Hacker News Reader

Comment by vundercind | Hacker News Reader

PCs also had only a relatively brief period between “niche hobbyist toy” (because you don’t really need a computer to do much yet) and “niche hobbyist toy” (because most folks do all their important computer-related stuff on their phones). Perhaps 15 years. Maybe less.

Did they have a lot of business contracts? If not, I don’t know how they’ve even hung on this long.

View on HN

Everywhere I’ve ever worked, “important computer-related stuff” has been done on computers with large monitors and external keyboards. Those have often been laptops at docking stations, but I’ve never seen phones used as the primary driver.

> Did they have a lot of business contracts?

It's possible that you will need a couple more generations to get there

Phones with docked keyboard and mouse seems almost inevitable.

Both Apple and Google are resisting that future. Samsung seems to the only one embracing it.

Android has Desktop Mode now - https://www.androidauthority.com/android-q-desktop-mode-demo...

Just to be clear, that is 5 years old.

Just realized that Pixel 8 does have display out. So Google is now embracing the future.

Microsoft has been showing that kind of integration in videos about the future of work for at least a decade: https://youtu.be/SO49Q-HcuKE?si=iCYcBh-a9RmODiVf

I mean you're not far off, I have clients who are pretty much all in MS surface + peripherals as their primary workstation for their employees. Similar thing with some clients and chromebooks/google workspace, not quite phones, but the idea of a portable device docked into a station is pretty much the norm. I've seen huge portions of different businesses barely rely on computers to be much more than a vessel for a different flavor of enterprise related apps

dock to what, and why? and why a mouse? the thing already has a touchscreen. If you want to type faster you can buy Bluetooth keyboards and stands for your devices today, including some Bluetooth keyboards that have a little slot in them to hold your phone or tablet.

If you have enough money to have the space for a desk with a keyboard, monitor, and screen, the cost of a dedicated computer to plug into it isn't going to be an obstacle. I think this is the reason we haven't seen docking take off.

> Everywhere I’ve ever worked, “important computer-related stuff” has been done on computers with large monitors and external keyboards.

Geek Squad is not IT support for businesses, it's IT support for consumers. Consumers definitely have had computer usage/necessity displaced by phones. Many consumers will now only have a computer through their work or school, and those will have their own IT.

89% of Americans have a home computer. 97% have a phone. 8%.

I'd be interested to see usage stats, as I'll bet the discrepancy there is way larger. I have a number of non-technical friends who own a laptop, but use it once every few months, or longer, because the things they used to need it for they can now do on their phone.

PP was referring to the home computing needs, not work. geek squad is only for consumers more or less.

very true, my kids and wife dont really email enough to need a keyboard, just message or app messages, banking and watching videos and shopping all done on phone or MAYBE tablet. Cloud stores all the photos and documents. You can do your taxes on the phone, which is probably the most complicated “home” task majority of people do.

Still, most “important computer-related stuff” people have to deal with at home is work-related, at least from what I've seen.

I know some older people who don't work with computers at all and just have mobile phones but they don't do anything important on them and instead continue doing those things by phone and dead tree mail for the most part.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com