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Your phone is an entire computer

medhir.com

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Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#161

Post by ryanjshaw »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #159
purplehat_ wrote: post #91

I really don't understand the argument here. That the product is locked down by design is a feature, not a limitation. Yes, this has the side effect of making them more money and allowing a walled garden to form, but given that the vast majority of users wouldn't do anything different with their phones if a shell was present, this is in my opinion not that large of an effect. The snide around "clicking on links is da…

I like iPhones because they are a little bit restricted. But let’s be real here. They should have unified everything 5 years ago. Your phone should plugin to a screen and be a “netbook” level device and anything 13 inches and up should be running MacOS. The iPad should have a real affordable keyboard. These limitations are no longer designed to make the product better.

I moved to a beach town and found out the tides app only exists on my Apple Watch. I went through 10 iOS apps that didn’t work properly or wanted me to pay subscription before giving up. I just don’t understand… do they not use their own products or something?

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#162

Post by ianburrell »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #61
ianburrell wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't much demand for using phone as computer. If you are at home or work, you can buy a desktop computers for cheap. If you are traveling, you need to find a monitor and keyboard. You could carry small monitor and wireless keyboard, but then you are carrying as much as laptop. People who need to work on the road get a laptop. People who need to send email get iPad and keyboard. Good example of the economics is…

Imagine an executive placing their phone on a magnetic dock as they sit down, which automagically connects to the screen and gives them access to everything they were doing before. Also easy to imagine a university computer lab where everyone brings their own compute and IT doesn't have to manage physical desktops. I'm skeptical that there's "no demand" for that kind of functionality rather than a lack of good implem…

Imagine executive tapping their phone down on reader, and it pops up everything they were doing, and they get to keep using their phone.

The first flaw in the idea is that computing is cheap. You can make a computer the size of a phone for people to carry around, that has been tried but failed. The second flaw is that everything is in the cloud, only developers and offline need local access to their files. The cloud also means that can desktop in the cloud.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#163

Post by ianburrell »

bottlepalm wrote: post #56
ianburrell wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't much demand for using phone as computer. If you are at home or work, you can buy a desktop computers for cheap. If you are traveling, you need to find a monitor and keyboard. You could carry small monitor and wireless keyboard, but then you are carrying as much as laptop. People who need to work on the road get a laptop. People who need to send email get iPad and keyboard. Good example of the economics is…

How can there be demand for something that doesn't exist? If Apple releases a $300 lapdock tomorrow, basically a screen, keyboard, battery, that allows using your iPhone as a normal general purpose computer with OSX - why would anyone buy a laptop/desktop?

Why would anyone buy that instead of Macbook Neo for $600? Macbook doesn't need a iPhone to use.

If you are doing serious work, which are the people who want a dock, then you need the power of Macbook Air or Macbook Pro.

For most people, iPad or iPad Air with keyboard is a better option since you get tablet for fun and can do some light work.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#164

Post by fragmede »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #85
fragmede wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is and there isn't. Your phone, almost certainly, with a shorter list of exceptions than not, has a locked bootloader and consequently cannot run unsigned software with full permissions without additional work. Sometimes that work is impossible to do. In terms of capabilities, sure, your phone is as capable, if not more capable than a desktop computer from a decade or two ago. The phone in my hand that I'm writ…

You are conflating many things here. A locked bootloader does not imply you cannot run unsigned software in user space . There are also many phones that do allow you to unlock the bootloader. I have a drawer full of them. Finally, the ability to allow you to unlock your phone bootloader or to run custom firmware has nothing to do with the silicon. It's a software choice. The trusted software could most certainly deci…

It most certainly could, but will it? I have that same drawer. There is absolutely custom silicon dedicated to putting up those safeguards. The problem is the trusted software decides wether or not to disable those safeguards is what makes it special.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#165

Post by etchalon »

leothetechguy wrote: post #114
etchalon wrote: post #42

Some people insist there is no difference between a product and a capability and I honestly don't know to communicate to those people.

Because those people reject the principles that uphold that distinction, and so do I.

Just out here buying furnaces and using them as grills.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#166

Post by robotresearcher »

bottlepalm wrote: post #2

Anyone have a theory why Apple hasn't done this yet? They release an 'iBook' which is basically a wired or even wireless lapdock for your iPhone running OSX in a partition. Seems like that would decimate the entire Windows, laptop, even desktop market in short order. Everyone with an iPhone, no longer needs their laptop/desktop. Just buy a cheap iBook and there's a good chance it'll already be better than most consum…

A little computer board is only a fraction of the BOM of a laptop, so a 'lapdock' of equivalent quality couldn't be very much cheaper than a whole laptop.

If you use cloud storage, your laptop already has all the stuff on your phone anyway.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#167

Post by imranq »

Okay so the OP is saying that since Macbook Neo has the same hardware as iphone, but not locked down, so why is iphone locked down. They say its because of the app store profits.

Sure App store is not to be understated, but I'd add our phones include way way more personal information than a laptop like NFC for credit cards, personal photos, and all biometric and contact information. Not to mention cellular network connection and generally forms as a soft form of identity. None of these apply to a laptop. So form factor does matter.

BUT even if we unlocked the iPhone, the desire for 'MacOS on iPhone' is actually the wrong thing to ask for. Pete Steinberger had in this interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcwK1Uuwc0U&t=1182) that UI is basically the wrong paradigm in a world where agents should do tasks for us in milliseconds. We should be able run any local services from our phone like grabbing

Good news is we already have this via terminal apps in Android. Now what's left is the ability for agents to run on your device and basically accomplish tasks for you

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#168

Post by medhir »

imranq wrote: post #167

Okay so the OP is saying that since Macbook Neo has the same hardware as iphone, but not locked down, so why is iphone locked down. They say its because of the app store profits. Sure App store is not to be understated, but I'd add our phones include way way more personal information than a laptop like NFC for credit cards, personal photos, and all biometric and contact information. Not to mention cellular network co…

Perhaps it is the way I framed the article, but the core of my argument is not “MacOS on iPhone”.

Yes, I do personally desire that as a niche thing, but the broader point is the nature of a locked bootloader that prevents any third-party software from being loaded / installed without getting an approval from Apple.

Whether the desire is third party apps on iOS outside of Apple-vetted channels, or entirely new operating systems like Linux or MacOS, I’m mainly arguing I should have the right to modify the software however I’d like as the device owner.

Re: Your phone is an entire computer

#170

Post by RIMR »

purplehat_ wrote: post #91

I really don't understand the argument here. That the product is locked down by design is a feature, not a limitation. Yes, this has the side effect of making them more money and allowing a walled garden to form, but given that the vast majority of users wouldn't do anything different with their phones if a shell was present, this is in my opinion not that large of an effect. The snide around "clicking on links is da…

"locked down by default"

This is not an honest portrayal of iOS. iOS is locked down period. "By default" makes it seem like there's a choice involved anywhere, and there isn't.

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