[zem]

that was my first thought too, I was increasingly surprised scrolling down the comments that no one had mentioned it yet. it sounds extremely clunky to use without one, though perhaps the idea is that you connect it to an actual computer, and upload very focused single-purpose software that doesn't need text input but is useful on the go. that contradicts the "cyberdeck" framing though.

[a1o]

Yeah. I remember like sixteen years ago, I think it was a N900 phone? A friend had it and I used it to fix a bug in a php website we had in the university through ssh. It was beautifully hacky, the website had no version control. It was awesome. I think the server actually ran Solaris at the time. I’ve been chasing a device with that form factor since forever, but sort of building my own I feel I will never get one.

[zem]

i had one of those! it was really awesome, and you could cross compile apps for it from a regular linux box. it was the only phone i've ever had where i wrote my own small apps just because i could.