[BariumBlue]

I really like the phone/desktop convergence concept. Mostly I think because I want the freedom / open experience of my desktop on my phone though, I think.

But I think most folks interested enough in the concept are also rich enough to afford a phone and a laptop, and if you want a keyboard for your phone you might as well just use a laptop.

I still think conceptually it's the right direction for tech that our devices should be so flexible, but it's hard enough in practice that it's not generally done.

[BriggyDwiggs42]

I feel the same way, but while there are definitely actual hardware limitations preventing phones from being identical to computers, the problem is mostly a choice. Why aren’t ipads with keyboard cases able to be used exactly like laptops, for example? I think companies seized on the combined accessibility and restrictiveness of smartphones to justify design choices which are more about profit. Restricting the app library makes apple a great amount of money. Ads are hard to block across a mobile device, why else if not for more money? I think the circumstances of smartphone development gave them the opportunity to make these choices and we’ve gotten locked in since.

[codedokode]

> Why aren’t ipads with keyboard cases able to be used exactly like laptops

Small screen - cannot fit many controls or code. Small keys - cannot type fast. No touchpad - cannot do precise clicks, therefore cannot have many controls on the screen. Try imagining something like editing lots of small notes in a music editor with your fingers...

[xethos]

I can hit 40-60 WPM on a BlackBerry keyboard, but a chicklet keyboard is too much for honest-to-god software developers?

The small screen is equally ludicrous. The desktops of a few decades ago had lower resolution on physically smaller displays, and I consider a large, crisp display a must-have for longer sessions - not a hard requirement for smaller, quicker tasks

Not having a trackpad is one reason the iPad supports USB mice too, and giving some users a trackpad would result in the same complaint: "This is terrible, can I use a real mouse please?". More to the point, parent is complaining about keyboard cases with trackpads, which are mediocre in part precisely because Apple has constructed a software ecosystem that is hostile to powerful, desktop-style programs

[BriggyDwiggs42]

Ipad with keyboard is absolutely just a tiny laptop.

[saidinesh5]

I think the convergence concept still makes sense in big corporations where most of your work happens on a VM in the cloud, while you just use your device as a thin client. Especially in places they don't even let you use a thirdparty browser >.>.

Earlier this year, I was actually tried to replace my bulky 16" MBP with a Pixel 9 for work. Android's desktop mode just wasn't there.. Maybe I will try it again next year...

All I really need was a browser and a drop down terminal anyway.

[persolb]

There are at least dozens of us doing this. My $5k bloated corporate laptop sits in my office 24/7. The 25% of time I’m traveling is with a $300 Chromebook with Linux Mini, a Bluetooth mouse, and logged into to a Windows VM.

Now that everything corporate is forced into the cloud, using a VM doesn’t carry all the extra downsides it used to.

and the bonus is that, when the workday is done, I have a machine I actually own and can use without breaking policy.

[solardev]

Don't most Samsung phones and tablets already do this? Dex or something?

[woodrowbarlow]

yeah, but Dex lets you use your android apps with desktop ergonomics. PinePhone and Librem let you use your desktop apps with mobile ergonomics.

[rchaud]

It's not most phones, just the high end ones, Galaxy S series, Galaxy Z Fold Series, Tab S series and the A90 phone.

[semi-extrinsic]

Huawei as well. Used to have a P30 Pro. It felt like a true downgrade when I bought a Pixel 8 Pro two years ago and it had no desktop mode and a worse camera to boot.

[Xss3]

Tbf huawei got heavy subsidies and just wanted marker share, google actually tried to make a profit.

[codedokode]

I always read here that China gives subsidies to everyone, they must be rich to afford it.

[peaseagee]

Android 16 (coming to Pixel 8 series if it's not there already) supports this.

[catlikesshrimp]

if it is only the keyboard you want, A small foldable keyboard is less bulky than the laptop. I am talking about just a keyboard and a trackpad.

https://www.newegg.com/p/0GA-03F8-00011

[WorldPeas]

the problem with keyboards like this and the ones on the surface is that they have no connective hinge and rigidity. with my UMPC at least, I like to hold it by the base while looking at the screen. I really wish there would be a clampable keyboard that used nice membranes like the GPD but had a phone clamp on top like a selfie stick and a single swivel-hinge like those fujitsu convertibles

[jolmg]

> But I think most folks interested enough in the concept are also rich enough to afford a phone and a laptop, and if you want a keyboard for your phone you might as well just use a laptop.

Laptops are bulky; phone and keyboard can fit in one's pocket. I also dislike the idea of carrying around a device that's not under my control. It's not about wanting my phone to behave like a laptop because I can't afford a laptop. It's about getting to have control over my phone the same way I have control over the laptop.

For example, when I try to screenshot and the OS says I'm not allowed to by the app, on my own device, I die a little inside. The very idea that an OS would obey an app over the user is really messed up. It's really wrong. It's like a guest saying their guest sets the rules in your own house.

Also the weird, arbitrary limitations. On Android you can split screen and show 2 apps vertically at limited, specific heights. On the Pinephone with i3/sway, you can divide the screen with as many windows as you want, in whatever orientations you want, with as many workspaces as you want. You can set the scaling to whatever you want, have interfaces be as big or small as you want. Limits aren't arbitrary.

> I still think conceptually it's the right direction for tech that our devices should be so flexible, but it's hard enough in practice that it's not generally done.

The difficulty isn't in getting desktop stuff to work on the phone. The difficulty is getting phone stuff to work on the phone.