Notches and Headphone Jacks
I was looking forward to the Pixel 3 lineup. Now, not so much. The rumour is that it will likely include a notch. I may actually skip getting an upgrade for this reason alone.
This in the same vein as the disappearing headphone jacks. But, despite this being an even more polarising topic, it seems to be getting traction even faster than the trend of dropping the headphone jacks.
Personally, I have a good set of BlueTooth headphones, so I'm not really bummed about the jack. But, there are plenty of people who are still very unhappy. And we are now years past the inception of this. Also, my USB-C dongle appears to work just fine, whereas many people are complaining that theirs don't work.
Here is the thing though. Dropping the headphone jack is a forward looking concept. BlueTooth audio quality is improving. The headsets existed for years before the jack was ever dropped. Dropping allows improvements to be made elsewhere, like making the devices thinner if that is your thing, or making it easier to improve water resistance. While it controversial and annoying, we can at least say that there are totally legitimate positives. It makes SOME sense. And it isn't as pervasive as this idiotic notch thing.
So, onto the aforementioned idiotic notch thing. This thing literally only exists as a design compromise. It NEVER started because ANYONE wanted it. Device makers wanted a TRULY edge to edge display. But, every self respecting phone needs a front facing camera and the tech is simply not there today to get one in under the screen. END OF STORY. We KNOW this is the reason the notch exists.
But, the sad truth is that it doesn't actually deliver. We don't get a true edge to edge display. Firstly, the display is OBVIOUSLY not the average display shape. And this, incidentally is the source of the problems.
In portrait mode, most of the time, this is a non-issue because most apps have the system bar at the top with the battery life, time, etc.... the notch simply occupies the middle of this space. If you don't have too many notification icons or things sitting up there it is totally innocuous most of the time.
The question is though... do you really want an edge to edge display simply so that you can keep your phone in portrait mode with reduced screen real estate in the status bar? OF F***ING COURSE NOT. A full edge to edge display is something that someone might want if the FULL display was usable. In full screen games or videos though, you cannot have this with a notch. Period. The place where the notch is, is not part of the screen. It doesn't DISPLAY (oddly lacking for part of an "edge to edge DISPLAY") and you can't interact with it.
So, while it is true that the AVERAGE user during their AVERAGE usage of the device, would probably have it in a configuration where the notch is a non-issue. It is important to note that it isn't really adding anything either. And, in the cases where a full display might really shine... they have to drop that part of the display entirely.
And yet, somehow, this stupidity is catching on like wildfire.
Don't get me wrong. There is nothing offensive, per se about the notch. It is a design decision. I just don't see it as a particularly good one. It certainly isn't functional. It doesn't deliver on an edge to edge display experience which is usable when it matters. And, on top of that, it increases the percentage of the display surface where damage would render the device unusable. It reduces the area in which it can be comfortably held. And, so far every implementation has had design flaws with apps and OSes.
To make matters worse, the whole thing is going to bother even more because everyone is going to say that everyone who does a notch is copying Apple. But, they weren't even the first. The Essentials phone was actually the first notch phone. By quite a few months.
Anyway... if the trend keeps up, the Pixel 3, which would have been my next phone will have a notch. And I'll need to ignore it. Hopefully the Pixel 4 or whatever comes after includes a return to sanity. Or, perhaps by then hardware will have caught up and we can get the camera in the screen if the insistence on edge to edge displays persists.
PS - Facial scanning was also a compromise. In screen finger print scanning was Apple had wanted. But the tech wasn't there. Instead of putting one of the back side, to get their "edge to edge" display they decided to drop it entirely on the iPhone X and go with facial scanning instead.
This in the same vein as the disappearing headphone jacks. But, despite this being an even more polarising topic, it seems to be getting traction even faster than the trend of dropping the headphone jacks.
Personally, I have a good set of BlueTooth headphones, so I'm not really bummed about the jack. But, there are plenty of people who are still very unhappy. And we are now years past the inception of this. Also, my USB-C dongle appears to work just fine, whereas many people are complaining that theirs don't work.
Here is the thing though. Dropping the headphone jack is a forward looking concept. BlueTooth audio quality is improving. The headsets existed for years before the jack was ever dropped. Dropping allows improvements to be made elsewhere, like making the devices thinner if that is your thing, or making it easier to improve water resistance. While it controversial and annoying, we can at least say that there are totally legitimate positives. It makes SOME sense. And it isn't as pervasive as this idiotic notch thing.
So, onto the aforementioned idiotic notch thing. This thing literally only exists as a design compromise. It NEVER started because ANYONE wanted it. Device makers wanted a TRULY edge to edge display. But, every self respecting phone needs a front facing camera and the tech is simply not there today to get one in under the screen. END OF STORY. We KNOW this is the reason the notch exists.
But, the sad truth is that it doesn't actually deliver. We don't get a true edge to edge display. Firstly, the display is OBVIOUSLY not the average display shape. And this, incidentally is the source of the problems.
In portrait mode, most of the time, this is a non-issue because most apps have the system bar at the top with the battery life, time, etc.... the notch simply occupies the middle of this space. If you don't have too many notification icons or things sitting up there it is totally innocuous most of the time.
The question is though... do you really want an edge to edge display simply so that you can keep your phone in portrait mode with reduced screen real estate in the status bar? OF F***ING COURSE NOT. A full edge to edge display is something that someone might want if the FULL display was usable. In full screen games or videos though, you cannot have this with a notch. Period. The place where the notch is, is not part of the screen. It doesn't DISPLAY (oddly lacking for part of an "edge to edge DISPLAY") and you can't interact with it.
So, while it is true that the AVERAGE user during their AVERAGE usage of the device, would probably have it in a configuration where the notch is a non-issue. It is important to note that it isn't really adding anything either. And, in the cases where a full display might really shine... they have to drop that part of the display entirely.
And yet, somehow, this stupidity is catching on like wildfire.
Don't get me wrong. There is nothing offensive, per se about the notch. It is a design decision. I just don't see it as a particularly good one. It certainly isn't functional. It doesn't deliver on an edge to edge display experience which is usable when it matters. And, on top of that, it increases the percentage of the display surface where damage would render the device unusable. It reduces the area in which it can be comfortably held. And, so far every implementation has had design flaws with apps and OSes.
To make matters worse, the whole thing is going to bother even more because everyone is going to say that everyone who does a notch is copying Apple. But, they weren't even the first. The Essentials phone was actually the first notch phone. By quite a few months.
Anyway... if the trend keeps up, the Pixel 3, which would have been my next phone will have a notch. And I'll need to ignore it. Hopefully the Pixel 4 or whatever comes after includes a return to sanity. Or, perhaps by then hardware will have caught up and we can get the camera in the screen if the insistence on edge to edge displays persists.
PS - Facial scanning was also a compromise. In screen finger print scanning was Apple had wanted. But the tech wasn't there. Instead of putting one of the back side, to get their "edge to edge" display they decided to drop it entirely on the iPhone X and go with facial scanning instead.
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