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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

#211

Post by hwbehrens »

Are there any devices that fit the bill of an "anti-laptop"? I despise working on tiny (It seems silly that most of the volume and weight of the device I carry around daily are totally unused, and that most of the tradeoffs it makes are irrelevant to me, but most small desktop machines are either too large or too slow (to meet a price point, presumably?). None that I know of is designed to operate from a single Thunderbolt cable like a docked laptop can.

Does such a product exist? I understand that this is a small fraction of a fraction of a use case, and until recently connectivity options weren't really there to support such a device, but I think there is some promise in this idea.

The Framework desktop case seems to come the closest so far, but it still doesn't (I think?) address the single-cable connectivity question. There's not too much info about it on the website so I couldn't answer all my questions about it.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#212

Post by throw10920 »

ElCheapo wrote: post #141
dspillett wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But then you move the goalpost Let us be fair here: you moved the goalposts first by going from “it is an absolute fantasy” to, once people pointed out that they already exist, “but I can't see a use for one”.

>Let us be fair here Why even say this if you immediately proceed by not being fair? Pocketable computers are not a "fantasy" in the sense that there aren't any devices capable of running a desktop OS while being pocketable. This was never the argument, as also demonstrated by my other replies in the thread. My argument is that using a pocketable device as a desktop or laptop is a fantasy. It's something that sounds…

Your arguments would be much better-received if you were less abrasive and threw less manipulative language like "Can we stop with this absolute fantasy" in them.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#213

Post by unregistereddev »

ElCheapo wrote: post #92
yosamino wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's not a fantasy. The Nokia N900 was amazing . It functioned as a phone with a touchscreen to deliver the experience that had now become the dominant one. But also, by sliding up the screen, it had a fully featured keyboard, and essentially transmogrified into a "pc that fits into your pocket". So you could with a one handed push go from the touchscreen-only experience back to edit documents by using a combinat…

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.

The integrated keyboard had a tab key, so autocomplete worked on the terminal. This was a really big deal that made the tiny keyboard much more useful for real work.

The Maemo distribution that the N900 ran was based on debian, and you could point apt to the standard package repositories to install pretty much any Linux software. This opened many, many possibilities - for example, I had an always-on computer in my pocket with WireShark installed. I could (and did) occasionally sniff wireless traffic to troubleshoot something. If you couldn't find a mobile app that would do what you wanted, you could usually install a desktop app and it'd work (though sometimes the UI was awkward on that small screen).

While most of the functionality can be replicated on a modern Android device, these pocket computers were different in a special way. The integrated physical keyboard, the tab key, the full Linux kernel and apt, all combined to create an experience that was distinctly different from Android. It really felt like a pocket-sized workstation - it was a full computer first, and pocket-sized second. Android smartphones are pocket-sized mobile devices first, and potential workstations second.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#214

Post by kragen »

Eleison23 wrote: post #119
em-bee wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the issue with using a laptop in public transportation is that sometimes i notice to late when i need to get off. then i have to rush, and in that situation a small device is easier to handle. the OLPC XO was really the best in that case because of its handle. i could just grab it and run.

A killer feature for me would be a control that helps my device switch contexts. I fiddle with about 5+ settings whenever I prepare to leave home, board the bus, or disembark at my destination. That includes toggling WiFi or finding an SSID nearby, toggling mobile data, Bluetooth, battery saver/brightness, DND/ringer, etc. Why does a general-purpose smartphone force me to manually press all these buttons in a checkli…

I wonder if you can write an app to do this for Android, or if there are API limitations. Obviously hardware buttons for different contexts would be better than something in the pulldown buttonbar, or even better, a hardware knob, with detents.

Geofencing and time-of-day auto-profile-switching have the potential problem that they fight with your manual configuration. You turn on notifications to make sure you don't miss news from the hospital about your wife, and then an hour later the geofence turns them back off. That sort of thing has a kind of irreducible complexity and potential for user error.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#215

Post by throw10920 »

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…

While all of these things are possible on a tiny PC, many of them are very sub-optimal - like how many languages are Turing-complete but not of equivalent use (e.g. assembly is not as useful as Rust in the vast majority of programming domains).

Things like "writing PHP/Python programs" and "document editing", while things that you can do on a pocket-sized laptop, are much better to do on a real laptop or desktop. A tiny PC will strain your eyes, decrease your reading, typing and interaction speed, hurt your neck, and react slowly relative to a full computer - regardless of whether you're using a soft-keyboard or a physical (but tiny) hardware keyboard.

Although ElCheapo may have thrown a lot of unnecessary junk into their comments, their point "The medium is the message, the form is the functionality." is still true - you don't want to use C# for tiny (kilobytes RAM) embedded devices and you don't want to use this pocket PC for writing code, even though you can.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#216

Post by ozten »

hwbehrens wrote: post #211

Are there any devices that fit the bill of an "anti-laptop"? I despise working on tiny ( It seems silly that most of the volume and weight of the device I carry around daily are totally unused, and that most of the tradeoffs it makes are irrelevant to me, but most small desktop machines are either too large or too slow (to meet a price point, presumably?). None that I know of is designed to operate from a single Thun…

“ChromeBook for your face” VR headsets are coming.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#217

Post by MarcScott »

I used to have a VAIO P series laptop - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Vaio_P_series It could just about fit in the back pocket of my jeans and had a sim card slot for mobile connectivity, if I remember correctly. It was a really nice little laptop. Not going to be rendering any 3d models on it, but great for basic internet and office work.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#218

Post by ayewo »

hwbehrens wrote: post #211

Are there any devices that fit the bill of an "anti-laptop"? I despise working on tiny ( It seems silly that most of the volume and weight of the device I carry around daily are totally unused, and that most of the tradeoffs it makes are irrelevant to me, but most small desktop machines are either too large or too slow (to meet a price point, presumably?). None that I know of is designed to operate from a single Thun…

Since you never open the laptop to use the LCD, would an Apple Mac Mini work for your use case?

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#219

Post by tristor »

hwbehrens wrote: post #211

Are there any devices that fit the bill of an "anti-laptop"? I despise working on tiny ( It seems silly that most of the volume and weight of the device I carry around daily are totally unused, and that most of the tradeoffs it makes are irrelevant to me, but most small desktop machines are either too large or too slow (to meet a price point, presumably?). None that I know of is designed to operate from a single Thun…

> None that I know of is designed to operate from a single Thunderbolt cable like a docked laptop can.

The Mac Mini is basically exactly this, with one exception, which is power. I really wish this existed as well. An M2 Mac Mini that supported being powered over TB with PD, would be perfect for me, because I have multiple work locations that each have monitors that provide 90W of PD power over TB, and I could simply drop it in my bag.

Re: Open Source PC That Fits in Your Pocket

#220

Post by desindol »

hwbehrens wrote: post #211

Are there any devices that fit the bill of an "anti-laptop"? I despise working on tiny ( It seems silly that most of the volume and weight of the device I carry around daily are totally unused, and that most of the tradeoffs it makes are irrelevant to me, but most small desktop machines are either too large or too slow (to meet a price point, presumably?). None that I know of is designed to operate from a single Thun…

The only real prospect would be intel enthusiast or extreme nucs.

[0] https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196170/...

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