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Google is building its own DeX: First look at Android's Desktop Mode

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442 points logic_node | 1 comments | 13 May 25 14:30 UTC | HN request time: 0.21s | source
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lanthissa ◴[13 May 25 15:03 UTC] No.43973748[source]▶
this done well is a transformational thing, its just no one has been willing to invest yet, but the compute on a phone is now good enough to do most things most users do on desktop.

I can easily see the future of personal computing being a mobile device with peripherals that use its compute and cloud for anything serious. be that airpods, glasses, watches, or just hooking that device up to a larger screen.

theres not a great reason for an individual to own processing power in a desktop, laptop, phone, and glasses when most are idle while using the others.

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reaperducer ◴[13 May 25 15:09 UTC] No.43973797[source]▶
this done well is a transformational thing, its just no one has been willing to invest yet

I think we've seen this before. Back before phones were "smart" there was one (Nokia, maybe?) that you could put on a little dock into which you could plug a keyboard and monitor.

Obviously, it didn't take off. Perhaps it was ahead of its time. Or, as you say, it wasn't done well at the time.

Phones accepting Bluetooth keyboard connections was very common back in my road warrior (digital nomad) days, but the screen was always the annoyance factor. Writing e-mails on my SonyEricsson on a boat on the South China Sea felt like "the future!"

Slightly related, I built most of my first startup with a Palm Pilot Ⅲ and an attached keyboard. Again, though, a larger screen would have been a game changer.

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1. MBCook ◴[13 May 25 20:09 UTC] No.43977148[source]▶
I think power was a real problem. A 2010 phone was bit as close to a laptop in performance.

An M4 Mac is way more powerful than an iPhone 16, but the iPhone is powerful enough to prove a much better experience on normal tasks compared to what that 2010 phone could at the time.

Basically I think everything has enough headroom that it’s not the compromise it would’ve been before. The biggest constraints on an iPhone’s performance are the battery and cooling. If you’re plugged in the battery doesn’t matter. And unless you’re not playing a fancy game cooling may not be an issue due to headroom.