5 ms·

As long as wifi over USB is supported, why overcomplicate the core hardware? Sell a dongle as an add on option and make a little profit from it.

deeviant 5y ago
It only has one usb port. If you want to use the port for something other than wifi, then you would have to add a usb hub that would cost more and be dangling off. I have the intuition that integral wifi is table stakes for a general computing device.
samstave 5y ago
Completely an aside: USB dongles piss me off; specifically the Logitech Mouse USB dongles: Why the heck hasnt a single manufacturer included the USB Dongle radio IN the mobo? So with slim laptops you have few USB ports. I currently am typing this on an HP Omen flagship gaming laptop... It has ONE USB-C port, which is under-powered (I have a USB-C Hub, that requires an external USB-C Power source... so I have to plug the uSB-C Hub into my machine's C port, then plug the power USB-C <--> USB-B port consuming TWO of my USB ports on my machine... I plug in multiple USB-based monitors as well - and I can carry it all in my backpack... But we need MORE USB ports than fewer... and Mice should not consume a port. BT mice have never been subjectively responsive enough for me. For example, I can test-map-out my BT environment in my home by connecting to the BT speaker and moving around and it skips.... /rant
- zozbot234 5y ago
  > Why the heck hasnt a single manufacturer included the USB Dongle radio IN the mobo? USB radio dongles are not standardized, that's what Bluetooth is for. (There used to be a Wireless USB standard but it was never widely adopted, and it has fallen out of use altogether.) There are USB-C power bricks that also work as hubs, so you're not wasting your only USB-C port.
  - samstave 5y ago
    Ive never purchased anything but Logitech, to ensure all of my mice work, so they are pretty standardized to me.. but again I may be a minority in this opinion...
    - BenjiWiebe 5y ago
      Well yes, they may be "standardized" within one brand, but that isn't standardized. Why include a Logitech mouse/keyboard radio in a mobo when the one making the mobo isn't Logitech?
      - samstave 5y ago
        Uhm, you know how many sub-chipsets are from different OEMs on a mobo?
- shadowoflight 5y ago
  > BT mice have never been subjectively responsive enough for me. Anecdotally, I've experienced very few issues with the Logitech MX Master (both the original and v3) on my Mac via BT - every once in awhile (often enough to be aware of it, but infrequently enough that it's not something I'd consider a problem) the original would cut out for a few seconds, but other than that it tracked perfectly, and I haven't even had the periodic cutting-out issue with the Master 3 (yet; I've only had it for a little over a month now). Of course, this is dependent on the BT implementation of both the mouse and PC being used, which is something to take into consideration (I've had way fewer BT connection issues in general with MacBooks than with any Windows laptops).
- toast0 5y ago
  > BT mice have never been subjectively responsive enough for me. I wanted to like Bluetooth mice, but they just didn't work out for me. Some of the wireless mice these days are dual mode though; can run with proprietary wireless or switch to BT to avoid the proprietary dongle (some of the proprierary dongles also can act as a standard BT dongle, if your computer doesn't already have one). I know there was a line of mice that did wifi instead of BT too, because that makes sense.
- codazoda 5y ago
  My Logitech BT mouse works pretty well. I only notice one thing that's "special" about it and that is that it takes about 2 seconds to connect. As a result, when I first unlock my machine I'm spinning the mouse in a few circles until the cursor comes alive. Once it's alive, all is good. It's weird all these little things we learn to live with.
jethro_tell 5y ago
Because the point of something like this would be to be completely self contained. A shell in your pocket.
- cyberpunk 5y ago
  But but… you have a phone in there too… Which even on iOS has decent ssh clients.
  - jethro_tell 5y ago
    That's not the same thing. A shell box on a phone works for some things but it's not the same as an actual client. This has a keyboard as well.
    - cyberpunk 5y ago
      How so? (I also have to carry devices occasionally for work with stuff like nethunter (pentester)) and I can’t imagine replacing the flashed pixels/galaxies I use for that with even some 40 euro…. Thing…
  - fouc 5y ago
    A minimum viable computer w/ integrated keyboard & linux etc.. + use phone as the display. That seems like a winning combination!
numpad0 5y ago
idk but relying on USB in something with only 32MB RAM sounds potentially cumbersome. Besides a device like this is the intended use case for original ESP8266 so that's probably the way to go.

