Many modern phones have enough processing power to perform most of the tasks that average notebook user does.
But the ecosystem is not there yet. The “desktop mode” interfaces are very basic, there are not many applications that can also take advantage of bigger screen, and docks / lapdocks are not widely used yet.
But, is it safe to assume that this will change over time?
The “smartphone” has already eaten up so many other peripherals. Music players, cameras, etc.
I think that it would make sense to expect that laptop will be one of them in the next decade or so.
And as Android is the most widely used mobile OS, and also allows for most experimentation, it will probably be in the front of this revolution.
Which brings me to my question: What can we do to help with this? Which parts of this using-your-phone-as-a-PC ecosystem should be developed / improved first in order to get this ball rolling faster?
But the downside here is that current phones are way more locked down than current PCs. Getting root access or even installing operating systems requires some serious technical skill or is even practically impossible on some models.
So when the phones take role of the laptops, we will have even less technological freedom than we have now.
So question here is, what can be done in order to mitigate this? Develop open source versions of currently proprietary software that makes desktop modes work?
I know that it is still relatively early, but I hope that this gets revisited often in the future, and that it gets more developers and other people thinking about this.
I’ve thought about this question a lot, so I’m quite pleased to see that I’m not alone. I’ve been wondering myself when the great convergence will come–if it is destined to be, that is. I’m sorry to say that I think it’s going to be an exceptionally long time because computing power, as you are realizing, is just one projection of a complex, high-dimensional computing space.
The first major attraction of using almost any PC-like system is the ecosystem. If the software you want to use isn’t available, then the platform is essentially useless to all but developers and hobbyists that see the platform as an end in itself. Linux has a fantastic server ecosystem, for example. Windows has a great gaming ecosystem and access to probably the largest pool of legacy software in binary distribution format… These are just broad generalizations of course, but my point is that no real user uses a computer ‘just because’ but they use it because it is useful for some purpose implemented by applications and supported by an ecosystem. This area is partially addressed by emulators and compatibility layers, but not fully subsumes it because of the limitations of today’s technology.
The next major dimension that comes to mind is the form factor. I love the Steam Deck because it’s handheld. I don’t want it to be a Desktop gaming experience. Similarly, I don’t really want to play Starcraft with a gaming controller. I really prefer a mouse and keyboard for maximum control. Users on smartphones prefer shorter, simpler experiences because it’s less physically comfortable to spend long periods of time navigating a complex interface on a small screen. You might be able to address the form factor concern with new devices that allow the smarphone to interface with full-size screens and new user input devices, but this is not enough to push users who could benefit even more from another dimension such as access to another ecosystem, like office software on Desktop, that specializes in the kinds of tasks the user wishes to perform while also providing the perfect form factor.
Can software compatibility be solved with enough time and resources? Certainly. Can we force a smartphone-like platform to take on any physical form factor? Of course, we can. And given enough time, the momentum will change and advanced tools will become more readily available on mobile. However, this is not the situation today, and it’s going to take more than physical form factor flexibility or emulating a hardware platform to really unify the computing systems we use into the one true system of the future. It’s got to be the best solution for all use cases if users aren’t going to want for something in addition, and I think that’s a lot to ask.
TLDR; probably, but I think it’s going to be a very long time because it’s not enough to be functional. It has got to be a great solution, and that comes down to a lot more than just the size of the screen or the MHz in your CPU.