this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2025
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I wonder who this is made for?
The article calls it a "smartphone sized pocket computer", but that describes smartphones too; they already are pocket computers. And they've had decades of design and development behind them.
So... This device has a tiny touchscreen, and a keyboard, rather than having the whole thing being a touchscreen. So instead it has a modular bottom half... Which... Sounds like it's trying to solve a problem that would've been a problem in like... The 90s, maybe, but has been solved by using... A touchscreen that can change the type of input it is flexibly, like smartphones do.
It can't call, like a smartphone, despite being a smartphone sized device. It has USB A 2.0 sockets and an Ethernet socket... Which makes it once again sound incredibly out-dated, like a device found in a time capsule, because USB C is smaller and faster than USB A 2.0, and can potentially be used for damn near anything. Which includes connecting to the Internet.
Its battery looks very weak. Its CPU looks very weak. It has a tiny amount of RAM, and a tiny amount of storage. It is outclassed by any affordable, midrange smartphone, at nearly the same price too (if you avoid big brand names).
For people who like a concept more than practicality. There’s maybe a handful use cases that this specific device fits in that isn’t covered better by existing tech, but I guarantee if that thing actually gets kickstarted and arrives severely delayed in several years, it’ll show up in a couple YouTube videos with people sort of uncertain what to use it for, and in the vast majority of cases it’ll end up in some drawers after having been used a few hours tops.
My thoughts exactly. I've seen several such devices already, probably the most expensive and over-designed one being the Apple VR, and it's always the same story.