The sad thing about phones being he primary (and in many case the only) computing devices for most people is that they lose the possibility of separating the tasks that the do on the phone vs the tasks that they do on a computer.

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hnlmorg 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That’s the entire point of why people use a smartphone as their primary device: they don’t want the hassle of having to use a computer. And for normal people (ie not the readership of HN), using a computer is a chore.

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Cthulhu_ 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I agree that it can be a chore, but more like, I'll use a real computer for serious tasks like doing my taxes, administration, planning vacations, etc.

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aidanbeck 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is still the case for non-techie Millennials and older. But for the younger generations who might have grown up with a smartphone as their only personal device, the distinction of task importance determining the platform has disappeared.

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hnlmorg an hour ago | parent [-]

Is it just the younger generation? I’ve seen all generations favour their phone over a laptop for anything that needs to be done online. Which is basically everything.

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mhurron 25 minutes ago | parent [-]

Of course they do, it is one device that is convenient to use and does everything they need it to.

Most people really do not need the dedicated device, whether it's a laptop or desktop, to use the Internet they way they want to.

	▲	hnlmorg 14 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		You’re just reiterating what I said

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hnlmorg an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

But if you aren’t technical and everything is done online, then it’s easier for non-techies to do it on their phone.

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matheusmoreira 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Smartphones are computers. There's no difference between what you can do in a "real" computer and what you can do on a smartphone. I wrote an entire programming language inside my Android phone with Termux. Perhaps the first language to be born inside a mobile phone.

Any limitations on smartphones are either ergonomic or entirely artificial.

	▲	echoangle 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Technically true but practically you know what people mean when they say that, right? Do you think there’s a 3D artist out there that models and renders something in blender on a smartphone?
	▲	wrxd 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		My point wasn't really about the capability of a phone compared to a computer. I have thoughts on that but it's not the point I was making. Assigning tasks to devices can be done due to the capabilities of each device but also due to other factors, like what behaviour you want to influence. For example, if you want to spend less time doom-scrolling/on social media/whatever, moving these tasks outside of the computer you have in your pocket and into the computer you need to sit in front of helps.
	▲	topgrain2 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> There's no difference between what you can do in a "real" computer and what you can do on a smartphone. In fact, it kind of runs the other way: even my "portable" "real" computer is terrible as, say, a camera, or level. It's a bad GPS navigation device, both due to the form factor and it's entirely lacking the hardware for it (technically they can have this, but very few do). There are lots of things my phone can do that even my laptop, let alone my desktop, practically can't.