There is a very small and very simple feature that is going to change the world. It’s technically possible right now. It is surely going to be implemented in the coming years by someone or the other. And when it comes, the personal computer world is going to be fundamentally different.
This feature is this: Mini-DVI on the iPhone and iPad. Yes, a plug that allows you plug your 27″ monitor to your phone.
This is how it would work: You bring your phone home and stick it in your docking station. Your universal apps immediately switch from the iPhone version to the desktop version. It’s the same app, but it has two user interfaces. All your data is still there, all your music, but now you can use a big screen to work with everything. How difficult would this be to do? If based off iOS, it’s not difficult at all. Mini-DVI can be added pretty easily, and software with multiple Guis are already being used for apps that are both iPhone and iPad. Keyboard and mouse would work via bluetooth, and that’a already implemented.
How would it change the world? It would make desktop devices pretty much obsolete. All you need is a screen, keyboard, mouse and your phone. There is no point having a big box anymore. Laptops would them simply be a screen and a keyboard, with minimal electronics inside it.
The biggest effect, however, would be in developing countries. Many of those countries have bypassed the desktop age and the laptop age and have jumped directly into the smartphone age. However, the current generations of smart-phones have small screens with no way of viewing the content on bigger screens. When the DVI-output is added, every sold smartphone is then basically a full-fledged computer as soon as one purchases a screen.
Smart phones are relatively cheap, and are small enough to be shipped in bulk to countries all over the world. In-built GSM means that there is no need for WiFi – internet goes directly over towers. Long battery lives means that their computers work even when electricity supply is erratic.
Already, smart phones are becoming the main computing device for people all over the world. With this addition, there really won’t be a need for any other computing device.
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Except that GSM data is much more expensive than Wi-Fi data.
Except that Apple makes more money off desktop hardware (per unit) than it does off iOS hardware.
Except that smartphones are NOT much cheaper than desktop hardware, and are in many cases more expensive; they only seem cheaper because the carriers subsidize the cost. Plus you MUST pay a monthly fee, which adds up to a lot over time.
Wi-Fi data is very short range, GSM is long range. And it is more efficient overall to have one tower servicing 2000 people, than 100 hotspots. Apple makes more money in general from iOS (based off latest earnings report). Smartphones are cheaper to produce, look at factory costs for modern phones. They can be at $100 or so. A full desktop is not that cheap coming from the factory. The monthly fee is an option, you can also buy it outright.
I love the idea. I do not like having to lug my phone around with me in my house (first-world problem, i know).
Couple thoughts though:
- Apple left mini-DVI behind with the last pre-aluminum Mac mini generation.
If this ever comes about, it will be a Mini DisplayPort-out.
- It just seems a bit implausible that many, if not most, living within developing countries would have the ability to afford it.
- I have not had a chance to view the display Resolution of video-out apps but i'm wondering what type of graphics/processor an iOS device would require to power a resolution sufficient for desktop viewing. I understand the dock would act as an amplifier but to what efficiency. I'd hate to work at a blown-up iOS version.
-=-
All in all, good thoughts. Hope Apple is listening.
The Mini Display Port it is. Take a trip to developing countries like Thailand, Indonesia or Nigeria. Almost everyone in the universities has a blackberry. If they can afford blackberries, they can afford blackberries with video-out. Reagrding the last point, I don't think the processor needs to be that powerful. Old computers from back in the day could display on big screens without any issues. No reason why the iPhone, which has a pretty fast processor could not do this.
Moore's Law, cheap screens and Facebook adoption in the 'developing world' will absolutely drive this Max. Here in Bali I now have literally dozens of my (Indonesian) wife's relatives as FB friends, most in the last six months. They'll never have desktops any more than they'll ever have land-line phones but now that they have a Web toehold business will provide them the means to enhance their experience, I bet sooner rather than later.
DigitalMediaMinute.com pointer of the day; look me up when you are in Bali Max.
Some Android phones already have this in the form of mini-HDMI. I think this is actually better than DVI or Display Port because it allows the screen people purchase to also act as a TV, reducing another cost in developing countries.
But the software don't adapt well to big screens and mice
Motorola Atrix 4g will supposedly provide this:
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-…
I agree with this article, but why limit this to Apple? Why not acknowledge that Android is much closer to making this a reality? Why not link to an article discussing the Atrix? For example: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/motorola-atrix…
As it stands, it came off a bit fanboyish, even though I agree with the general intent.
I don't think that this will happen. The reason is that eventually all data will be in the cloud, and all applications will run on servers. All you need to access those apps is a simple system with some web browser (think Chrome OS). The cost of embedding the hardware required for something like Chrome OS is not that high, and will come down further in the next years. It allows you to embed the browser functions right in the screen. Then you don't need to connect your phone to your screen anymore, which is both an inconvenience and a possible source of incompatible, vendor-specific solutions.
Are smart phones powerful enough to generate 27" of video output? Either way, why not use Wi-Fi + a cheap computer (mac mini?) instead of DVI? Someone could write the APIs for this without manufacturing any new hardware.