Rebuilding the Computer Room

Post by bilsbie » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 7:39 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #25

noir_lord wrote: post #21

The way he describes using his computer (dedicated PC, laptop in drawer, phone left on charge) is exactly how I use my tech and always have (as phones and laptops became more portable/available). I'm in the weird position of been a programmer who likes computers and dislikes basically all other consumer technology (phones, laptops, consoles, most domestic smart devices etc). I don't like interruptions, technology ser…

You're not alone. I think everything peaked in 2014, phones were firmly "second" devices and there was a lower expectation that people were glued to them constantly. Laptops had crappy batteries and performed significantly worse for more money, so were only used by the dedicated. (or, the rich in the case of some software devs in SV/London). Most people still had desktops and using computers was its own "thing", then…

Post by dTal » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 7:54 PM UTC

matheusmoreira wrote: post #11

wrxd wrote: post #4

The sad thing about phones being he primary (and in many case the only) computing devices for most people is that they lose the possibility of separating the tasks that the do on the phone vs the tasks that they do on a computer.

Smartphones are computers. There's no difference between what you can do in a "real" computer and what you can do on a smartphone. I wrote an entire programming language inside my Android phone with Termux. Perhaps the first language to be born inside a mobile phone. Any limitations on smartphones are either ergonomic or entirely artificial.

Post by Terr_ » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 9:46 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #25

noir_lord wrote: post #21

The way he describes using his computer (dedicated PC, laptop in drawer, phone left on charge) is exactly how I use my tech and always have (as phones and laptops became more portable/available). I'm in the weird position of been a programmer who likes computers and dislikes basically all other consumer technology (phones, laptops, consoles, most domestic smart devices etc). I don't like interruptions, technology ser…

You're not alone. I think everything peaked in 2014, phones were firmly "second" devices and there was a lower expectation that people were glued to them constantly. Laptops had crappy batteries and performed significantly worse for more money, so were only used by the dedicated. (or, the rich in the case of some software devs in SV/London). Most people still had desktops and using computers was its own "thing", then…

Post by annzabelle » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC

threetonesun wrote: post #38

dijit wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not alone. I think everything peaked in 2014, phones were firmly "second" devices and there was a lower expectation that people were glued to them constantly. Laptops had crappy batteries and performed significantly worse for more money, so were only used by the dedicated. (or, the rich in the case of some software devs in SV/London). Most people still had desktops and using computers was its own "thing", then…

Yes, around that time I had a laptop for work and it was an expectation that it would stay in the office at night. At least for one job you had to tell IT if it was leaving the office. But also no one wanted to bring the things home, you logged off at the end of the day and walked away from it.

Post by hnlmorg » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 11:07 PM UTC

aidanbeck wrote: post #39

hnlmorg wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it just the younger generation? I’ve seen all generations favour their phone over a laptop for anything that needs to be done online. Which is basically everything.

Everyone is gravitating to the phone, but habit is an enduring force. Some people will always use a computer for specific tasks as they learned for the rest of their life. I think most of us are in that camp.