Ask HN: Why Ubuntu Edge?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6102792

by gschiller • 13 years ago

2 6 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

The industry is so saturated at this point. What sets the Ubuntu Edge apart?

Piskvorrr2• 13 years ago

I'd say the (promised) ability to be used both as a phone _and_ a desktop computer, depending on what you plug into it. Sounds pretty good to me: take your Android-ish phone (of reasonable size and weight) anywhere, connect it to a full-size keyboard and screen - voila, a full-featured, not-underpowered-like-a-netbook computer running Ubuntu!

I have yet to see this in any other device on the market; this alone would be sufficient for me.

ixacto• 13 years ago

Not under powered, not too sure about that. The Ubuntu website says 'Fastest multi-core CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage', ok good...but there is no way that it will even be as fast as a quad-core desktop i7 processor when it is used like a desktop (plugged into a lcd w/ kb & mouse).

Piskvorrr2• 13 years ago

Oh, sure it won't be a top-of-the-line gaming PC, but that's IMHO not the use case - and it is a tradeoff for the small form-factor and hybridity of phone/PC. With what we know about the specs, it won't be a sluggish barely-usable netbook, either. Heavy number-crunching and mobility are always at odds; and while my gaming notebook is much beefier, it is also an order of magnitude(!) larger and heavier. The appeal here is "take your PC in your pocket, just plug it into any screen and off you go;" netbooks have IMHO failed to live up to this expectation by being 1.underpowered and 2.too bulky - this device seems to have the solution for #2 at the very least.

So, while it won't be the best desktop PC you could get for this price, or the best smartphone you could get for this price (although for a smartphone, the specs are pretty good), you'd be getting both in one. I'm very curious to see how the integration between the two works out.

TL;DR: "Doesn't beat the best desktop" does not imply "underpowered."

godsboy7777• 13 years ago

What is Ubuntu hehe

elanperach• 13 years ago

"Ubuntu is a South African ethic or ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word comes from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Ubuntu is seen as a traditional African concept."

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/Ubuntu

Delphiki• 13 years ago

Not sure. As an artist (graphic design, composer, audio engineer), I see no use in it at all. I understand I'm not the user they're going for, but I still have a hard time seeing how this device would appeal to anyone who already owns both a laptop and a cell phone.

I try to get out of my office and studio as often as possible, in order to help the creative juices continue to flow by experiencing new things. If I were using this phone and wanted to go to Starbucks to work for a day, I'd be required to bring a monitor, keyboard, and mouse with me. If that was the case, why wouldn't I just bring my laptop instead?

I'm not trying to piss anyone off or anything, I just find it genuinely funny how terrible of an idea this phone was. If you're going to be spending $750 on a cell phone, why not just spend a little more and buy a MacBook Air and dual boot?

Ask HN: Why Ubuntu Edge?

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