What the hell are you on about? 5k is a very real resolution, it is double 1440p. It means you can have a 1440p looking display, but with retina scaling.
I've got a 4k display, with scaling I have a 1080p looking display and as a result wouldn't want to go any bigger than 24".
This is exactly the display I have been waiting for (only it has a computer inside it).
Of course it's a "very real resolution" are you an idiot? Any display made using current technologies uses a "very real resolution" because that's how displays work.
What I was talking about, however, is that every other company under the Sun that has a relation to displays/media/TVs/whatever is pushing 4K and 8K as the next standards after Full HD. Yet, Apple in their infinite wisdom, go and pull a number out of their asses that isn't evenly divisible into those emerging standards - even if it is easily scalable into them.
Why? What could they possibly gain besides consumer dependence on yet-another piece of proprietary Apple nonsense?
Sure, the points being made about it pushing other companies to develop comparable tech for cheaper stands as Dell selling a display for the same price as an entire Mac computer is ridiculous. But so what? Apple diehards will get a 5K while the rest of the world goes with 4K and 8K, creating unnecessary disparity.
In what way are 5K displays incompatible with anything else? What actual problems does this cause anyone?
As to your question why, one advantage is that these monitors can display true pixel-for-pixel 4k video in an editing suite, while still leaving screen real-estate free to display the application user interface, film libraries, etc. Another is that even higher fidelity means less pixelation and smoother color gradations that on a similarly sized 4k display. There are plenty of advantages.
Finally, I don't remember anybody complaining when Dell released their 5k display a few months ago.
I've got a 4k display, with scaling I have a 1080p looking display and as a result wouldn't want to go any bigger than 24".
This is exactly the display I have been waiting for (only it has a computer inside it).