Plane tickets? In this economy?
Yikes
TIL I am a 2000’s millenial.
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The number of Gen Z students who write term papers on their phones (not even tablets!) is alarming to me. It’s like 30% of them in my class. Their thoughts aren’t necessarily bad, and I grade them seriously, but yikes-- the formatting!
Touch screens are just fundamentally a shit way to efficiently do any sort of text input. Not to mention the screen size and OS tooling is completely insufficient for any kind of research.
Little screen for little info. Big screen for big info.
Blue tooth keyboards are a wonder with phones, the apps are still a headache, but I’ve made due when finals were coming up and my computer shit the bed.
OS tooling
I was once writing an assignment last minute. On a full train. Where I could only use my phone while standing.
Not the best experience, but using Vim and LaTeX in Termux is pretty doable.
Although in that case I didn’t have LaTeX directly on my phone, instead I SSHd into my computer, and then rsynced PDFs to preview the document. But TeX Live is even in the Termux repository, if you want. After all, you can SSH into your phone just the same.Termux is awesome. I sometimes even use it to off-load stuff I don’t want my computer to be choking with, such as large downloads, video encoding or compressing large files with high xz settings.
It’s just a battery-powered highly portable passively cooled computer.
But of course, a full-fledged Linux phone would be even better.
A big purchase needs a big screen!
When you can plug your phone into your workstations USB c dock and you have DeX or another equivalent, the lines start to get blurry.
I did most of my house purchase from my phone, and I’m Gen X
Thank you. Plane tickets, like doing my taxes, is a PC task, not a phone one…
I can’t plan a trip without two 27” screens.
Its true! One needs a couple windows and/or several tabs with different things open. Itineraries, transport options, budget stuff, its a research project.
Yeah you can’t compare prices when using a phone. On my computer I can have a dozen tabs open searching different flight options to compare and find the cheapest/ most convenient option
I still wouldn’t enter any of my credentials on a phone though. Don’t even trust it enough to open my main email account on it.
Exactly. I want all my protective software in play. The big screen is preferable too.
I’m tech literate enough to understand potential points of failure and that level of security. I do, however, have an earnest question: how is this more secure when your information still exists on ~public servers in the form of credit assessors and the like? All of those credentials that you enter into your secure machine still go through the same pipes to the same bank that is ultimately still a target using AWS for all their internet-banking needs. So again, I understand limiting the points of failure, but then why not use graphene or another similar OS and keep convenience and security?
I mean no offense and am definitely not trying to convince you to change your habits, I am just genuinely curious as to your reasoning. Cheers, friend.
Thats interesting. Do you have a smartphone but dont use the app store?
Not that app store, at least not without protection. Coz gOS lets me.
Wish I could have graphene on my phone. I had an android tablet that I didnt log into and had F droid and Aurora and I was able to do everything with it. Changed my view on google play services.
With Linux phones, will you even be able to tell the difference.
Yes. Right now there are significant functional differences. In the future, maybe. Human Interface capabilities are always going to be the primary limiting factor, and as of now there are plenty of people who still much prefer actual tactile responses to computing to verify interaction. Physical buttons very clearly respond to inputs - except of course when they don’t for [insert IT guy sigh here].
Plus, I can tell you for sure that Linux ARM distros are functional, yes, but don’t compare to what an optimized PC distro or a dedicated mobile OS on ARM is like. My RaspberryPi with its fully optimized OS and ARM processor can’t handle the same thing my phone can do in the background while I browse several tabs on the internet. Is it the RAM? I dunno, my laptop had the same RAM as the Pi until a couple months ago and still could multitask better. Play a game and watch a video and have multiple tabs open for the game. The Pi struggles on certain websites and that’s all I ask of it.
Just because it exists doesn’t mean it is ready for primetime.
Upvoted for truth, I was going with the idea of a monitor out from a phone, aka DeX (a horrible Samsung proprietary version of something that could be from a Linux phone, a free desktop, I believe it can happen, but expressed poorly) which has heaps of potential for turning phones into general computers. The next PC, in your pocket, and re-purpose a whole lot of e-waste, perhaps through LLM decomposition.
Right now I’m exploring SBC versions of the idea, nothing dramatic, give me books to read, music to listen to and whatever else a free OS has to offer and ideally a 5. something inch OLED or maybe a drawable eInk (currently remote desktop to my phone) screen and I’ll be happy, especially if I plugged it together myself.
Not at all prime time, not sure I even want that. But fair criticism if it was, idea may have some resonance?
And no, you couldn’t have guessed from one sentence. Seems we’re mostly aligned?
Look up Project Ada, I believe it was. Google/Motorola had a functional mockup of basically a Lego kit for phones. Abandoned for lack of general interest.
If you want it DIY, then DIY. The vast majority of people want something that just works. There’s a slice of that who care about the specifics, the nitty gritty, the full capability and functionality. I’m somewhere in that surprisingly broad range of a slice. You are too, it seems, but even then my willingness to tolerate jank with the amount of processing power available to literal children these days is extremely limited. My 8-bit NES ran better with only a few spare kilobytes and you mean to tell me actual gigabytes isn’t enough room to do flying cartwheels? Sorry, fuck outta here.
Proof of concept is one thing and I can run with that, but daily driver? I need more.
If you want it DIY, then DIY.
I think I will.
I dunno. Someone should give me a linux phone so I can find out. Ive been searching forever :(
Fair cop.
You guys can afford plane tickets?
Its been so long since I’ve flown that I think my butthole has tightened up too much to handle the cavity searches.
My friend arranged a mortgage on his phone. He is a traitor to our generation!
People buy houses on their phones, not just the mortgage
I did, and I’m Gen X!
Yeah, it usually involves typing. And it’s not like you’re buying plane tickets while already on the way to the airport so it usually can wait a few hours and you don’t have to torture yourself by typing anything on a phone.
you don’t have to torture yourself by typing anything on a phone.
I think that’s part of the generational divide, gen z / alpha can type better on their phones then on a keyboard. Also probably very reliant on auto correct.
Even when I try to use my phone, I often have issues with the website I’m ordering from. Try on my laptop and it usually works fine. The truth I think is that developers build on desktops/laptops, so they test more there. It’s easier for them. This makes it more likely for bugs to crop up anywhere that gets less testing. I myself have not always tested all of the “safe” changes I’ve made (on every browser/platform).
And yes, as a generation who grew up with the extremely user friendly form factor that allows tiled windows, easy tab switching, and shortcut keys… Giving all that up to not have to get up off the couch seems silly most of the time.
Gen Z: “It’s OK, airline app. You’re my friend, I trust you to give a fair price without comparison shopping”
Millennial: “How much is an extra seat for my Pokémon cards?”
Me: “I’m too old for this! How am I in both categories?!”
I have actually checked both at the same time, with it not knowing who I am on the computer, and the price was exactly the same. At least with American. I think Delta admitted to starting variable targeted pricing already
You underestimate my sitting-at-desk posture 🦐
Oh yeah? What’s your level on Mouse Quest II?
A laptop? I need a desktop with at least 2 display screens!
Laptops do that too, so win-win!
Listen. When you wake up one morning and think you’re having a stroke, but instead find out you need reading glasses, then you’ll understand.









