this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
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The only difference is UI. I operate my phone in my hand with my thumb, not on my lap or on a desk from a keyboard.
And the hardware. Your phone requires much harder power optimization in order to have a usable battery life. Same for size and heat dissipation.
Also politics. Public cellular is tied to identity. It is structurally hostile to user-controlled, fully open, deeply optimized devices because the radio stack is certification-heavy, operator-governed, and privacy-hostile.
For the first point, that sort of engineering is more necessary for a smaller form factor, but can absolutely be done for other computer hardware. Applying these lessons to laptops yields some amazing laptopsz for example.
As for the second point, that's just one component in the system. You can attach a cellular modem to a PC. They just don't tend to be built in directly.
I'm emphasizing breaking free from identity ties to devices enforced by the hardware/radio. Not adding it to all devices.
It also limits open source competition in the phone market.