I used a laptop when I was in school, and a desktop for when I needed more compute power, a kindle for ebooks, and a phone for texting, calling, maps, etc.
I have been slowly getting rid of items I don't think I need and I only wish I could get rid of all but one of my computing devices. So I began thinking what my ideal device may look like, a single device that could meet all my needs.
This is a device that if it were to ever exist would fulfill all my needs. I would be able to use it the same way I use my current phone, then whenever I want to read a book or browse the web, I can fold it out to do so on an e-ink display. When I come home I am able to plug my phone into its dock, it would charge while I use it as I currently use my desktop. If I am on the move and want access to some files that would normally be on my desktop, they would de directly available on my phone.
It would have to be the size of a current smartphone, ideally half the thickness of the Samsung folds, but still with the capability to fold out into a larger screen.
The front facing screen would be like any other smartphone. Strong glass, front facing camera, front speaker for phone calls and other media.
The fold out screen would fold out into a larger e-ink display. Ideally the display would be 30-60hrz. This display would be mainly for reading ebooks and web articles, though should have the capability to interact with the phone the same way as any other larger screen. Sure some experiences would be shit, like watching videos and viewing photos, but there are plenty of other applications that should work fine on a fast refresh rate e-ink display, such as texting, email, and writing.
The back of the phone would have the most capable digital camera that is able to fit into the phone without making it super bulky, since I like to take pictures. But I'm not into photography enough to tolerate carrying around a bulky dslr, or have the money to.
The back of the phone would also have a heart rate monitor. I had an old Samsung phone that had one and I really liked it, but then the screen broke and instead of Samsung replacing the screen or the device as was part of the warranty I had, they said they couldn't replace the screen and had no refurbished units to give me. So they gave me a credit to get a new phone. Bit of a forced "upgrade" if you ask me.
The few ports on the phone would be usb-c and, the best part, an aux jack...maybe. I have old headphones that use the aux jack but I am infrequently needing to listen to anything and need to charge the phone at the same time. And if I am docking the phone (more on this later) then the dock itself could have an aux jack. It would have a sim tray, of course. And a micro-sd slot with the capability to house at least 2tb.
It would have an easily serviceable battery, for when the battery eventually starts to wear out, and as much as possible, all other parts should be easily serviceable to anyone with the know how. This would keep the device chugging for much longer.
The device would have the same horsepower as some of today's modern desktops (as to why...I'll get to later). I'm talking 8 core cpu, 4Ghz on each core, 32gb ram, fast storage, and beefy graphics processors.
I would want to have a dock to go along side the phone, the dock would have connectors for power, usb devices, audio devices, and display devices.
I currently use Linux mint. I like using this distro because for the most part it stays out of the way and I don't have to deal with the annoyances of windows. It would be amazing to have a touch version of Linux mint that could run on a phone. It would have a simplified touch focused interface for key phone apps such as phone, text, email, browser, maps, etc. I would have a health app that would record steps, calories burned, and display and record heart rate when using the sensor on the back of the phone.
Then when I want to do more desktop like work, I want to be able to dock the phone to use a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The software will then transition from a touch interface to a full fat Linux mint desktop when in the dock connected to all these other peripherals.
Ideally if the phone has as much computing power as my current desktop, I would not have any amount of lag, and I could even play some games.
I would want the software on the device to have no tracking, and no lock on what you can install on the device, both app wise and operating system wise. So, if someone wanted to buy this device to use as a windows desktop, they should be able to install windows on it.
This is a device that if it were to ever exist would fulfill all my needs. I would be able to use it the same way I use my current phone, then whenever I want to read a book or browse the web, I can fold it out to do so on an e-ink display. When I come home I am able to plug my phone I to its dock, it would charge while I use it as I currently use my desktop. If I am on the move and want access to some files that would normally be on my desktop, they would de directly available on my phone. This flexibility to have power on the go and access to all my files without using the cloud would be a huge benefit to me with how I use my devices.
I feel like most people nowadays don't need much more computing power than is available in current phones. Most people just browse the internet, and use apps through there browser. If people readily had the option to be able to dock their phone and use it in a real desktop (not samsung dex) like way, I think they would.
The e-ink display on a device like this would not get too much attention, but replace that with a normal screen along with all the other features and I think this is a device people would enjoy using.
Now realistically, we are a looooooong way off from a device like this existing, if at all. First off, we don't have hardware that can run at the same speed as modern desktops while fitting into a slim device. We would need to drastically increase the efficiency and decrease the size of the components.
But maybe, it would be possible to have a slightly more powerful processor in a device like the Samsung fold, which would be underclocked when you are using the device as a mobile phone. The dock could be a clamping heat-sink which would help to draw heat away from the device and allow the processor to clock up to handle running a desktop experience more smoothly. Might be worth it to even watercool the clamp.
Maybe something like an external gpu in the dock, or attached to the dock like current external gpu's for laptops, could be a good solution for those that only need the extra horsepower when they are at home on their desk. Which, could work for me since all the gaming I do is at home, and on the go it is light work.
There have been a lot of changes in how we do work since computers have been involved. Making the leaps and bounds necessary for everyone to have a smartphone (computer) in their pocket is a fucking huge accomplishment to think about considering how large and slow computers were not to long ago.
We now have powerful laptops that can replace desktops for most work loads, even for some demanding work. So what is next, will the phone, desktop, e-book reader, and laptop all be separate product categories? If a device like this existed, it would condense all these categories into one product. Maybe with dwindling resources and people using their devices for more and more in todays world, people will have more of a demand for a single device that does it all.
Many people I know do not own all the different computing devices I do. They have a phone and a laptop. Looking around at how people use their devices, I don't think demand for a device like this exists. Samsung Dex is not popular, though that could be because no one wants to use android in a desktop environment. If more smartphones came out with the feature to use them as a desktop, maybe it would be more mainstream? It is unlikely that in the near future companies will give up being able to sell all these different devices, since selling someone a laptop and a phone is more profitable than selling just a do it all phone. Also it seems people don't think phones are capable of being used in a desktop like way. People need to realize, a smartphone is just a small computer, and the software is holding it back.