On Thu 13 Feb 2020 at 06:52:05 (-0600), Richard Owlett wrote: > On 02/11/2020 10:09 AM, Richard Owlett wrote: > > I wish to enter/store data while away from home. The data will > > then be transferred to my laptop via a USB cable. [Think the > > capability of one of the old Palm Pilots in a smartphone(sic) form > > factor] > > > "Palm Pilot" was the not best visualization. > A better image would be the pocket protector full of 3x5 cards a > fellow engineering student used in the early 60's. He had it organized > for quick retrieval of notes on a specific topic. > > Everything I wish to do accomplish has a direct analog to how he did things. > > An inverse is frequently also true. > E.G. A frequent "must have" feature of a smartphone is a cell modem. > The analog would be my friend viewing someone-else's set of cards. > > Many smartphone features are of no value or are detrimental to my > intended use. Prime examples include Android OS and any graphical > browser. > > What I could envision using would be Debian with a minimal MATE > Desktop and a single custom Tcl/Tk app. The bottom of the screen would > have a > 4x15 character array emulating a QWERTY keyboard for input of > arbitrary alphanumeric data. Display of "retrieved data" or "data > being entered" would be handled by the Tcl/Tk app.
If a device is small, it has to appeal to a mass market. To do that, it has to be packed with features, whether or not these are "detrimental" to *your* intended use. I was surprised how much of the pinephone's functionality could be switched off, once I'd decoded the jargon in their specifications (with help). But I don't see how you can avoid having to compromise over the inclusion of those (redundant to you) functions, particularly in view of the extra cost of providing the flexibility to turn them off. Cheers, David.