deeviant 5y ago

It only has one usb port. If you want to use the port for something other than wifi, then you would have to add a usb hub that would cost more and be dangling off. I have the intuition that integral wifi is table stakes for a general computing device.

samstave 5y ago

Completely an aside: USB dongles piss me off; specifically the Logitech Mouse USB dongles: Why the heck hasnt a single manufacturer included the USB Dongle radio IN the mobo? So with slim laptops you have few USB ports. I currently am typing this on an HP Omen flagship gaming laptop... It has ONE USB-C port, which is under-powered (I have a USB-C Hub, that requires an external USB-C Power source... so I have to plug the uSB-C Hub into my machine's C port, then plug the power USB-C <--> USB-B port consuming TWO of my USB ports on my machine... I plug in multiple USB-based monitors as well - and I can carry it all in my backpack... But we need MORE USB ports than fewer... and Mice should not consume a port. BT mice have never been subjectively responsive enough for me. For example, I can test-map-out my BT environment in my home by connecting to the BT speaker and moving around and it skips.... /rant

zozbot234 5y ago
> Why the heck hasnt a single manufacturer included the USB Dongle radio IN the mobo? USB radio dongles are not standardized, that's what Bluetooth is for. (There used to be a Wireless USB standard but it was never widely adopted, and it has fallen out of use altogether.) There are USB-C power bricks that also work as hubs, so you're not wasting your only USB-C port.
- samstave 5y ago
  Ive never purchased anything but Logitech, to ensure all of my mice work, so they are pretty standardized to me.. but again I may be a minority in this opinion...
  - BenjiWiebe 5y ago
    Well yes, they may be "standardized" within one brand, but that isn't standardized. Why include a Logitech mouse/keyboard radio in a mobo when the one making the mobo isn't Logitech?
    - samstave 5y ago
      Uhm, you know how many sub-chipsets are from different OEMs on a mobo?
shadowoflight 5y ago
> BT mice have never been subjectively responsive enough for me. Anecdotally, I've experienced very few issues with the Logitech MX Master (both the original and v3) on my Mac via BT - every once in awhile (often enough to be aware of it, but infrequently enough that it's not something I'd consider a problem) the original would cut out for a few seconds, but other than that it tracked perfectly, and I haven't even had the periodic cutting-out issue with the Master 3 (yet; I've only had it for a little over a month now). Of course, this is dependent on the BT implementation of both the mouse and PC being used, which is something to take into consideration (I've had way fewer BT connection issues in general with MacBooks than with any Windows laptops).
toast0 5y ago
> BT mice have never been subjectively responsive enough for me. I wanted to like Bluetooth mice, but they just didn't work out for me. Some of the wireless mice these days are dual mode though; can run with proprietary wireless or switch to BT to avoid the proprietary dongle (some of the proprierary dongles also can act as a standard BT dongle, if your computer doesn't already have one). I know there was a line of mice that did wifi instead of BT too, because that makes sense.
codazoda 5y ago
My Logitech BT mouse works pretty well. I only notice one thing that's "special" about it and that is that it takes about 2 seconds to connect. As a result, when I first unlock my machine I'm spinning the mouse in a few circles until the cursor comes alive. Once it's alive, all is good. It's weird all these little things we learn to live with.

jethro_tell 5y ago

Because the point of something like this would be to be completely self contained. A shell in your pocket.

cyberpunk 5y ago
But but… you have a phone in there too… Which even on iOS has decent ssh clients.
- jethro_tell 5y ago
  That's not the same thing. A shell box on a phone works for some things but it's not the same as an actual client. This has a keyboard as well.
  - cyberpunk 5y ago
    How so? (I also have to carry devices occasionally for work with stuff like nethunter (pentester)) and I can’t imagine replacing the flashed pixels/galaxies I use for that with even some 40 euro…. Thing…
- fouc 5y ago
  A minimum viable computer w/ integrated keyboard & linux etc.. + use phone as the display. That seems like a winning combination!

numpad0 5y ago

idk but relying on USB in something with only 32MB RAM sounds potentially cumbersome. Besides a device like this is the intended use case for original ESP8266 so that's probably the way to go.