9 ms·

>Phones are light communication devices for sending brief messages, checking social statuses or updating them ... ... in 2005. Phones are powerful computing de

>Phones are light communication devices for sending brief messages, checking social statuses or updating them ... ... in 2005. Phones are powerful computing devices, and they are big business.

sliverstorm 14y ago
Yup. Phones are still not as powerful as standard computers, but I would hazard the good ones are at least as fast as a laptop from 5 years ago. (Guess what OS I was running on my laptops 5 years ago?)
- marshray 14y ago
  As a data point my newest phone (Nexus 4) is a 1.5 GHz quad-core with 2 GB of RAM and a GPU good for OpenGL ES 3.0 and OpenCL 1.2. Except for hard drive size and bandwidth, it's the same or better than the dual core laptop I had 5 years ago.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    Those specs don't speak to performance. Your 5 year old computer could easily run Windows 8 without a problem and the Nexus 4 can't.
    - marshray 14y ago
      Serious question: What is the use of "running Windows 8" per se? Traditionally, computing platforms are for applications and operating systems are a means to that end. What class of applications (from 5 years ago) would have inherent performance issues with Nexus4-class hardware (assuming a real external display and hard drive were added)? Also, it occurs to me that Surface RT is largely Windows 8 and Office running on very comparable hardware. I have a Surface RT, it runs this stuff quite well.
      - sliverstorm 14y ago
        What is the use of "running Windows 8" per se? ... operating systems are a means to [an] end That's the use. If it runs Windows 8 without complaint, you can generally do the things that running Windows 8 allows you to do.
        marshray 14y ago
        One could open and close Notepad and Calc all day long and even do some light websurfing with IE with no problem, just to find the system bogs down trying to work with a real productivity app like an IDE, a video editor, or even a spreadsheet. I think we've all seen a slow desktop before. Windows generally has minimum requirements well below that which you would want to have for serious productivity work. An OS has to leave some RAM and storage space for the user's apps.
        sliverstorm 14y ago
        This is why when someone says "It runs XYZ!" I presume they mean it runs it well enough that it doesn't get in the way under general usage. People sometimes take liberties with claims about what runs on what, but generally do follow that guideline.
      - vy8vWJlco 14y ago
        An operating system IS an application, not a just a means to an end. If you prefer Linux or Windows, that is the application. (Everything else is a microwave, not a computer.)
    - mappu 14y ago
      Those specs edge out the Microsoft Surface RT, which does run Windows 8.
      - noahjk 14y ago
        Windows RT*, a little less demanding.
        marshray 14y ago
        It runs desktop MS Office too. For many people/enterprises that's the gold standard yardstick for "usable PC performance".
    - primitur 14y ago
      The 5 year old computer can easily run Ubuntu and now Mobile phones will, also. What don't you get: this is Canonical running ahead of the pack?
    - Profess 14y ago
      How does running Windows 8 gauge performance of a device?
joe_the_user 14y ago
The phone could have a supercomputer inside it. It's common use-case would like be according to the quote. A small screen and limited keyboard take its toll regardless of computing power. The big business part is true but tablets also are big and could make some sense as an Ubuntu platform.
- rdtsc 14y ago
  Both screen and keyboard are nothing but external accessories. You computer case from 1998 didn't come with an integrated keyboard and display, those were separate. This if (funny enough) a similar situation. You get your phone and then buy a larger case for it that has a flexible OLED display and a bluetooth keyboard. Don't need the large screen and keyboard? Fine just leave those home and take only the phone with you. Tablets are cool but they can't conveniently become phones, but phones can become tablets/desktop/TVs/ebook reader with appropriate accessories.
- fudged71 14y ago
  The increased processing power of phones will eventually allow many people to replace their PCs with a phone dock. This massive shift of behaviour will have other consequences in how we use our phones. Besides gaming and graphics, the latent processing power when mobile will be used for machine learning and computer vision purposes. These two technologies allow us to harness some incredible power from our devices even with limited inputs. Imagine having a fully searchable and indexed transcript of your interlingual phone calls available in realtime, and those words are added to your keyboard prediction that is synced with your account. After just getting off a phonecall with your japanese boss about the board of Newmark Industries, you could sit down at a desk and write a document with correct spellings of each board member's names (you are prompted if you would like them added to your contacts). Your phone finds a route to their head office in the background and tells you which specific route to drive there based on historic traffic combined with current traffic (both foot and vehicular traffic, of course). The sensing capabilities of phones are getting better and better. GPS is getting more accurate and lower powered. Weather prediction is improving due to remote sensing of cellphone barometers. Machine learning and computer vision techniques are improving for augmentation, prediction, and more. Phones are a big deal. They are the only technological device (besides glasses and watches) that we carry everywhere. Maybe flexible displays will allow us to have phones without the physical limitations that you describe.

