4 ms·

Why do you need two devices? iPhone hardware is faster than many laptops. In 2020 I should be able to trivially attach a external monitor, keyboard, trackpad, e

Why do you need two devices? iPhone hardware is faster than many laptops. In 2020 I should be able to trivially attach a external monitor, keyboard, trackpad, etc. to my phone and compile code on iOS for iOS. The fact that I can't is nothing more than the current zeitgeist. A laptop at this point should just be a big battery/screen/trackpad I attach to my phone.

fastball 6y ago
People tried that I think and nobody really liked it. Can't remember who did it, but seemed like the consensus at the time was that all you end up with is the worst of both worlds. Hybrid devices only rarely end up successful it seems.
- icelancer 6y ago
  Should just be able to virtualize Linux/Windows inside of it. Eventually phones will be more than powerful enough to do that and we'll hotdesk with dumb terminals + phones.
  - teddyh 6y ago
    Like this? https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-laptop-mode/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-laptop-mode/ https://puri.sm/posts/mobile-desktop-convergence/ https://puri.sm/posts/mobile-desktop-convergence/
- com2kid 6y ago
  Motorola did it and Microsoft did it. I think Samsung may have also given it a go.
- tim-- 6y ago
  Samsung still does it (Dex) https://www.samsung.com/us/explore/dex/ https://www.samsung.com/us/explore/dex/ It's actually really good. I can wirelessly turn my TV into a 4K Android tablet, and with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, it turns into a computer. Same with a USB cable plugged into my desk's monitor to HDMI. If I didn't require a computer for development, I would not buy computers any more.
  - mrtksn 6y ago
    If it’s any good, why does not take over the world?
    - tim-- 6y ago
      I'm guessing it was Samsung neutering the platform. They never have really given too much time to advertising the capabilities of the platform (for example, no displays in their stores demoing the "phone as a desktop" capability). The Samsung DeX Station (https://www.samsung.com/au/galaxy-s8-accessories/dex-station/ https://www.samsung.com/au/galaxy-s8-accessories/dex-station...) is no longer manufactured which is a massive let down. It does however still work with the S10+, and I presume the S20. The ability send a network cable straight to the phone was pretty handy for a few situations.
      - o-__-o 6y ago
        Samsung has stores? My mom refuses to use dex, I found it to be great as a basic workstation. Definitely removes the need for eg a chrome book. Does not replace your power user machine however
        tim-- 6y ago
        In Australia & the US, they have quite a few. Australia: https://www.samsung.com/au/findastore/ https://www.samsung.com/au/findastore/ US: https://www.samsung.com/us/samsung-experience-store/locations/ https://www.samsung.com/us/samsung-experience-store/location...
  - tejinderss 6y ago
    > It's actually really good. I can wirelessly turn my TV into a 4K Android tablet Wireless Dex is limited to 1080p and wired one goes to max 1440p
- lmm 6y ago
  The HTC phone-shell-thing didn't really work, but that was more because it gave a bad experience as a laptop - both at the hardware level (phone-in-shell not being as stable or nice-feeling as a normal laptop) and the software level (non-x86 laptops kind of suck in terms of software availability). Samsung's Dex dock thingy still exists and can be useful when travelling - most hotel rooms you can plug into the TV with HDMI, so a phone and keyboard is less trouble than carrying a full laptop. If you could rely on finding a keyboard (even just a USB one) in any hotel room it would be a lot better. And hopefully with apple shifting to ARM there'll be a lot more desktop software that runs properly on phone processors.
grahamburger 6y ago
But why? If you're going to carry around a battery/screen/track pad anyway, why not just attach a CPU to it?

fastball 6y ago

People tried that I think and nobody really liked it. Can't remember who did it, but seemed like the consensus at the time was that all you end up with is the worst of both worlds. Hybrid devices only rarely end up successful it seems.

icelancer 6y ago
Should just be able to virtualize Linux/Windows inside of it. Eventually phones will be more than powerful enough to do that and we'll hotdesk with dumb terminals + phones.
- teddyh 6y ago
  Like this? https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-laptop-mode/ https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-laptop-mode/ https://puri.sm/posts/mobile-desktop-convergence/ https://puri.sm/posts/mobile-desktop-convergence/
com2kid 6y ago
Motorola did it and Microsoft did it. I think Samsung may have also given it a go.
tim-- 6y ago
Samsung still does it (Dex) https://www.samsung.com/us/explore/dex/ https://www.samsung.com/us/explore/dex/ It's actually really good. I can wirelessly turn my TV into a 4K Android tablet, and with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, it turns into a computer. Same with a USB cable plugged into my desk's monitor to HDMI. If I didn't require a computer for development, I would not buy computers any more.
- mrtksn 6y ago
  If it’s any good, why does not take over the world?
  - tim-- 6y ago
    I'm guessing it was Samsung neutering the platform. They never have really given too much time to advertising the capabilities of the platform (for example, no displays in their stores demoing the "phone as a desktop" capability). The Samsung DeX Station (https://www.samsung.com/au/galaxy-s8-accessories/dex-station/ https://www.samsung.com/au/galaxy-s8-accessories/dex-station...) is no longer manufactured which is a massive let down. It does however still work with the S10+, and I presume the S20. The ability send a network cable straight to the phone was pretty handy for a few situations.
    - o-__-o 6y ago
      Samsung has stores? My mom refuses to use dex, I found it to be great as a basic workstation. Definitely removes the need for eg a chrome book. Does not replace your power user machine however
      - tim-- 6y ago
        In Australia & the US, they have quite a few. Australia: https://www.samsung.com/au/findastore/ https://www.samsung.com/au/findastore/ US: https://www.samsung.com/us/samsung-experience-store/locations/ https://www.samsung.com/us/samsung-experience-store/location...
- tejinderss 6y ago
  > It's actually really good. I can wirelessly turn my TV into a 4K Android tablet Wireless Dex is limited to 1080p and wired one goes to max 1440p
lmm 6y ago
The HTC phone-shell-thing didn't really work, but that was more because it gave a bad experience as a laptop - both at the hardware level (phone-in-shell not being as stable or nice-feeling as a normal laptop) and the software level (non-x86 laptops kind of suck in terms of software availability). Samsung's Dex dock thingy still exists and can be useful when travelling - most hotel rooms you can plug into the TV with HDMI, so a phone and keyboard is less trouble than carrying a full laptop. If you could rely on finding a keyboard (even just a USB one) in any hotel room it would be a lot better. And hopefully with apple shifting to ARM there'll be a lot more desktop software that runs properly on phone processors.

grahamburger 6y ago

But why? If you're going to carry around a battery/screen/track pad anyway, why not just attach a CPU to it?