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Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

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Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#71

Post by Analemma_ »

orev wrote: post #10
jmkni wrote: post #5

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?

The sad reality is that market forces don’t want this to happen, since it would cannibalize sales of those other devices. It’s much better for manufacturers to make sure a phone can only do “phone stuff” and a PC can only do “PC stuff”, because then you need to buy both devices.

I don't think this true. Microsoft really, really tried to make UWP a real thing so you could buy a Windows Phone and turn it into a PC by adding it to a docking station, and consumers were totally uninterested. I've never seen or heard of anybody using Samsung Dex in any real capacity apart from a party trick either. I think lack of phone-PC convergence is a bottom-up phenomenon, not a top-down one.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#72

Post by ghaff »

ksd482 wrote: post #58
ghaff wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm unconvinced. Lots of people are increasingly fine with just phones. My dad I sort of see but I had a co-worker who told me their kid didn't even want a laptop for schoolwork which blew my mind a bit but so it goes. Any hybrid would be a compromise for me. I do have multiple systems--almost certainly more than I need.

orev is not talking about people. He's talking about market forces. That is, device manufacturing companies.

I don't see who is refusing to sell you a phone with various attachments that make a workable computer (especially given 3rd party providers). I just bought such with an iPad. You could do something along the same lines with an iPhone I suppose but I'd probably find it unsatisfactory. Still on the fence whether the iPad is still a fully satisfactory companion device for traveling in general.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#73

Post by Mindwipe »

alwayslikethis wrote: post #12
orev wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad reality is that market forces don’t want this to happen, since it would cannibalize sales of those other devices. It’s much better for manufacturers to make sure a phone can only do “phone stuff” and a PC can only do “PC stuff”, because then you need to buy both devices.

I think Google is well-positioned to do it. They have experience with ChromeOS already, and running Linux apps on Android should be at least somewhat plausibly deniable. Google doesn't sell laptops either, so they aren't especially worried about the cannibalization.

You've literally been able to do this for nearly a decade with most Android phones.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#74

Post by sahmeepee »

jmkni wrote: post #5

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?

My old Samsung S20FE can plug into my office-issue Dell monitor and give me full Dex desktop (also using the second screen) and connect to the keyboard and mouse that stay wirelessly connected to the USB ports on the screens. IIRC it also made use of the headset plugged in via USB.

If I was a student with Chromebook-style needs (browser-based tools) it would be worth considering instead of a laptop.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#75

Post by ghaff »

jillyboel wrote: post #59
ghaff wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm unconvinced. Lots of people are increasingly fine with just phones. My dad I sort of see but I had a co-worker who told me their kid didn't even want a laptop for schoolwork which blew my mind a bit but so it goes. Any hybrid would be a compromise for me. I do have multiple systems--almost certainly more than I need.

> who told me their kid didn't even want a laptop for schoolwork which blew my mind a bit but so it goes Some people insist on self sabotaging. It's sad.

Seems pretty judgmental even if I'm not really in a position to weigh in on whether it's a particularly bad idea or not.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#76

Post by jventura »

rchaud wrote: post #38
loup-vaillant wrote: post #22

> When was the last time you felt your smartphone really couldn’t cope? Every day since a couple years now. > I struggle to recall the last time an app jerked and juddered into life. I don’t. But here’s the thing: it wasn’t that way at first. It’s just that over time my phone just slowed down. Purging it of its data and unused software did nothing, I just had less and less available memory over time, and maps grew sl…

Not my experience at all. I have a 2016 Galaxy S7 in a drawer that would still be fine as a daily driver were it not for the worn-down battery. I have a separate phone from 2020 that I was using as a TikTok device (quite resource-heavy app) and it runs fine even now.

Why don’t you replace the battery? Third party batteries are usually quite affordable and good enough! Even yesterday I’ve replaced a worned out battery on a very old iPhone 5S (2013) for my son to watch things on youtube kids..

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#79

Post by pjmlp »

It has been years already for me, I don't buy any Android phone that goes over the 300 euro barrier, and use them until they are no longer fit for purpose, meaning they die, or get stolen.

Updates are anyway a joke, so I stop caring for that to the point I only have a passing interest on what Android team shows off at Google I/O.

Apple stuff I only use via my employer/customers, but same reasoning applies regarding features I care about.

Re: Unless my phone can be a PC, I don't want to keep paying for extra performance

#80

Post by llm_nerd »

peterldowns wrote: post #63
llm_nerd wrote: post #43

How doesn't this article mention the Atrix? https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/motorola-atrix-4g-att https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/03/motorola-atrix-the-u... This was precisely the target of the Motorola Atrix. They sold a netbook-like "shell" with a monitor and keyboard, and when you plugged the Atrix smartphone in it became an Ubuntu webtop device.

Maybe because the Atrix is from 13 years ago? They mentioned the Dex, a much more recent product with the same goals.

Which is precisely why I would expect it to be the start of such a discussion. The "use your smartphone as your PC" thing has been attempted again and again for, as you said, 13 years. Generally it's a commercial failure because it turns out that isn't something most people want.

That seems hugely important to such a conversation.

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