Thread: N900 Orientation
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kanishou is offline kanishou
2009-09-05 , 23:29
Posts: 341 | Thanked: 607 times | Joined on Dec 2008
#12
Originally Posted by jimizzle View Post
You must add portrait support for most areas of the OS. I was sure that this was going to be my next "phone" (mobile computer) but what is the point of device which is pocketable which cannot be used on the go. I may as well put it in a bag. Think about it, the majority of the time you see someone with a touchscreen device they are using it in portrait.
Examples:
1)Walking to work want to check my emails casually - single handed, so that I can carry my briefcase.

2) Check RSS feeds out and about.
The device is easy enough to hold in your left hand, and to use it two-handed, all you need to do is to bring your right hand with the briefcase close to the device. It may not be so stylish or comfortable, but it is far from impossible. Reading (and scrolling through) a mail or RSS feed is easy enough with one hand, so it's not like you are using two hands all the time.

3) Check the time single headedly.
That's trivial, even with one hand.

4) Using Ovi Maps while walking in an unknown place (If I try to do this with 2 hands I will probably get hit by a bus - by adding portrait support you will actually be saving lives!
I don't understand why holding the device with one hand makes it less likely that you run into the bus. In both cases you are equally distracted by looking (and interacting with) the device, so you should probably not do that while crossing a street. Following directions also just requires you to hold the device in one hand.

People have mentioned other use cases where one hand is occupied with something, e.g. holding a flash light. But I am convinced that you will find that in the vast majority of cases, holding an object in one hand is not stopping you from also interacting with the device with that same hand.

I am not saying that portrait orientation is useless, but I think that its importance is getting a bit overblown. Also, with a large screen like that, it is actually quite a bit more convenient to use the device with two thumbs (each conveniently covering one half of the screen) rather than one.
 

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