
Can the iPhone Replace Your Laptop? - theforay
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/07/02/iphone-replace-laptop/
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jacquesm
can object x replace object y is dependent on what you do with object x. To
replace a laptop with a phone is only possible if you do not have to do those
things that a laptop is reasonably good at, displaying things on a larger
screen and any amount of data entry.

If the answers are 'no' to both, in other words you only do stuff that you'd
be happy to look at through a phones reduced display and do not do any
significant data entry then the answer is 'possibly', but you'd still have to
at least try it before you make the switch on a permanent basis.

Personally - as a software developer - I already find a laptop with its sub-
size keyboard and screen a very limiting environment, I only use it for the
most urgent stuff (using a 3G modem), anything else can wait until I'm behind
a decent screen & keyboard.

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trjordan
I have entirely switched to my laptop, but when I'm at home, I hook it up to
my larger monitor and keyboard. My prediction is that mobile devices will
actually fill this niche, allowing you to consolidate to one computer, but
effectively hook up to a more comfortable setup at home.

Desktops will still exist, if only because they will provide the latest and
greatest technology, but for people who don't need the horsepower, a mobile
device should work just fine. Laptops almost strike me as the worst of both
worlds: crippled hardware due to form factor, but still too big to comfortably
carry for most of the day.

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cschneid
I fully expect an iphone version 8 which docks into a dumb terminal, and runs
the same apps as when mobile, with the same data. So you have mobile-text
editor, dock, and you get OSX (OS11?) with a full screen that we're used to
for desktop text entry. Undock and your data is all still there as well, with
an interface optimized for mobile reading & edits.

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hernan7
See also: [http://philip.greenspun.com/business/mobile-phone-as-home-
co...](http://philip.greenspun.com/business/mobile-phone-as-home-computer)

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wallflower
No, it is a Swiss army knife. I love my first generation iPhone - it allows me
to occupy myself for a finite, battery and/or attention-bounded amount of time
when stuck in line, on the train, bored at a work event. But sometimes you
need a real chef's knife for real tasks. Like coding

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stilist
For the past few months I’ve been having trouble with my laptop, so I’ve had
to fall back on my first-gen iPhone as my main computer.

While it’s capable of quite a lot, it is not a substitute for a real computer
and I don’t think anything in its form factor ever could be—primarily due to
the small screen inherent to mobile phones. The iPhone’s way of zooming in on
text blocks is certainly helpful, and better than the ‘dumbphone‘ method of
showing a few dozen characters per screen, but it’s a less than ideal way to
read anything of length.

Let’s get to work on those holographic displays.

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bjplink
I've only had my iPhone since the 3GS launched (so barely two full weeks) but
I've already stopped taking my laptop with me when I work out of town.

I used to lug my laptop around as more of a precautionary measure and not out
of necessity. But with decent SSH, FTP and other "sys admin" apps available
for the iPhone my laptop is now collecting dust in a closet.

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bradgessler
Yes. I know this because my wife's cousin, who is 12, said he wanted an iPod
touch for Christmas because it can do everything a laptop does: facebook, IM,
etc. I was floored when I heard that and it hit it home for me how big iPhone
devices will be in the future.

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wlievens
I can't type for shit on my iPhone touch because the keys are too tiny for my
fingers. So no.

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flooha
Yeah, if they make the keyboard and screen as big as my laptop's keyboard and
screen. I can't see doing any type of serious development on an iPhone.

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jasongullickson
I think the iPhone could definitely replace a laptop for me, since I already
use a desktop Mac for the heavy lifting stuff development and editing films.

For me the keyboard is the only missing piece.

I had a Palm Zire and a fold-up Targus keyboard and that satisfied my mobile
needs for quite awhile (until some idiot stole it out of my car, probably
thinking it was an iPod...).

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raheemm
The iphone can replace a laptop if it resolves/provides the following
features:

\- docking station to connect to larger screen/kb/hd

\- enables flash

\- integrates with more email providers

\- provides 4G

\- comes with tactile keyboard

\- longer battery life

\- works with multiple mobile carriers

All of the above seems feasible by the 3rd of 4th generation of iphone.

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ardit33
Yes. I have an Android phone, and have been running around,
meetings/interviews, writing emails, browsing the web, maps, etc. non stop.
And I never missed my laptop.

I have a desktop at home though, to do real work, but while on the go, the
Android has been fantastic. You can do almost everything you can with a normal
computer.

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gamache
I hope so, at least for a few days, because the hard drive on my MacBook just
went sour.

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antidaily
Until I can hook my iphone up to some sort of pocket projector, bluetooth
keyboard and mouse, I'll be lugging (ha, it's only 4lbs) my laptop around with
me.

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grk
[http://www.phonesuit.com/products/MiLi_Pro_iPhone_iPod_Video...](http://www.phonesuit.com/products/MiLi_Pro_iPhone_iPod_Video_Projector-18-10.html)

At least the projector is in the works.

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theforay
an android might...

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randallsquared
The hardware keyboard on the G1 goes some way toward this from where iPhones
are, but it's still not really useful for typing on (actually, I got a G1 last
year after trying to type on an EEE and finding that my fingers and/or hands
were too big to do that, so I might as well get a phone in the same device).

There are a bunch of "ultra mobile pc" devices like the OQO that are probably
a better fit, especially since some of them have 3G/EDGE, and you can use
Skype to replace your cellphone with them.

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jonknee
I think he was hinting at the fact that Android powered netbooks are on the
horizon. But I guess at that point it's still a laptop. Maybe someone will
make an Android phone with a MiniDVI port so it can have a usable screen and
bluetooth keyboard/mouse.

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st3fan
No.

