zlacker

Do all the people who use computers to browse the internet (the majority of people on the internet) suddenly no longer exist?

>>mlindn+(OP)
I'm wondering if those still are the majority, worldwide. Smart-phones have done a lot to democratize computing power (now if only they weren't used to put >90% of their users in corporate controlled walled gardens...)

>>mlindn+(OP)
I'm still here. I've used a browser on my phone exactly once to register my phone. With exception to that one time I only use Firefox on Linux on an old PC.

>>contra+M
I bet they're still the majority - the people who only use their phone do it through apps, not through their mobile browser.

>>mlindn+(OP)
Those who used them 10 years ago still use them... but billions who didn't use them then, use smartphones now.

>>mlindn+(OP)
I don't have the data to back this up, but I've been operating under the assumption that the majority of people access the internet through their smart phones more than any other devices. Maybe it's my age, but a lot of people I know don't own traditional computers and if they do it's a single laptop they occasionally use for office tasks.

>>mlindn+(OP)
Mobile internet usage overtook desktop towards the end of 2016. Currently mobile usage sits at about 65% worldwide (slightly below 60% in the US).

>>contra+M
Smart phones didn’t change anything here: 99% of their users didn’t care about the “open” nature of desktops before they were a thing, too. A vanishingly small percentage of computer users care about tinkering and openness. It’s been decades since tinkerers and hackers were the majority of computer users.

>>63+13
I’m sometimes shocked at how much my wife relies on and accomplishes through her Pixel 3. She uses a computer only when she wants a bigger screen - photo editing or watching a show. Everything else she uses her phone. Is very surprising to me. I feel like I can barely do anything on my phone.

>>63+13
I honestly don't understand how people can stand to browse the web on their phones. I almost never do, because it's such a pain in the butt. But c'est la vie!

>>layer8+w4
Sure, but I assumed that was because of FB, Instagram, etc. Not browsing the web.

>>sircas+gd
It depends a lot on how much typing you do. If it's mostly reading, phone is tolerable. For HN or Reddit, I want my damn keyboard.

But, conversely, the way we interact online also changes to accommodate these trends. Twitter was an early example of that, and so is the focus on audiovisual content over text for the more recent social networks.

>>sidlls+0b
one could argue that the mobile era has put computers in the hands of the vast majority of people on the planet that couldn't even be bothered to operate a pc.

>>layer8+w4
It will probably end up like C. P. Snow's The Two Cultures and for many never the twain shall meet. This shouldn't be surprising really given the diversity of people, views, etc.

As for myself, I use both regularly but for serious work the PC/large screen predominates.

In recent years I've often found myself working on the PC with a collection of phones about me all with different but related information on them. It's akin to having multiple textbooks open on one's desk for reference. It's also a handy way of not cluttering up my PC screens with multiple windows/tabs open.

>>contra+M
That's the tragic outcome of that type of democratization and I'm not sure it can ever be fixed.

>>sidlls+0b
That tipping point was probably 1995 at latest.

>>LinuxB+31
Why did you bother to register your phone then? I've used many smartphones and never registered any of them. I wouldn't give the time of day to Google or Apple let alone my personal details.

Similarly, I use Firefox on Linux but I also regularly browse the web or post to HN on a phone that's been heavily deloused of Google using Firefox and other browsers—but never Chrome.

>>hilber+0w1
I've used many smartphones and never registered any of them.

When I say register, I meant sign up for the wireless service. I did not already have an account. I was on my wifi and browsed to the wireless provider to activate my sim card and get a phone number. I could have done this on my PC but doing that on my cell verified with the vendor that my phone was supported since I am using an off-brand device. It was easier to copy the IMEI that way.

For Googles app store I used a throw away Gmail address that is not used anywhere else. I would love to put a new image on the phone but AFAIK there are no custom roms for my make/model of device. I would love to install GrapheneOS but they have sadly limited device support to Pixel. I am learning more about using adb since this is my first smart phone and with time I will neuter Google without replacing the rom, hopefully. It's mostly harmless for now since I rarely have the phone on.

>>LinuxB+BM1
Fine, that all makes sense. As I posted elsewhere here, the problem of getting replacement ROMs is considerably harder than it was a few years back. I now go to considerable lengths to check if a suitable ROM is available before I buy a phone. I also don't buy one when first released, I want to see how a ROM market develops or if it's well supported. It's also a reason for keeping old phones or getting friends and relatives to give me their old ones, chances are they're easier to root/re-ROM.

>>contra+M
I don't actually believe smart-phones have done much to democratize computing power because phones don't give you much control over computing power. You can't develop software on a phone using a phone. And frankly the vast majority of phones have way more computing power than is actually used.

On a related point, the push to the cloud is befuddling when everyone has a phone with "free" (from the developer's point of view) computing power sitting there unused. Everyone's wasting money on centralizing compute despite more distributed compute being available than ever before.