5 ms·

What type of user would want this? It could be interesting in a school setting or maybe in the developing world. However, the product seems a bit paradoxical:

by tonydiv 11y ago

What type of user would want this? It could be interesting in a school setting or maybe in the developing world. However, the product seems a bit paradoxical: use your phone as your main/only device, but meanwhile, you have a monitor available to use. Most people who only own phones probably don't own monitors, right? A mini projector seems more inline with the "mobile only" use case since monitors aren't portable.

pedalpete 11y ago
My guess is that one-day, everybody. Today, not so much. What is the difference between your laptop, desktop and phone? Mostly it's screen resolution and the apps that run on them. I'm sure at one point somebody was asking "why would I want to plug my laptop into a monitor?" Eventually, the technology disappears and it just becomes different I/O. All your apps, all your contacts, all your content in one place. No matter what monitor you sit in front of, it is YOUR computer. Not signing in under this account or that account, it just goes with you. I believe the technology still has a way to go. This is for early adopters now.
- martin-adams 11y ago
  Strangely I feel like I have the benefit of a lot of this already, only using the Cloud. Contacts, calendar, email, documents all goes with me. As a developer, git is the transport that does the same. Apps can generally be installed in multiple places. I often find myself working my laptop in the office, then my desktop at home, picking up right from where I left off.
  - pedalpete 11y ago
    Completely agree, and this is where things get a bit more of a question mark. Do the two have to be mutually exclusive? I don't really have an answer here, though I suspect that if my laptop becomes essentially a dumb terminal to my phone, I may upgrade it less often.
- 203993 11y ago
  It's largely thermal limits. I use a docking station connected to two monitors for my laptop at work. It's mobile when I need it to be mobile. It's stationary when I need it to be stationary. But it's not powerful (CPU performance) when I need it to be powerful unless I sacrifice mobility entirely like a desktop.
  - eb0la 11y ago
    There are also some problems with the battery. If you run enough apps on an android phone, it won't be able to charge the battery. Also people doesn't like their mobile phone to be hot.
    - pedalpete 11y ago
      I'd suggest it is likely that most peripherals that you connect your phone to will have their own power source which charges your phone, rather than using your phone as the power source.
  - pedalpete 11y ago
    I completely agree, and I suspect we'll see more hardware similar to the keyboard on the surfacebook where the peripherals boost the capabilities of the device plugged into them. For those not aware, the keyboard in some of the surfacebooks have a better gpu than what is in the tablet part.
kriro 11y ago
School setting is a good example+. I think the benefit is hooking up a keyboard in addition to the monitor. Mini projector would certainly be cool but I think existing monitors are more realistic. Some stuff is hard on phones (or maybe I'm too old). I'm thinking of programming classes, history classes with maps etc. Libraries/open terminals that let you plug in your phone could also be interesting. I'm also imagining someone like my parents. They prefer a bigish monitor for most tasks but those tasks are relatively straightforward. Mail, Office stuff etc. Currently they have a cheap Linux box for that, this could be removed and a bit of maintenance would go away. +Assuming for arguments sake a setting in which most kids are expected to own a cell phones.
eb0la 11y ago
Actually I developed a business case for a Telco for this three years ago, and there is a market. We hit a technical problem and could not sell it worldwide; but it worked for some countries. The mini projector didn't worked. Expensive. Hard to carry from one place to another and it needed lots of time to setup. When we demoed the desktop-in-your-pocket and the user reception was great. Women loved it (they already carry a lot of stuff in their bags, plus a laptop). Remember: If do something that improves people lives, there's a market. If you improve women lives, be sure there's a market.
ccozan 11y ago
Maybe a TV set would work too? I know, the target was initially a monitor, but everyone has a HDMI enabled TV ( ok, unless it lived under a rock in the last 5 years ).

by tonydiv 11y ago

pedalpete 11y ago

My guess is that one-day, everybody. Today, not so much. What is the difference between your laptop, desktop and phone? Mostly it's screen resolution and the apps that run on them. I'm sure at one point somebody was asking "why would I want to plug my laptop into a monitor?" Eventually, the technology disappears and it just becomes different I/O. All your apps, all your contacts, all your content in one place. No matter what monitor you sit in front of, it is YOUR computer. Not signing in under this account or that account, it just goes with you. I believe the technology still has a way to go. This is for early adopters now.

martin-adams 11y ago
Strangely I feel like I have the benefit of a lot of this already, only using the Cloud. Contacts, calendar, email, documents all goes with me. As a developer, git is the transport that does the same. Apps can generally be installed in multiple places. I often find myself working my laptop in the office, then my desktop at home, picking up right from where I left off.
- pedalpete 11y ago
  Completely agree, and this is where things get a bit more of a question mark. Do the two have to be mutually exclusive? I don't really have an answer here, though I suspect that if my laptop becomes essentially a dumb terminal to my phone, I may upgrade it less often.
203993 11y ago
It's largely thermal limits. I use a docking station connected to two monitors for my laptop at work. It's mobile when I need it to be mobile. It's stationary when I need it to be stationary. But it's not powerful (CPU performance) when I need it to be powerful unless I sacrifice mobility entirely like a desktop.
- eb0la 11y ago
  There are also some problems with the battery. If you run enough apps on an android phone, it won't be able to charge the battery. Also people doesn't like their mobile phone to be hot.
  - pedalpete 11y ago
    I'd suggest it is likely that most peripherals that you connect your phone to will have their own power source which charges your phone, rather than using your phone as the power source.
- pedalpete 11y ago
  I completely agree, and I suspect we'll see more hardware similar to the keyboard on the surfacebook where the peripherals boost the capabilities of the device plugged into them. For those not aware, the keyboard in some of the surfacebooks have a better gpu than what is in the tablet part.

kriro 11y ago

School setting is a good example+. I think the benefit is hooking up a keyboard in addition to the monitor. Mini projector would certainly be cool but I think existing monitors are more realistic. Some stuff is hard on phones (or maybe I'm too old). I'm thinking of programming classes, history classes with maps etc. Libraries/open terminals that let you plug in your phone could also be interesting. I'm also imagining someone like my parents. They prefer a bigish monitor for most tasks but those tasks are relatively straightforward. Mail, Office stuff etc. Currently they have a cheap Linux box for that, this could be removed and a bit of maintenance would go away. +Assuming for arguments sake a setting in which most kids are expected to own a cell phones.

eb0la 11y ago

Actually I developed a business case for a Telco for this three years ago, and there is a market. We hit a technical problem and could not sell it worldwide; but it worked for some countries. The mini projector didn't worked. Expensive. Hard to carry from one place to another and it needed lots of time to setup. When we demoed the desktop-in-your-pocket and the user reception was great. Women loved it (they already carry a lot of stuff in their bags, plus a laptop). Remember: If do something that improves people lives, there's a market. If you improve women lives, be sure there's a market.

ccozan 11y ago

Maybe a TV set would work too? I know, the target was initially a monitor, but everyone has a HDMI enabled TV ( ok, unless it lived under a rock in the last 5 years ).