>Phones are light communication devices for sending brief messages, checking social statuses or updating them ... ... in 2005. Phones are powerful computing devices, and they are big business.

sliverstorm 14y ago

Yup. Phones are still not as powerful as standard computers, but I would hazard the good ones are at least as fast as a laptop from 5 years ago. (Guess what OS I was running on my laptops 5 years ago?)

marshray 14y ago
As a data point my newest phone (Nexus 4) is a 1.5 GHz quad-core with 2 GB of RAM and a GPU good for OpenGL ES 3.0 and OpenCL 1.2. Except for hard drive size and bandwidth, it's the same or better than the dual core laptop I had 5 years ago.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  Those specs don't speak to performance. Your 5 year old computer could easily run Windows 8 without a problem and the Nexus 4 can't.
  - marshray 14y ago
    Serious question: What is the use of "running Windows 8" per se? Traditionally, computing platforms are for applications and operating systems are a means to that end. What class of applications (from 5 years ago) would have inherent performance issues with Nexus4-class hardware (assuming a real external display and hard drive were added)? Also, it occurs to me that Surface RT is largely Windows 8 and Office running on very comparable hardware. I have a Surface RT, it runs this stuff quite well.
    - sliverstorm 14y ago
      What is the use of "running Windows 8" per se? ... operating systems are a means to [an] end That's the use. If it runs Windows 8 without complaint, you can generally do the things that running Windows 8 allows you to do.
      - marshray 14y ago
        One could open and close Notepad and Calc all day long and even do some light websurfing with IE with no problem, just to find the system bogs down trying to work with a real productivity app like an IDE, a video editor, or even a spreadsheet. I think we've all seen a slow desktop before. Windows generally has minimum requirements well below that which you would want to have for serious productivity work. An OS has to leave some RAM and storage space for the user's apps.
        sliverstorm 14y ago
        This is why when someone says "It runs XYZ!" I presume they mean it runs it well enough that it doesn't get in the way under general usage. People sometimes take liberties with claims about what runs on what, but generally do follow that guideline.
    - vy8vWJlco 14y ago
      An operating system IS an application, not a just a means to an end. If you prefer Linux or Windows, that is the application. (Everything else is a microwave, not a computer.)
  - mappu 14y ago
    Those specs edge out the Microsoft Surface RT, which does run Windows 8.
    - noahjk 14y ago
      Windows RT*, a little less demanding.
      - marshray 14y ago
        It runs desktop MS Office too. For many people/enterprises that's the gold standard yardstick for "usable PC performance".
  - primitur 14y ago
    The 5 year old computer can easily run Ubuntu and now Mobile phones will, also. What don't you get: this is Canonical running ahead of the pack?
  - Profess 14y ago
    How does running Windows 8 gauge performance of a device?

joe_the_user 14y ago

The phone could have a supercomputer inside it. It's common use-case would like be according to the quote. A small screen and limited keyboard take its toll regardless of computing power. The big business part is true but tablets also are big and could make some sense as an Ubuntu platform.

rdtsc 14y ago
Both screen and keyboard are nothing but external accessories. You computer case from 1998 didn't come with an integrated keyboard and display, those were separate. This if (funny enough) a similar situation. You get your phone and then buy a larger case for it that has a flexible OLED display and a bluetooth keyboard. Don't need the large screen and keyboard? Fine just leave those home and take only the phone with you. Tablets are cool but they can't conveniently become phones, but phones can become tablets/desktop/TVs/ebook reader with appropriate accessories.
fudged71 14y ago
The increased processing power of phones will eventually allow many people to replace their PCs with a phone dock. This massive shift of behaviour will have other consequences in how we use our phones. Besides gaming and graphics, the latent processing power when mobile will be used for machine learning and computer vision purposes. These two technologies allow us to harness some incredible power from our devices even with limited inputs. Imagine having a fully searchable and indexed transcript of your interlingual phone calls available in realtime, and those words are added to your keyboard prediction that is synced with your account. After just getting off a phonecall with your japanese boss about the board of Newmark Industries, you could sit down at a desk and write a document with correct spellings of each board member's names (you are prompted if you would like them added to your contacts). Your phone finds a route to their head office in the background and tells you which specific route to drive there based on historic traffic combined with current traffic (both foot and vehicular traffic, of course). The sensing capabilities of phones are getting better and better. GPS is getting more accurate and lower powered. Weather prediction is improving due to remote sensing of cellphone barometers. Machine learning and computer vision techniques are improving for augmentation, prediction, and more. Phones are a big deal. They are the only technological device (besides glasses and watches) that we carry everywhere. Maybe flexible displays will allow us to have phones without the physical limitations that you describe.