5 ms·

So what's the difference between having cloud-based accounts and documents that sync between phone, tablet, and desktop? Then you can go to work and without ev

So what's the difference between having cloud-based accounts and documents that sync between phone, tablet, and desktop? Then you can go to work and without even taking your phone out of your pocket (or even if you forgot it on your bed stand) you can start working with all your same stuff. I believe Apple looks at the problem this way. Rather than have one piece of hardware act as all devices, they have multiple pieces of hardware that share the needed parts. (Though they haven't finished making it quite as useful as I'd like it to be.) One of my concerns has been privacy. In this case what I mean is that I don't want Apple or Dropbox or Google or Canonical to own my data in it's cloud. I would probably be satisfied with a solution that only stored encrypted data in the cloud so that those data storage providers could not possibly access my data (so they couldn't be allowed to have my encryption key). I would also be satisfied with a way of hosting a cloud storage platform on my own servers (which would likely be a VPS, so I'd have to encrypt it anyway or else Linode etc. would have my data). If we go the route of using the phone as the center, then we also need to add the capability into the Linux kernel to connect to external computing resources, like CPUs and GPUs. Then we're not limited to just a "thin client" type of desktop, but could have a full powered one.

FrojoS 14y ago
> So what's the difference between having cloud-based accounts and documents that sync between phone, tablet, and desktop? No internet required.
- webjprgm 14y ago
  "The network is the computer." Who uses a computer without the internet? I suppose the same thing is possible using local wifi synching, like how Dropbox shares content over a LAN when it can vs. downloading it from the cloud.
  - rdtsc 14y ago
    > "The network is the computer." With the network this bad (cost and performance wise) in US (due to legal and monopolistic reasons, not necessarily technical), that makes a pretty shitty computer. So I would rather have a computer that can be divorced from the network if need be.
socceroos 14y ago
You don't need two computers.
- lttlrck 14y ago
  But this thing will need two window managers to be useful and applications optimized for touch AND mouse/keyboard. Is rather have two computers. It's not like carrying a phone is a hardship.
  - buster 14y ago
    I don't care about two window managers (besides, Enlightenment seems to run on phones as well as PCs). Why would you like to carry a second computer when it's not needed anymore!? I don't get that argument..
buster 14y ago
Exactly. I don't want and can't store work documents on some 3rd party system in the cloud. And my whole point is to have one piece of hardware and not half a dozen. Of course Apple would like you to buy all kinds of hardware instead of one :P Currently, i am carrying my laptop from and to my workplace and i'd like to get rid of that. My guess is that the current highend phones already suffice for most of my work. The one part that is missing is virtualization for the occasional VMWare use..

FrojoS 14y ago

> So what's the difference between having cloud-based accounts and documents that sync between phone, tablet, and desktop? No internet required.

webjprgm 14y ago
"The network is the computer." Who uses a computer without the internet? I suppose the same thing is possible using local wifi synching, like how Dropbox shares content over a LAN when it can vs. downloading it from the cloud.
- rdtsc 14y ago
  > "The network is the computer." With the network this bad (cost and performance wise) in US (due to legal and monopolistic reasons, not necessarily technical), that makes a pretty shitty computer. So I would rather have a computer that can be divorced from the network if need be.

socceroos 14y ago

You don't need two computers.

lttlrck 14y ago
But this thing will need two window managers to be useful and applications optimized for touch AND mouse/keyboard. Is rather have two computers. It's not like carrying a phone is a hardship.
- buster 14y ago
  I don't care about two window managers (besides, Enlightenment seems to run on phones as well as PCs). Why would you like to carry a second computer when it's not needed anymore!? I don't get that argument..

buster 14y ago

Exactly. I don't want and can't store work documents on some 3rd party system in the cloud. And my whole point is to have one piece of hardware and not half a dozen. Of course Apple would like you to buy all kinds of hardware instead of one :P Currently, i am carrying my laptop from and to my workplace and i'd like to get rid of that. My guess is that the current highend phones already suffice for most of my work. The one part that is missing is virtualization for the occasional VMWare use..