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Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

maruos.com

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Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#21

Post by shortrounddev2 »

fsflover wrote: post #13
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I'm doing that, why wouldn't I just bring my laptop

Single place for all your data, easier to manage and back up. Single device to take with you.

I'm not trying to shit on this as a neat tool, but my phone is not the single place for all my data, and I find it considerably harder to manage. If I'm bringing my phone, an external keyboard, and a portable screen (and, presumably, a mouse) with me, it's not really a "single device", it's more like 4 devices that poorly imitate a laptop and don't offer as much functionality

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#23

Post by bsimpson »

It's interesting that in the early 2010s, both halves of the ecosystem were talking about "convergence:" Ubuntu wanted to make its Linux render a single column on a handset and with floating windows on a larger screen. Motorola had a similar project based on Android.

A dozen years later, nobody has done that well. Ubuntu gave up. Mobile-targeted Linux distributions aren't good (missing functionality, mobile UX, or both). The linked distribution is running Debian in a container for desktop on top of Android. The rumors about the future of ChromeOS are imagining something similar.

Recent iterations of iOS are getting closer to being able to replace a Mac for a class of tablet-owning users who don't need desktop software, but the ecosystems are pretty well separated for most.

Adapting desktop Linux to mobile seems to be impossibly hard with the amount of resources those distributions have.

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#24

Post by zamadatix »

profsummergig wrote: post #20

The mouse right-click on a PC. What's the equivalent of that for a phone? Is it press-and-hold?

If you're going for a native touch-first experience. If you're trying to emulate actual PC use (either something like this or an RDP-like experience) I've found letting the screen act as a traditional touchpad which controls a cursor is a far more usable approach. Honestly, better than a lot of actual touchpads out there...

In either case the software keyboard popping in and out of existence remains the much more frustrating part of the experience. Docking or bluetooth keyboard/mouse are often required to be practical because of this.

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#25

Post by etbebl »

iAMkenough wrote: post #19
szszrk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why you neatpick that. I feel the complete opposite. HDMI screens are everywhere. Usb-c ones less but still present. I have a screen at work, with keyboard and USB hub. Same at home. And at most of my friend's homes. I have a screen (tv) in a hotel and flats to rent. I even had one in a cabin recently (use them with tv stick for my kid's shows). I also have an external USB/HDMI screen that is lighter tha…

I feel the opposite of you and not sure why you defend it. I can not think of the last time I plugged my phone or tablet into an HDMI screen I didn't own.

Projectors are what springs to mind for me. Though I guess less relevant if you work remotely.

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#27

Post by eldaisfish »

szszrk wrote: post #16
doebler wrote: post #3

> Simply plug your phone into an HDMI screen, connect up a keyboard and mouse, and you’ve got a lightweight desktop experience you can take anywhere. No, I can't take it anywhere, because few places I go to have a HDMI screen and keyboard ready for me. And to the ones they do, I carry my laptop.

I'm not sure why you neatpick that. I feel the complete opposite. HDMI screens are everywhere. Usb-c ones less but still present. I have a screen at work, with keyboard and USB hub. Same at home. And at most of my friend's homes. I have a screen (tv) in a hotel and flats to rent. I even had one in a cabin recently (use them with tv stick for my kid's shows). I also have an external USB/HDMI screen that is lighter tha…

i struggle to see your point.

Your suggestion is that people should carry around four devices with them, poorly integrated, clunky, all for the experience of plugging to their phone? At that point, what advantage is there over a laptop?

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#28

Post by tombert »

bsimpson wrote: post #23

It's interesting that in the early 2010s, both halves of the ecosystem were talking about "convergence:" Ubuntu wanted to make its Linux render a single column on a handset and with floating windows on a larger screen. Motorola had a similar project based on Android. A dozen years later, nobody has done that well. Ubuntu gave up. Mobile-targeted Linux distributions aren't good (missing functionality, mobile UX, or bo…

I really wanted the Ubuntu phone to succeed. I backed the Indiegogo for their fancy phone, and when that failed I installed Ubuntu OS on a Nexus 5 to play with.

I never activated any phone service on it but I think I would have enjoyed it if I had. It was kind of neat to have a smartphone that didn't hide the fact that it was a computer. Even without plugging it in to a monitor or anything, I was able to play with the Chrome dev tools on the fly and it was pretty fun.

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#29

Post by mcv »

There's ideas like this every couple of years, and I love the idea, but they never seem to go anywhere. I think Nokia's Maemo/Meego was the first, and it keeps popping up, but it never seems to go anywhere. I understand this one has been dead for a couple of years now too.

Re: Maru OS – Use your phone as your PC

#30

Post by nemomarx »

etbebl wrote: post #25
iAMkenough wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the opposite of you and not sure why you defend it. I can not think of the last time I plugged my phone or tablet into an HDMI screen I didn't own.

Projectors are what springs to mind for me. Though I guess less relevant if you work remotely.

Kinda solved by sharing on teams in a conference room now?
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