4 ms·

The section about mobile devices being for consumption instead of creation really resonated with me. I still use my smartphone every day, but none of my uses ar

The section about mobile devices being for consumption instead of creation really resonated with me. I still use my smartphone every day, but none of my uses are related to content creation; it's mostly a time killer while I'm away from a desktop. I've become pretty strict about installing applications on my smartphone. It seems like so many applications just wanna track everything you do and blast ads in your face. And the worst ones even start showing random notifications! To me this just shows a total lack of respect from their part. I always regret installing applications that behave this way. What's most surprising to me about mobile is that somehow it just keeps getting worse. I've been a smartphone user since the Nexus One came out, and I currently own a Nexus 5X. I don't think I've ever had a smartphone that was as buggy and crashed as often as this! If you're on Android, I strongly suggest installing Firefox with uBlock Origin and Ghostery. It makes the mobile web much better. But overall, doing anything on mobile feels like a painful chore.

CydeWeys 11y ago
I am a software engineer today because I learned to program in TI-Basic on a TI-82, a calculator which is so inferior to modern smartphones in all ways that that fact needs no further explanation. And yet the TI-82 came built-in with everything you needed to write and run your own programs, on the device. Modern smartphones do not. In that one sense they are significantly less capable than those TI calculators.
- soared 11y ago
  > Modern smartphones do not Excluding so many apps and web apps that enable you to write and test code on mobile/tablet? Excluding all the content writing and note taking apps? Excluding 'game builder' apps? I don't agree with your point. Android lets you run android sdk anyways.
  - CydeWeys 11y ago
    Can you link me to some of these apps that let you write code on the phone itself? (Preferably Android, as that's what I have.) I haven't actually used any, and I'm curious. But the important point is -- the phones don't come with them. The TI-82 literally had a button that you'd press to access programs, and the submenu within was "Run" or "Edit". That discoverability was very important. The kinds of people who would search for and use apps to write programs on the device are the kinds of people like us, who don't need it. (I do all my Android development in Android Studio on a workstation, for obvious reasons.)
    - detaro 11y ago
      IMHO apps like Tasker are an interesting example. They (mostly) work in the app-ecosystem, but people use them to work around limitations in other apps. Especially Tasker is "strong" enough that other app authors offer hooks for Tasker to control the apps. On the other end of the scale, I have a python interpreter on my android phone (although I don't use it very often)
    - shaftway 11y ago
      https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aide.ui https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aide.ui
seivan 11y ago
You can do consumption related to creation. I read this yesterday on my iPhone in the subway. http://d.pr/f/1jeUp http://d.pr/f/1jeUp
joshvm 11y ago
Does it have to be a platform for creation? I use my phone as a sort of amalgamated media consumption device. I listen to music and audiobooks, track my fitness, read (research) papers, I use it for navigation and maps and of course for communication. I don't want to 'create' on device the size of my palm because it's a poor form factor. Fundamentally I want something in my pocket that I can query to find information quickly. This is truly sci-fi terminal stuff and we have it today. Tablets - yes, this is a big problem. It annoys me that I can buy a tablet with great CPU power underneath, but I can't do any real work on it. Real work being development, access to a non-emulated terminal. We're getting closer to this with the MS Surface since you can run desktop applications on it, but I would never buy an iPad or an Android tablet because to me it's just a big phone without the data contract.

CydeWeys 11y ago

I am a software engineer today because I learned to program in TI-Basic on a TI-82, a calculator which is so inferior to modern smartphones in all ways that that fact needs no further explanation. And yet the TI-82 came built-in with everything you needed to write and run your own programs, on the device. Modern smartphones do not. In that one sense they are significantly less capable than those TI calculators.

soared 11y ago
> Modern smartphones do not Excluding so many apps and web apps that enable you to write and test code on mobile/tablet? Excluding all the content writing and note taking apps? Excluding 'game builder' apps? I don't agree with your point. Android lets you run android sdk anyways.
- CydeWeys 11y ago
  Can you link me to some of these apps that let you write code on the phone itself? (Preferably Android, as that's what I have.) I haven't actually used any, and I'm curious. But the important point is -- the phones don't come with them. The TI-82 literally had a button that you'd press to access programs, and the submenu within was "Run" or "Edit". That discoverability was very important. The kinds of people who would search for and use apps to write programs on the device are the kinds of people like us, who don't need it. (I do all my Android development in Android Studio on a workstation, for obvious reasons.)
  - detaro 11y ago
    IMHO apps like Tasker are an interesting example. They (mostly) work in the app-ecosystem, but people use them to work around limitations in other apps. Especially Tasker is "strong" enough that other app authors offer hooks for Tasker to control the apps. On the other end of the scale, I have a python interpreter on my android phone (although I don't use it very often)
  - shaftway 11y ago
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aide.ui https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aide.ui

seivan 11y ago

You can do consumption related to creation. I read this yesterday on my iPhone in the subway. http://d.pr/f/1jeUp http://d.pr/f/1jeUp

joshvm 11y ago

Does it have to be a platform for creation? I use my phone as a sort of amalgamated media consumption device. I listen to music and audiobooks, track my fitness, read (research) papers, I use it for navigation and maps and of course for communication. I don't want to 'create' on device the size of my palm because it's a poor form factor. Fundamentally I want something in my pocket that I can query to find information quickly. This is truly sci-fi terminal stuff and we have it today. Tablets - yes, this is a big problem. It annoys me that I can buy a tablet with great CPU power underneath, but I can't do any real work on it. Real work being development, access to a non-emulated terminal. We're getting closer to this with the MS Surface since you can run desktop applications on it, but I would never buy an iPad or an Android tablet because to me it's just a big phone without the data contract.