undefined

points

[-]

That’s the entire point of why people use a smartphone as their primary device: they don’t want the hassle of having to use a computer. And for normal people (ie not the readership of HN), using a computer is a chore.

by jjkaczor1 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Yeah, normal people look at me funny when I am "out and about" and they want me to do something on a random website and my reply is: "naw, I will look at that when I am back at a real computer"....

I have had every type of computing device, including pre-smart phone PDA's, and ultimately when I need to do something that isn't mediated by an "app", I will always gravitate towards doing it on an actual computer.

Now - while I do prefer a laptop as my primary machine - it is essentially a desktop, as I typically use it 90% of the time attached to either a dock at home or the office, with external screens, keyboard and mouse.

(Heck - my latest machine only gets about 75m of battery life... it is more a luggable than a "work-at-the-beach" kind of machine (i9, lots of ram, etc.) - and I am perfectly happy with that arrangement)

by Cthulhu_5 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

I agree that it can be a chore, but more like, I'll use a real computer for serious tasks like doing my taxes, administration, planning vacations, etc.

by aidanbeck4 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

This is still the case for non-techie Millennials and older. But for the younger generations who might have grown up with a smartphone as their only personal device, the distinction of task importance determining the platform has disappeared.

by hnlmorg3 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Is it just the younger generation? I’ve seen all generations favour their phone over a laptop for anything that needs to be done online. Which is basically everything.

by mhurron2 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Of course they do, it is one device that is convenient to use and does everything they need it to.

Most people really do not need the dedicated device, whether it's a laptop or desktop, to use the Internet they way they want to.

by hnlmorg2 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

You’re just reiterating what I said

by hnlmorg3 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

But if you aren’t technical and everything is done online, then it’s easier for non-techies to do it on their phone.

by matheusmoreira5 hours ago|

prev|

[-]

Smartphones are computers. There's no difference between what you can do in a "real" computer and what you can do on a smartphone. I wrote an entire programming language inside my Android phone with Termux. Perhaps the first language to be born inside a mobile phone.

Any limitations on smartphones are either ergonomic or entirely artificial.

by echoangle4 hours ago|

parent|

[-]

Technically true but practically you know what people mean when they say that, right? Do you think there’s a 3D artist out there that models and renders something in blender on a smartphone?

by wrxd4 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

My point wasn't really about the capability of a phone compared to a computer. I have thoughts on that but it's not the point I was making.

Assigning tasks to devices can be done due to the capabilities of each device but also due to other factors, like what behaviour you want to influence. For example, if you want to spend less time doom-scrolling/on social media/whatever, moving these tasks outside of the computer you have in your pocket and into the computer you need to sit in front of helps.

by topgrain24 hours ago|

parent|

prev|

[-]

> There's no difference between what you can do in a "real" computer and what you can do on a smartphone.

In fact, it kind of runs the other way: even my "portable" "real" computer is terrible as, say, a camera, or level. It's a bad GPS navigation device, both due to the form factor and it's entirely lacking the hardware for it (technically they can have this, but very few do).

There are lots of things my phone can do that even my laptop, let alone my desktop, practically can't.