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Smartphones are not even that similar to laptops. Smartphones wiped out beepers, old cellphone, PDAs, and decimated MP3 players and cameras. Laptops, of course
by bee_rider 1y ago
Smartphones are not even that similar to laptops. Smartphones wiped out beepers, old cellphone, PDAs, and decimated MP3 players and cameras.
Laptops, of course, have the much bigger screen and keyboard, not really replicated by smartphones. They have use-cases that smartphone can’t cover well for hardware reasons. So they’ve stuck around (in a notably diminished form).
If good AR glasses become a thing… I dunno, they could easily replace monitors generally, right? Then a laptop just becomes a keyboard. That’s a hardware function that seems necessary.
What niche is left for the smartphone?
- Talanes 1y ago>Smartphones are not even that similar to laptops. I believe that was the entire point of the comparison. Smartphones replaces SOME use cases of laptops in the same way ubiquitous smart glasses could replaces SOME use cases of smartphones.
- bee_rider 1y agoI’m not sure how to respond to your post, because it seems to ignore the vast majority of mine, including the parts that look at pretty similar ideas to what you’ve brought up.
- Talanes 1y agoWell, I wasn't sure how to respond to yours missing the entire conceit of the post before it, so I guess we're even.
- bee_rider 1y agoI don’t think I missed anything. Maybe if I’d only posted the bit you quoted that would make sense. But I also don’t think either of us is gaining anything through this interaction, so... shrug
- airstrike 1y agoYou're missing the fact that the original comparison with laptops was a bit tongue in cheek
- bee_rider 1y agoI don’t think I missed anything. But maybe my post was not very clear? The post I was responding to clearly meant “like smartphones replaced […] laptops,” which is to say, they don’t think AR glasses will replace smartphones (because smartphones didn’t completely replace laptops). I get that. Then I pointed out that smartphones did more-or-less replace a number of other electronic devices. And there are some reasons they didn’t fully replace laptops. Then I went on to think about the niches that could exist should AR glasses become a major thing.
- airstrike 1y ago> which is to say, they don’t think AR glasses will replace smartphones (because smartphones didn’t completely replace laptops). I get that. I actually read it as "it will be a replacement in some ways, but also very much not be a replacement in many other ways"
- jazzyjackson 1y agoA large plurality of young people rarely use a laptop if they’re not so called knowledge workers, most everything can be done by phone. Maybe clubhouse style group audio chats will make a comeback and people will jump on the ambient computing trend as clearly better than interacting with screens all day
- foobarchu 1y agoThe screen itself isn't really the problem people are talking about when they refer to "too much screen time". Suddenly having the screen be your entire field of vision sounds like an even worse situation for the average person's attention.
- jazzyjackson 1y agoTotally agree as far as AR goggles but the meta glasses have no screen, they’re just a voice in your ear
- mrweasel 1y agoIt always seems insane to me when people book plane tickets, do taxes, banking, writing email and stuff like that on a phone. That's big screen tasks, you can't do those on your phone, not enough space to navigate safely.
- artursapek 1y agoAll of this will be done by AI soon.
- bigfatkitten 1y agoYes, I’m sure you’ll be able to blame AI when you are prosecuted for tax fraud because your return was full of hallucinations and lies.
- jerlam 1y agoNot just young people, I see a lot of elderly adults using tablets and phones as their primary computing device. They're cheaper and more user-friendly if you don't care about performance or multitasking. At the same price, a tablet is a far better choice than a laptop. If you are afraid of technology, Android or iPadOS is lightyears ahead of Windows or MacOS.
- 999900000999 1y agoA lot of lower income people might only have a cheap android phone. It's more than enough to handle paying bills, applying for jobs, etc. Hell, a Bluetooth keyboard and a bit of grit + GitHub CodeSpaces and you can write develop applications. You can also cast your screen to a TV or on a handful of phones use USB c to HDMI.
- shortrounddev2 1y agoSmartphones replaced laptops. A huge amount of people don't own a laptop or desktop PC - they do all computing via smartphone or maybe tablet. My wife almost never opens her laptop, nor does my mom
- bee_rider 1y agoBut people still do buy some laptops. It is hard to say when the peak of laptops in circulation was, right? Because simultaneously the tech has been maturing (longer product lifetimes) and smartphones have taken some laptop niches. I’m not even clear on what we’re measuring when we say “replace.” Every non-technical person I know has a laptop, but uses it on maybe a weekly basis (instead of daily, for smartphones).
- shortrounddev2 1y agoI don't know any non-technical people who own laptops, personally. Other than work laptops
- XorNot 1y agoSure but lots of people use work laptops as general laptops. Which is why we keep having to advise people not to do that.
- layer8 1y agoGlobal PC shipments haven’t decreased over the last 20 years. It’s more like smartphones have expanded the number of people who do computing.
- bigfatkitten 1y agoMillions of smartphone users never owned a laptop (or even a desktop computer) to start with. Smartphones are their only real exposure to computing.
- Henchman21 1y agoYou have missed the point utterly. “AR glasses will replace smartphones the same way smartphones replaced laptops” — they didn’t replace laptops. Therefore AR glasses won’t replace smartphones in the same way smartphones didn’t replace laptops.
- bee_rider 1y agoI’ve already responded to this sentiment in another thread. I do kind of find it puzzling that folks are reading my post and coming to the conclusion that I missed the point, but hey, if I confused enough people then I guess I’ll take the blame. I’ve tried to address in the follow up. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44330537 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44330537
- sandcat_ 1y agoFWIW when I first skimmed your comment I came to the same conclusion as everyone else. I don’t think people are reading closely.
- bobthepanda 1y agoSmartphones are mobile. Glasses with a keyboard would require either being fixed to a keyboard location or a keyboard with the form factor of a smartphone, and if that’s the case why do you need the glasses?
- int_19h 1y agoThe idea is that you'd use smart glasses without keyboard most of the time, mostly in the same scenarios you'd use a smartphone today. But unlike a smartphone, smart glasses can also replace a laptop if and when needed by pairing with a keyboard.