Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I don't like smartphones

devever.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 294 posts

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#241

Post by amelius »

eddieroger wrote: post #149
woofiefa wrote: post #27

It's absolutely horrible that we have come to accept that not having full control over our devices is acceptable in any way. This will sadly be the leverage to completely end general-purpose computing. Why is a mobile device not just a small form factor? Why does it also have to remove all our rights at the same time?

Because the market has spoken and clearly wants what Apple and Samsung and HTC are selling. The user base of Hacker News isn't that of the world. Not everyone does their job in front of a computer, and the idea of making this, to them, miraculous device in their pocket a computer is terrifying. They don't want full control of the computer they already have at home. Answering your question: It doesn't have to remove r…

> Because the market has spoken and clearly wants what Apple and Samsung and HTC are selling. The user base of Hacker News isn't that of the world.

Solution: define the world as "everybody on Hacker News".

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#242

Post by thebaer »

icebraining wrote: post #219
thebaer wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's a consumption device rather than both consumption and production, is just silly It's not just the fact that it's an underutilized general computing device; just look at the apps on your phone and tell me the percentage of them that open to a blank "canvas" rather than some kind of stream / feed. On the desktop, you have your text editors, word processors, photo editors, video editors, 3D modelers, IDEs, file s…

For 3D modeling, there's Spacedraw[1], Qubism[2], Autodesk FormIt[3], 123D Sculpt+[4], d3D Sculptor[5], Project Dev: 3D Design[6] and others. Whatever made you think mobile platforms don't have those tools? [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scalisoft.... [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jquinn.qubism.... [3] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autodesk.f... [4] https…

My point was that most apps on the App Store / Google Play (and therefore most of the ones you probably have installed) are heavily consumption-focused -- not that these utilities don't exist.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#243

Post by ordinary »

CydeWeys wrote: post #165
msabalau wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smartphones outsell computers 5 to 1 and for the next billion smartphone users a smartphone will be their first computer. Dismissing them as mere refinement of what went before is to ignore the scale of their impact on the world. One may as well dismiss laptops with modems as "more fully featured telegraphs", or "smaller mainframes".

> for the next billion smartphone users a smartphone will be their first computer. Smartphones will be their first and last computer. Laptops, let alone desktops, are being permanently bypassed.

What defines the PC for ordinary consumers is not the big black box under the desk, though. It's the keyboard, the mouse, the displays.

The smartphone may replace the box, but it won't replace the peripherals. Those will continue to be extremely desireable features for many tasks, because they are far more ergonomic and speed up many types of work.

I predict a smartphone docking station on every desk within 5 years, both at home and at work. Maybe a docking station on every couch, too, tablet form-factor.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#244

Post by lisper »

A really weird thing happens when I try to access this site. In Safari it fails with the error, "Safari can't open this page because it cannot establish a secure connection to devever.net." It also breaks the back button. WGET also fails with "Unable to establish SSL connection." OpenSSL does this:

    [ron@mighty:~] openssl s_client -host www.devever.net -port 443
    CONNECTED(00000003)
    write:errno=54
But it works in Firefox and Chrome without even a warning.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#245

Post by jpindar »

thebaer wrote: post #170
IkmoIkmo wrote: post #24

I don't really see how some of his points support his position. e.g. I don't own a smartphone, because it's a consumption device rather than both consumption and production, is just silly. So is a photoalbum, so is a book, so is a TV, so is a music player. A smartphone is all in one and it's incredibly useful. Beyond that, it is in ways a production device. It's a messaging device, a photo and video taking device, it…

> it's a consumption device rather than both consumption and production, is just silly It's not just the fact that it's an underutilized general computing device; just look at the apps on your phone and tell me the percentage of them that open to a blank "canvas" rather than some kind of stream / feed. On the desktop, you have your text editors, word processors, photo editors, video editors, 3D modelers, IDEs, file s…

Speak for yourself, I have Photoshop, AutoDesk Sketchbook, a python IDE, an audio editor and various text editors, spreadsheet editors, and terminals on my phone.

If people don't have those on their phones, it's because they don't want to.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#247

Post by icebraining »

thebaer wrote: post #242
icebraining wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For 3D modeling, there's Spacedraw[1], Qubism[2], Autodesk FormIt[3], 123D Sculpt+[4], d3D Sculptor[5], Project Dev: 3D Design[6] and others. Whatever made you think mobile platforms don't have those tools? [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.scalisoft.... [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jquinn.qubism.... [3] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autodesk.f... [4] https…

My point was that most apps on the App Store / Google Play (and therefore most of the ones you probably have installed) are heavily consumption-focused -- not that these utilities don't exist.

I'd wager the same is true for personal laptops, though. There are certainly many more 3D games than 3D editors, and many more video players than video editors.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#248

Post by Chris2048 »

soared wrote: post #156
Chris2048 wrote: post #152

Here's a good argument about smart devices; To be practical they require a lowering of security. think google/facebook etc logins. Think lastpass. I bought a crappy tablet from amazon, and was just about to add my credentials to it ( http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-selling-40-android-tablets-com... ), then realised if the tablet was compromised, anyone able to remote-in to it would have access to one hell of a lot thro…

> anyone able to remote-in to it would have access to one hell of a lot through my single-sign in accounts. How is this different to desktop, where most people autofill or lastpass all their accounts?

It's possible motherboards can be compromised as well, though I've not seen so many reports as such. Another aspect to this is for a regular PC, you often install your own OS, while the tablets have a pre-built customized android,many many features locked down.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#249

Post by sosborn »

ekianjo wrote: post #121
jvandonsel wrote: post #98

If you had offered someone in 1916 a device that they could put in their pocket that would let them instantly communicate with nearly anyone on the planet, tap into a large fraction of the world's knowledge base, read books, navigate across the country, take photographs and movies, and play almost any song ever written, what do you think that person would say? "No thanks." ? The smartphone is one of the most signific…

Smartphones are just portable computers. There is nothing new to them apart from the fact that 1) they have internet mobile connection 2) their form factor makes them very practical to carry. Technology-wise, we already had about everything when we had laptops and modems attached to them. It's just become much more convenient but it's still the same concept.

Convenience is an incredibly powerful feature.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#250

Post by fiatjaf »

jvandonsel wrote: post #98

If you had offered someone in 1916 a device that they could put in their pocket that would let them instantly communicate with nearly anyone on the planet, tap into a large fraction of the world's knowledge base, read books, navigate across the country, take photographs and movies, and play almost any song ever written, what do you think that person would say? "No thanks." ? The smartphone is one of the most signific…

Do you think he would trade that for a horse?
Post reply on HN