Rects_Are_E...
[+] [-] mannicken|14 years ago|reply
I do not know where the author got his "curved lines pull people in" effect.
I also feel like simple vignettes on the corners would make tablets seem much more sophisticated and intricate.
Another related URL: http://www.artlebedev.com/mandership/147/ here Lebedev talks about the difference between simplicity and primitivism. This probably most closely hints at what I think is wrong with Apple's design.
[+] [-] pazimzadeh|14 years ago|reply
"none of this is a design problem. It is all about usability"
"The shape of a tablet has nothing to do with design. It is simple logic."
[+] [-] Androsynth|14 years ago|reply
On a side note, HN is usually strongly against patents. The argument is that it is all about execution and patents only retard innovation. Why is everyone up in arms when it is Apple getting copied? They innovated and now the rest of the market is absorbing that design into their products, because it is superior. This is good, for everyone.
[+] [-] jinushaun|14 years ago|reply
As the Nokia Lumia 800 has shown, there is still a lot of room for design in smartphones that don't resemble the iPhone as well. Samsung has no excuse.
[+] [-] devenson|14 years ago|reply
Why must the courts protect consumers from potential confusion among competing tablets but not among competing but similar looking TV's?
Seems like an abuse of the legal system, which has soured me to Apple's products.
[+] [-] Artagra|14 years ago|reply
If this design is obvious, why then do all tablets made trior to the iPad look nothing like the iPad? (Windows Tablets, Apple Newton, Specialist Medical Tablets, Grid Tablet, etc etc)
http://www.cultofmac.com/109373/what-tablets-looked-like-bef...
[+] [-] Tyrannosaurs|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] samtregar2|14 years ago|reply