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Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

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Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#121

Post by ElCheapo »

yosamino wrote: post #116
ElCheapo wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was amazing at doing.... what? You've just listed a bunch of hardware functionalities without actually saying what you managed to use it for.

All the things you would use a phone for in the early 2010s: * Phone calls * Video calls over XMPP * Text/XMPP messaging * Web browsing * Document editing * Writing and receiving email * Playing music ( it had a built in FM transmitter - how cool was that!) * Setting Alarms * weather widgets * Writing PHP programms * Writing python programms * ssh-ing into servers * gps navigation * take and share pictures * multi-co…

Was my post confusing? Nothing you've written can't be done with an Android phone with a keyboard attachment. When is this super important general purpose computing thingy supposed to come into play?

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#122

Post by margarina72 »

ElCheapo wrote: post #46

Can we stop with this absolute fantasy about PCs that "fit in your pocket"? The medium is the message, the form is the functionality. Smartphones have been "pocketable PCs" for more than a decade already, but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited. You can't type effectively, your screen is small, your battery is limited. Would you want a command line interface on your Smart TV using only a remo…

> but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited

More likely because low-level artificial limitation are in place, preventing the full use of the device.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#123

Post by jdhdosvxjd »

the problem, as with everything, is marketing.

everyone here missed the blackberry priv and key2 (not key2-le subversion).

they were android flagships with same cpu/memory as the samsung du jour. but with a keyboard that doubled as a touchpad. and no bloatware, pure android.

the key2 is only now being left out of security upgrades.

absolutely nobody here heard of them. coded on them regularly (keyboard only missed a esc and tab, but easily to work around as it had a ctrl key)

I'm sadly typing this on a samsung s-large-number. i hate every second of it and only scroll content. marketing is the intelectual class war we don't recognize.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#124

Post by ElCheapo »

squarefoot wrote: post #114
ElCheapo wrote: post #46

Can we stop with this absolute fantasy about PCs that "fit in your pocket"? The medium is the message, the form is the functionality. Smartphones have been "pocketable PCs" for more than a decade already, but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited. You can't type effectively, your screen is small, your battery is limited. Would you want a command line interface on your Smart TV using only a remo…

> Smartphones have been "pocketable PCs" for more than a decade already, but are dumbed down because their inputs and outputs are limited. I wish it was only about the i/o: pocket Bluetooth keyboards, mice and other i/o devices would be just a few bucks away. No, the problem is rather that phones/tablets use crippled dumbed down and tight closed operating systems that offer only a small fraction of the power a real c…

What is stopping you from adapting AOSP to have better keyboard integration? Android has been modified before to adapt to folding screens, tablets and multiple screens.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#125

Post by napkin »

faeriechangling wrote: post #19

Here's a page detailing what the PC actually does. Notably it does have an ethernet jack which I couldn't tell from the pictures which is important given people who plug laptops into racks are going to be among the only people who will buy these. https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2022-06-20-introducing-mnt... This computer has so many memes rolled into into one it's ridiculous, ortholinear, trackball, ultra-modular,…

I don't mean to completely discredit your sentiment.

However, I'm making this comment on an MNT Reform. It has served wonderfully as my only laptop for the last year. I'd love to know about equally successful laptops that actually shipped, combining the same set of ideals that were important to me: Open hardware (to a further extent than something like Framework) & tough build quality.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#126

Post by tmikaeld »

ElCheapo wrote: post #121
yosamino wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the things you would use a phone for in the early 2010s: * Phone calls * Video calls over XMPP * Text/XMPP messaging * Web browsing * Document editing * Writing and receiving email * Playing music ( it had a built in FM transmitter - how cool was that!) * Setting Alarms * weather widgets * Writing PHP programms * Writing python programms * ssh-ing into servers * gps navigation * take and share pictures * multi-co…

Was my post confusing? Nothing you've written can't be done with an Android phone with a keyboard attachment. When is this super important general purpose computing thingy supposed to come into play?

The key is the keyboard is integrated and foldable, it's the convenience and portability that is key. With an android (with two exceptions), you have to have two separate pieces, something to put them on and then pair and charge both parts.

In short: You can pull it out of your pocket anywhere, type something with both thumbs on a full keyboard, then fold it down again in seconds.

There are Android phones with a full keyboard as well, but they are closed source/hardware.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#127

Post by rowanG077 »

ElCheapo wrote: post #121
yosamino wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the things you would use a phone for in the early 2010s: * Phone calls * Video calls over XMPP * Text/XMPP messaging * Web browsing * Document editing * Writing and receiving email * Playing music ( it had a built in FM transmitter - how cool was that!) * Setting Alarms * weather widgets * Writing PHP programms * Writing python programms * ssh-ing into servers * gps navigation * take and share pictures * multi-co…

Was my post confusing? Nothing you've written can't be done with an Android phone with a keyboard attachment. When is this super important general purpose computing thingy supposed to come into play?

You can transmit FM radio on Android with a keyboard attachment? How?

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#128

Post by misnome »

rowanG077 wrote: post #127
ElCheapo wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was my post confusing? Nothing you've written can't be done with an Android phone with a keyboard attachment. When is this super important general purpose computing thingy supposed to come into play?

You can transmit FM radio on Android with a keyboard attachment? How?

Depends how fast you can type, I suppose....

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#129

Post by ElCheapo »

tmikaeld wrote: post #126
ElCheapo wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was my post confusing? Nothing you've written can't be done with an Android phone with a keyboard attachment. When is this super important general purpose computing thingy supposed to come into play?

The key is the keyboard is integrated and foldable, it's the convenience and portability that is key. With an android (with two exceptions), you have to have two separate pieces, something to put them on and then pair and charge both parts. In short: You can pull it out of your pocket anywhere, type something with both thumbs on a full keyboard, then fold it down again in seconds. There are Android phones with a full…

Your reply is baffling.

First you say that with "android" (as if they made hardware) you can't have an integrated keyboard.

Then you say that Android phones with a full integrated keyboard actually exist.

But then you move the goalpost saying that they aren't open source/hardware. Which is false, by the way, since this device [https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/pro1] runs LineageOS, and phones with completely free software down to the firmware level don't exist, including the N900 which needs a binary blob to start the wifi module (as far as I know) and whose hardware is not open source in the slightest.

And even after all of this I've been given zero use cases that an Android phone can't provide with the proper application installed.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#130

Post by dsr_ »

ElCheapo wrote: post #98
mastazi wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Would you want a command line interface on your Smart TV using only a remote? How about XFCE? Or GNOME? No Yes. After struggling with every single type of Smart TV platform (Google TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV). I settled for a Linux HTPC that I control with a Logitech K400. I finally found what I needed and I'm never going back to looking for crappy apps on some semi-empty store. Walled gardens are really sad. You…

>You just need a remote with QWERTY and trackpad Sure, if you change your requirements and sidestep mine then everything becomes easy. Now try doing the same with an actual TV remote, which my question actually asked about.

I have a Logitech Ksomething wireless keyboard with integrated touchpad, and a standard IR remote.

They cost about the same. Some machines come with IR receivers, some need them added on via USB. If you need one, I can highly recommend the FLIRC: https://flirc.tv/

I flip between the devices depending on what I'm doing. Mostly, it's the remote.

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