Todays monitors can be used nearly for all, thanks to the combination of the interfaces, including sound speakers. And of course, it can be used with a Mac, in my case a white MacBook. And whow, what a feeling ! Even DVDs, rich content websites, all looks so great !
Today it was the first moment, I used the MacBook again as a notebook, with it's own display. What a shock ! All is so small, no oversight, colors and brightness, no usability, no fun. But, hey, every day, my iPhone has to show me WebSites, provide me translations and the last news from Twitter or other news portals. And this display is much smaller. And it works for me so far. Seems like a contradiction, doesn't it ?
Well, in relation to the iPhone, another effect takes place: it works the better, the more the Apps or WebSites (more exactly: their iPhone version) are adjusted for small screens. And because there are many iPhones out now and in every-day use, you can really find WebSites in fine iPhone version (and this is a completely different thing as the crappy WAP things in the past....) which show, how it could look like to design an information or an operation interface for the capabilities of the destination device. Some WebSites could be used much better in the iPhone version because they show exactly what you want, and not more (advertisements....here blinks it, there are flash something, over there a color explosion, bah) !
Now, the current or near-future internet techniques provide so much opportunities for new ways of information and operation to the users. Have a look at HTML5, O3D, AJAX, the new JavaScript engines in modern browsers: the internet world is colored and rich as never before. And why should all the Web Designers not use this things and provide us with optical beauty, operational high usable experiences ? Display space is not a problem, look at the prices of >22 inch devices !
But my poor Mac is born in another world, as the idea itself to have a movable computer, too: its screen (and resolution) was great some years ago, today, it is catched between the iPhone and the big electronic color picture devices on the wall or on the desktop. The great user interface of an Mac OS can adapt to a big screen quickly, size can be turned to usability at once. The other direction is full of restrictions. Mac OS is not an every size auto-adapting paradigma system, as all software systems I know so far.
In fact, my observation is this, based on one year usage of the iPhone, 6 years of (Apple Mac) notebooks and now a 24 inch 16:9 display: size doesn't matter, if the informational and operational design reflect and support the natural way of use of the device.
(Important remark: the WebBrowser and the native Operating Systems converge quickly, therefore the following is stated only in respect to the Web, but is valid for OSes, too).
Because the new Web technologies provide a big toolset to implement nearly all ideas, and because the Web Browser is a potential flexible thing (it looks like a simple text file tells him to look like), I expect from the UI designers to reflect and to use the nature of each possible category of display device. You *can* use a iPhone, a Netbook, a Notebook and a wide Cinemascreen with fun and operational value, *if* you adapt not only colors, text font etc but also the paradigma of visualization of information and interactiviy !
Please designers, meet the challange, use all your creativity to give as an interface for every device, and be aware, there will be more in future: tablets with touch screens, mini projectors and gesture recognition............. That would be great, and more, it would take us to a real flexible and real mobile information society :-)
