I have a desktop at home.
When I'm at work, I often think of TODOs for home. I write them on a post it note, and then at home have to remember to add it to my TODO (no, I'm not going to manage TODOs on my phone - whole other conversation).
I'll soon set up my Claw to be able to add TODOs (just add, not modify/delete). Then at work, I'll simply record a voice message to it telling it my TODO.
Same goes for movies I want to watch, books I want to read, reminders, etc.
I'm particular about the weather information I want (often want cloud cover percentage and precipitation probability for a set of hours). I couldn't find a good app on my phone that gives me this information. It was always a trip to a web site, modify some options, and hit Submit. Now I just ask my Claw and he has a skill for precisely my needs.
Here's an analogy: I carry a Leatherman multitool wherever I go. People ask me why. They can't comprehend needing it often to make it worth the hassle. But now that I have it on me, I use the knife very often - several times a week. And I almost never reach for a screwdriver. But until you've had it on you for a while, you can't comprehend the utility.
Back in 2005, lots of people asked "Why would I want a camera on my phone?"
I will. Far simpler, far more secure and far less wasteful than inserting some additional and unrequired LLM loop + hardware/virtualisation layer on top to do something I've already been able to do for years.
> But until you've had it on you for a while, you can't comprehend the utility.
You've not yet described anything that literally 99% of the population can not already do with the existing hardware and software in their pocket.
And far less capable. I have a whole system for managing TODOs, notes, etc, and I've not found an app that fits my needs (especially given that the system evolves over time).
But I agree - if you have a flow that works great for you with just a phone, then I wouldn't recommend OpenClaw for that use case.
> You've not yet described anything that literally 99% of the population can not already do with the existing hardware and software in their pocket.
And in the early days, literally everyone I knew who owned an iPhone also owned a digital camera and a laptop. Why pay some crazy amount for a fancy phone?
> I have a whole system for managing TODOs, notes, etc
So do I and it can already accept input via text or voice from my phone and so I’m just not seeing the benefit of inserting an additional LLM orchestration layer just to route tasks into it.
> And far less capable.
My current setup can already capture voice and text, and can route it automatically into Logseq, Trello, or even org-mode. These all can be viewed from the same (or other) devices. Honestly, I would have to think it was of more usage in retrieval than submission if I was to ever go that route. Like instead of reviewing my todos/schedule manually.
> And in the early days, literally everyone I knew who owned an iPhone also owned a digital camera and a laptop. Why pay some crazy amount for a fancy phone?
A Phone enabled entirely new behaviors that were not possible from my laptop or camera at the time. Persistent connectivity, real-time location services and on device image capture, edit and sharing just to name an incredibly small few. It created use cases that weren’t practical or even possible previously.
I’m open to being convinced, but I haven’t yet seen an example where OpenClaw enables something meaningfully new rather than repackaging something I can already do right now. Perhaps i'd be more open to it if it not literally everything I could think of using it for did not lead to atrocious security implmentations.
All of these things were doable without a smartphone - just very inconvenient to do so.
And all of these things are potentially dangerous ;-)
> Perhaps i'd be more open to it if it not literally everything I could think of using it for did not lead to atrocious security implmentations.
I was like you - seemed too scary (and expensive) to use. But given its traction, I figured I may end up at a disadvantage if I didn't at least learn it. So when I had some time, I simply looked at it, felt installing a VM is (relatively) low risk, and tried it out.
It's a very open ended tool. Ideas will come as you explore its capability. When LLMs came out, people (including me) said "Neat gimmick, but is it actually useful?" and stopped using it a month or two in. It was about 6 more months before I found a real use case for LLMs, and slowly I found more and more use cases.
And so it is with OpenClaw. For me, just being able to query it for the exact weather information I need is great - if you live in an area where knowing this stuff is important.
I have yet to find a tool that is good in converting receipts into the form I need. I spend time each month doing it manually. LLMs may get me there, and if it does, I'll likely hook it into OpenClaw.