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[1]: https://ubuntu.com/blog/ubuntu-edge
[2]: https://puri.sm/posts/a-librem-5-video-made-on-a-librem-5/
A smartphone is an appliance like a washing machine or a blender. It should just work. I will gladly pay extra for appliances that perform well. I will gladly pay extra for appliances that require no maintenance and can’t be broken. If I want something unreliable I can program or hack, I will go to a real PC.
A smartphone is first of all a data collection and ad distribution device.
It's funny, as my phone (A 2022 Moto Razr) can work as PC, if I plug it into a monitor with it's USB-C port. I can plug it into a monitor, and plug a mouse and keyboard into the monitor's inbuilt USB-C hub, and it works just fine. Has a desktop mode and everything! If the monitor doesn't have a hub in it, I can use the phone as a mouse/touchpad! Plus, if the monitor supports it, it'll even keep it charged rather than…
All high end Samsung phones can do this as well (DEX).
It's funny, as my phone (A 2022 Moto Razr) can work as PC, if I plug it into a monitor with it's USB-C port. I can plug it into a monitor, and plug a mouse and keyboard into the monitor's inbuilt USB-C hub, and it works just fine. Has a desktop mode and everything! If the monitor doesn't have a hub in it, I can use the phone as a mouse/touchpad! Plus, if the monitor supports it, it'll even keep it charged rather than…
With USB-C, surely we are at the point where we can plug our phones into a hub with a couple of monitors attached and get a proper desktop environment?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To expand upon that point: a new feature for smartphones that really takes off has to fall in one of two categories: 1. so incredibly convenient to always have with you, that everyone's willing to overlook shortcomings compared to dedicated equipment. Prime example: camera. 2. Offer a new type of use that is widely considered desirable. Example: mobile access to Internet. Most use cases either cater to too few people…
Does it have to take off though? The GP seems to be basically saying the same thing as many others have expressed. They want their phone to basically be a PC. Whether that involves upgrading, installing your own OS, or otherwise just being able to use it for an arbitrary workload. I don't know why the market is such, that expensive phones remove features, such as extra sim card slots, sd card slots or head phone jack…
There are many back cases for specialised functionality like PoS, Ir camera etc.
Also, with many cases you can have devices connecting wirelessly via bluetooth - e.g. I bought a bluetooth trichiscope recently.
Making a specialised phone instead of a plugin is a way more expensive option. And in risky if the market is so small that nobody did a plugin first.
There were I think two companies that tried to build a modular phone where you could eg replace camera with a module of your own design - the issue was that they were bulkier and more expensive than a regular design - you can’t cheat physics.
Also, how much more would you be willing to pay for such a phone? Could you pay 2-3x the price and be happy with upgrades every 3-5 years, and the phone having electronics that are 1-3 years behind the top of the line ones on the start? Because that’s the reality of production with niche products.
It's funny, as my phone (A 2022 Moto Razr) can work as PC, if I plug it into a monitor with it's USB-C port. I can plug it into a monitor, and plug a mouse and keyboard into the monitor's inbuilt USB-C hub, and it works just fine. Has a desktop mode and everything! If the monitor doesn't have a hub in it, I can use the phone as a mouse/touchpad! Plus, if the monitor supports it, it'll even keep it charged rather than…
All high end Samsung phones can do this as well (DEX).
Firefox with ublock origin works very well for example. The only thing is it doesn't adjust automatically to native screen resolution (1600p in my case). But its still just an Android, even with full filesystem access it feels vastly subpar to normal desktop PC if I need more than just browsing or other android apps.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the reason is that after you got used to full-sized keyboards, typing on a tiny screen portion with any software keyboard is just a pain. I cannot type more than several words on a smartphone without getting annoyed.
As a counterpoint I type at around 90wpm on a physical keyboard (preference is for low carry), but thumb type over 130wpm on a modestly large touch screen keyboard. The quality of the auto-correction afforded by the operating system matters quite a bit.