Apple iPad announcement evokes yawn

[Richard Gaskin]

Andre Garzia wrote:
> I've heard that Google is dealing with that by shipping a new Android
> Emulator in the SDK. This new emulator will randomize the rect of the
> device upon every launch with values between 124 and 2048.
>
> =)

That would actually be a very value feature, as it would reduce the 
number of lazy developers who live in a vacuum in which they assume the 
world has only the devices they personally test with.

In this regard the modern mobile arena isn't much different from 
designing for the desktop for the last 20 years.

The Mac premiered with no choice but a 512x342 B&W screen, and it became 
stupid to design only for one fixed resolution not long after when VGA 
connectors were introduced.

Today monitors commonly range from 800x600 to 2560x1440 and beyond, and 
we just write resizeStack handlers to work with 'em all.

With mobile the only real difference is that pixel density also varies 
more than on desktop displays currently, so we need to take that into 
account as well.

Fortunately the hard work of figuring out the logistics has already been 
done and guidelines are provided in the Android HIG:
<http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html>

Today both iOS and Android support devices with multiple physical sizes 
and resolutions, and there's no reason to believe Apple will limit iOS 
to only two form factors forever.

So those using Android are getting a head start on where every major 
player in the industry is headed:  smart devs are designing with dynamic 
metrics to deliver an optimal experience across all possible devices...

...just like we've always been doing on the desktop.

It hasn't been a good idea to presume a fixed display size since 1986.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
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