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> Mobile is an entirely different beast. Why would desktop vendors not follow the same pathway? To me, it looks like it is only a "tradition" (desktop computer

by Jenda_ 4y ago

> Mobile is an entirely different beast. Why would desktop vendors not follow the same pathway? To me, it looks like it is only a "tradition" (desktop computers are from an era when it was deemed normal to tinker with your OS) and the paradigm can shift.

_cenw 4y ago
Because it is extremely disruptive to the entire platform? Windows has been keeping decades old APIs on life support for the sake of business customers. This would quite literally be the opposite move. These two ecosystems have not converged in the past 20+ years, why would they now? Also, somehow most Android vendors still provide bootloader unlock keys.
PhasmaFelis 4y ago
They're very different markets with very different needs. The market share of PCs will fall, relative to phones, but never vanish, and as it falls the casual users will leave, leaving an even greater concentration of tinkerers. There are hundreds of millions of passionate hobbyists of various types who use PCs specifically because of their deep versatility, including all of the nascent coders that the big corps depend on for their next generation of dev hires. Abandoning them would be like automakers abandoning the transport truck market because it's not as big as the family car market. They would lose a bunch of money, and money is the bottom line.
- Jenda_ 4y ago
  You are right that the business depending on the "tradition" is way bigger than I anticipated. > There are hundreds of millions of passionate hobbyists of various types who use PCs specifically because of their deep versatility I think there would be lots of hobbyists tinkering with smartphones… > including all of the nascent coders that the big corps depend on for their next generation of dev hires This is something I sometimes worry about: I think most of current developers/sysadmins/hackers started by tinkering with their computer, playing with snippets of HTML/Python/shell, and therefore we will get much less coders in the near future, as kids are moving to devices which do not allow such easy tinkering? (yes, I know there are smartphone apps that provide some functionality, but I think it's generally less accessible)

by Jenda_ 4y ago

_cenw 4y ago

Because it is extremely disruptive to the entire platform? Windows has been keeping decades old APIs on life support for the sake of business customers. This would quite literally be the opposite move. These two ecosystems have not converged in the past 20+ years, why would they now? Also, somehow most Android vendors still provide bootloader unlock keys.

PhasmaFelis 4y ago

They're very different markets with very different needs. The market share of PCs will fall, relative to phones, but never vanish, and as it falls the casual users will leave, leaving an even greater concentration of tinkerers. There are hundreds of millions of passionate hobbyists of various types who use PCs specifically because of their deep versatility, including all of the nascent coders that the big corps depend on for their next generation of dev hires. Abandoning them would be like automakers abandoning the transport truck market because it's not as big as the family car market. They would lose a bunch of money, and money is the bottom line.

Jenda_ 4y ago
You are right that the business depending on the "tradition" is way bigger than I anticipated. > There are hundreds of millions of passionate hobbyists of various types who use PCs specifically because of their deep versatility I think there would be lots of hobbyists tinkering with smartphones… > including all of the nascent coders that the big corps depend on for their next generation of dev hires This is something I sometimes worry about: I think most of current developers/sysadmins/hackers started by tinkering with their computer, playing with snippets of HTML/Python/shell, and therefore we will get much less coders in the near future, as kids are moving to devices which do not allow such easy tinkering? (yes, I know there are smartphone apps that provide some functionality, but I think it's generally less accessible)