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Comment by nicksergeant | Hacker News Reader

Most of the arguments here are that "well my thumbs can reach far past the iPhone screen".

That's not what he's arguing. I can reach the pedals of my car with the seat all the way back, too, but I'll probably plow into someone as a result.

He's arguing that it's not comfortable to do so, and I agree. Stretching my thumb across the iPhone screen (top-left / top right) is as close to uncomfortable as I'd like to be. When my thumb is over there, the phone arches forward because of the position of my index finger, almost moving the phone out of my hand. Any larger of a screen and it'll go flying.

Whether or not Apple decided on the original screen size because of this, it was a good decision to not increase the size of the screen with the 4S.

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This is the only response to the article that gets it. When I read the article, I immediately picked up my iPod touch and put my thumb into the top-right corner as far as I could stretch it while remaining comfortable. It rests right on the corner, covering it nearly perfectly. I can keep stretching it to the point where the last joint in my thumb meets the edge, but it feels terrible to do so. I'm sure this wasn't the only factor that went into the decision for the screen size, but I have to think it was an inflexible maximum boundary for it.

To add to this point, it's not comfortable for the majority of users. If you look at a normal distribution of users, they want to cover some sort of number and I'd wager that this screen size is hitting that number.

EDIT: Spelling. I don't know why I mentioned "normal" either.Apple simply wants to cover a majority of users.

Evidence? Citation? Or are you saying that on blind faith simply because it's Apple?

Because Apple generally tries to create products that appeal to a large percentage of the population, not "blind faith". It's an observation based on common sense.

I disagree, and I'm presenting as much evidence for it as you are (i.e. none). In which conference was Apple's finding published? Where can I download a PDF of the paper?

One thing I don't see pointed out much is how the iPhone is just about as wide as iPods with a docking connector (dating back to 2003 with the 3rd gen.)

Specifically, the original iPhone was 1.1 mm narrower than iPods, and iPhone 4 is 3.2 mm narrower.

I definitely think the iPhone is the size that it is because the iPod was also around the same size. It's entirely possible they were both part of an overarching plan in the transition from "Apple computer" to Apple, the shiny thingy consumer company. Some considerations for the form factor would have been similar for both - eg, able to be manipulated with one hand, fits in the pocket, consistency and compatibility with third-party ecosystem.

It only makes sense if every person on the planet all have the same size hands and the same length thumbs.

So you're suggesting the iPhone have a resizable screen?

No I'm saying not every person has the same size hands or thumbs.

I would suspect it has a lot to do with being early in the market segment.

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