3 ms·

For many years it's seemed pretty obvious to me that most people don't have a need for a laptop for 'real work', but could instead just drop their phones in to

by nly 6y ago

For many years it's seemed pretty obvious to me that most people don't have a need for a laptop for 'real work', but could instead just drop their phones in to a slick little dock connected to a keyboard, mouse and a large touch screen. I believe this was the original vision behind Ubuntu Phone before it was pared-down and made boring. Completely wireless pairing would be even better. It seems like the hardware is good enough, the only thing really holding us back is that the software development environments on mobile platforms are primitive compared to anything on PC (Linux, macOS or Windows). It's hard to imagine developing anything like Photoshop on Android for example, and even office tools like Word are terrible on mobile. Maybe Apple will make this happen someday.

fendy3002 6y ago
Umm, ms surface?
- nly 6y ago
  Surfaces are tablets with plug in keyboards. I'm talking about a cellular device that you can slip in your pocket
  - soapdog 6y ago
    The problem with that vision is that people break/lose phones a lot more often than laptops. We tend to carry your phone all the time with us, that leads to it being potentially exposed to way more dangers than our laptops. What happens to all your stuff when your phone is stolen in a pub? or when it fall into that subway gap? If the answer to this is: it is all backed up automatically into the cloud and your new device will become a clone of your lost device, then you don't need the device in the first place, all you need is a terminal. If the answer is: you're screwed, then maybe storing all your stuff on a device small enough to be easily stolen/broken was a bad idea.
    - least 6y ago
      > If the answer to this is: it is all backed up automatically into the cloud and your new device will become a clone of your lost device, then you don't need the device in the first place, all you need is a terminal. Why do I only need a terminal if my data is backed up to the cloud, exactly? If I wish to watch a video that I downloaded to my phone, I can do that without having connection to the internet. If I wish to edit a photo with an application on my phone, all the processing of that file can be done locally on the device. Having a cloud backup of a device does not mean that there's no value in having a device with its own capabilities outside of the cloud. > If the answer is: you're screwed, then maybe storing all your stuff on a device small enough to be easily stolen/broken was a bad idea. For any valuable data you should have more than one backup solution, including data you store on your phone. Just because there's more risk of losing your phone than your desktop pc in your home doesn't mean that you take less measures to mitigate the chance of data loss on your desktop pc.
    - nly 6y ago
      In my experience your average Joe carries most of their important stuff on their phone anyway (photos, contacts, payment options, email, instant message history) and very little of importance on their laptop.
_trampeltier 6y ago
HP tryed to do it with the Elite X3 and a kind of dumb notebook (all logic in the phone). When it came out, Windows Mobile was already dead, so .. On Android there is DEX (at least I have it from Samsung), but it seams it exist, but there is no big love from wherever-is-behind-it.
izacus 6y ago
This literally what Samsung phones do right now. No need to wait for Apple to save you.
- Jaruzel 6y ago
  https://www.samsung.com/uk/apps/samsung-dex/ https://www.samsung.com/uk/apps/samsung-dex/
- jmnicolas 6y ago
  What does Dex mode brings you? Mobile apps arranged like a desktop that's it. Where is Android studio ... on Android?
  - p410n3 6y ago
    AIDE is a thing
  - izacus 6y ago
    In the place where Xcode for iPad is. And yet iPad is still very useful computing device for millions. Dex has fully functional browser, office apps, media software and file management. That covers huge amounts of use-cases.
    - jmnicolas 6y ago
      > And yet iPad is still very useful computing device for millions. Frankly I'm amazed at the efforts some people do to make iPads work as laptops (at least from what I saw on YouTube). Once they add a keyboard it's almost as heavy and bulky than a laptop. Some add a HUB with a mouse and even plug a RaspberryPi in USB C to SSH into ... I'm not convinced it's worth the efforts.
m463 6y ago
Purism phone is designed for this. You can order the phone with a monitor (overpriced though)

by nly 6y ago

fendy3002 6y ago

Umm, ms surface?

nly 6y ago
Surfaces are tablets with plug in keyboards. I'm talking about a cellular device that you can slip in your pocket
- soapdog 6y ago
  The problem with that vision is that people break/lose phones a lot more often than laptops. We tend to carry your phone all the time with us, that leads to it being potentially exposed to way more dangers than our laptops. What happens to all your stuff when your phone is stolen in a pub? or when it fall into that subway gap? If the answer to this is: it is all backed up automatically into the cloud and your new device will become a clone of your lost device, then you don't need the device in the first place, all you need is a terminal. If the answer is: you're screwed, then maybe storing all your stuff on a device small enough to be easily stolen/broken was a bad idea.
  - least 6y ago
    > If the answer to this is: it is all backed up automatically into the cloud and your new device will become a clone of your lost device, then you don't need the device in the first place, all you need is a terminal. Why do I only need a terminal if my data is backed up to the cloud, exactly? If I wish to watch a video that I downloaded to my phone, I can do that without having connection to the internet. If I wish to edit a photo with an application on my phone, all the processing of that file can be done locally on the device. Having a cloud backup of a device does not mean that there's no value in having a device with its own capabilities outside of the cloud. > If the answer is: you're screwed, then maybe storing all your stuff on a device small enough to be easily stolen/broken was a bad idea. For any valuable data you should have more than one backup solution, including data you store on your phone. Just because there's more risk of losing your phone than your desktop pc in your home doesn't mean that you take less measures to mitigate the chance of data loss on your desktop pc.
  - nly 6y ago
    In my experience your average Joe carries most of their important stuff on their phone anyway (photos, contacts, payment options, email, instant message history) and very little of importance on their laptop.

_trampeltier 6y ago

HP tryed to do it with the Elite X3 and a kind of dumb notebook (all logic in the phone). When it came out, Windows Mobile was already dead, so .. On Android there is DEX (at least I have it from Samsung), but it seams it exist, but there is no big love from wherever-is-behind-it.

izacus 6y ago

This literally what Samsung phones do right now. No need to wait for Apple to save you.

Jaruzel 6y ago
https://www.samsung.com/uk/apps/samsung-dex/ https://www.samsung.com/uk/apps/samsung-dex/
jmnicolas 6y ago
What does Dex mode brings you? Mobile apps arranged like a desktop that's it. Where is Android studio ... on Android?
- p410n3 6y ago
  AIDE is a thing
- izacus 6y ago
  In the place where Xcode for iPad is. And yet iPad is still very useful computing device for millions. Dex has fully functional browser, office apps, media software and file management. That covers huge amounts of use-cases.
  - jmnicolas 6y ago
    > And yet iPad is still very useful computing device for millions. Frankly I'm amazed at the efforts some people do to make iPads work as laptops (at least from what I saw on YouTube). Once they add a keyboard it's almost as heavy and bulky than a laptop. Some add a HUB with a mouse and even plug a RaspberryPi in USB C to SSH into ... I'm not convinced it's worth the efforts.

m463 6y ago

Purism phone is designed for this. You can order the phone with a monitor (overpriced though)