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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 | 2 comments | 13 May 25 14:30 UTC | HN request time: 0.559s | source
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danans ◴[14 May 25 15:55 UTC] No.43986037[source]▶
Many of the comments here talking about how phone hardware is capable enough to run a desktop - thereby obviating the need for a separate desktop/laptop - are missing the fact that consumers actually want multiple devices. Also, no consumer electronics company ever makes a successful business model on selling less stuff that does the same thing.

There are real functional/usability reasons for having a separate device (with its own compute/storage) in a laptop form factor, and furthermore if we are honest, laptops are a kind of student/professional fashion accessory (especially Macs), a social-signal that you are a "knowledge-worker". As a result, that form factor is not going away anytime soon.

What Google are doing seems less about the "desktop mode" for Android (though that's a necessary technical step) than it is about having a unified consumer OS experience between Android and ChromeOS, which according to reports, they are planning to merge.

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vlovich123 ◴[14 May 25 16:14 UTC] No.43986261[source]▶
> thereby obviating the need for a separate desktop/laptop - are missing the fact that consumers actually want multiple devices

Do they? What I want is the power of the desktop available when I have access to it (SW & HW), but if the phone is powerful enough (maybe with a small accelerator box for dGPUs to handle gaming/AI), I’m not really seeing the value of multiple devices; it’s just more clutter and stuff to maintain (e.g. SW context, more HW things that can break & require repair, etc). I’m already using remote VSCode to always program on my home desktop computer regardless where I am because it’s easier than juggling clones across machines and forgetting to sync somewhere.

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danans ◴[14 May 25 16:39 UTC] No.43986574[source]▶
> Do they? What I want is the power of the desktop available when I have access to it (SW & HW), but if the phone is powerful enough (maybe with a small accelerator box for dGPUs to handle gaming/AI), I’m not really seeing the value of multiple devices

Isn't that "small accelerator box for dGPUs" another device? That seems like adding more complexity, not less.

Based on what you shared, I don't think you are representative of the majority of the consumer computing device market. There are real human factors (functional and social) that have resulted in the current laptop and desktop form-factors, and why many attempts to completely replace either have failed.

> I’m already using remote VSCode to always program on my home desktop computer regardless where I am ...

Are you doing your remote VSCode session on a phone? You must need at least a 13" laptop (or phone dock device with a screen/keyboard/battery) for that. At that point, why not just use a laptop, and avoid the complexity of plugging/syncing with a phone?

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1. vlovich123 ◴[14 May 25 22:00 UTC] No.43989655[source]▶
> another device?

Sure. But so is the monitor. But it significantly lowers the cost of the experience since I don't need separate CPU+RAM+Motherboard for a desktop.

> There are real human factors (functional and social) that have resulted in the current laptop and desktop form-factors, and why many attempts to completely replace either have failed.

Sure, or maybe the lackluster SW for such an experience is the reason it's failed. No one cares about a desktop form factor. Laptops have clearly eaten that market except for enthusiasts and you clearly see this cannibolization attempt by all players. I don't think they'll stop just because you've declared they've failed because getting this right & winning is a huge advantage.

> Are you doing your remote VSCode session on a phone? You must need at least a 13" laptop (or phone dock device with a screen/keyboard/battery) for that. At that point, why not just use a laptop, and avoid the complexity of plugging/syncing with a phone?

I think you're just grossly misunderstanding what I'm saying. If I can plug my phone into a monitor + keyboard + mouse & the phone can run VSCode with all my extensions, the point of a laptop drastically disappears. Then when I'm done work I unplug my phone and go home. The point of avoiding a laptop is cost - I have a $3k laptop that's not providing any value over a monitor + keyboard + mouse especially when I already need the keyboard + mouse to do any coding. For that cost I could have two massive really nice displays and STILL be saving money. The coding is an extreme example but you can see how simpler versions of this, which is what Android and Samsung are building, can remove the need for many laptops that kids carry around - just put your laptop shell that's just a monitor + keyboard + mouse into your backpack, pull it out, connect your phone, and start taking notes. Moreover, in a corporate environment you can now have multiple people sharing the resources of 1 machine. In fact, many coding shops even just give you a VM to do all your work on with a thin client for the local UI.

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2. danans ◴[15 May 25 15:50 UTC] No.43996285[source]▶
> I think you're just grossly misunderstanding what I'm saying. If I can plug my phone into a monitor + keyboard + mouse & the phone can run VSCode with all my extensions, the point of a laptop drastically disappears.

In that case, you are tied to working in places that have a monitor + keyboard + mouse ready to plug into. Perhaps that isn't a problem for your work (or allows you to put needed boundaries around where you work), but there are many people who need to have an 11+" screen and keyboard in arbitrary places, like conference rooms, libraries, classrooms, job sites, etc.

> The point of avoiding a laptop is cost - I have a $3k laptop that's not providing any value over a monitor + keyboard + mouse especially when I already need the keyboard + mouse to do any coding.

I agree that a $3k laptop is overboard. Using a laptop like that for remote-desktop and web browsing has more to do with social-signaling. But it raises the question, did you buy the $3k laptop or did your employer? If it was your employer, is it your financial problem?

For my part, I do personal local development on an $800 laptop (a Chromebook) that works pretty great. If I were only using it for coding tasks with an external display and input devices like you describe, I bet I could just as well use a $200 laptop, but I do care about display quality in on-to-go use cases, so I spent more for a higher end display.

So I'm in full agreement that one should not throw away money at overpriced laptops, but the laptop form factor itself is still pretty indispensable for doing work in arbitrary places. Somehow, I don't see VR/AR goggles that Apple and Samsung are pushing replacing them any time soon.