It's really not a question of what we want; mobile devices are, to a much greater extent than desktop machines, produced out of the vision of individual designers. Individual designers, that is, who have risen to a place of prominence in large corporations, because it is still just way too expensive for small groups or organizations to build mobile devices. (Consider, for example, how much effort it has taken for Jolla to bring out their own phone, and the per-unit price required for a low-quantity run like the Neo900.)

Designers at Nokia probably made the most serious attempt at creating the hand-held desktop with their Internet Tablet series, but it was of course Steve Jobs' multi-decade attempt to turn computers into appliances that has made the biggest impact on the modern industry. (Consider his efforts with the Apple III and the original Macintosh...) The iPod, iPhone, and iPad have shown that you can make a boatload of cash off of a small device that is entirely locked down and used more like a portable TV than a portable computer.

We have left the era of "computer as tool" and entered the era of "computer as toy". Hopefully, the pendulum will eventually swing back again...

Basically, all the recent efforts to bring a "phone-friendly" interface to Linux (Android, Tizen, Meego, even Sailfish) are all attempts to create an iPhone clone. That is, hide as much of the OS as possible from the user, and turn the device into a fun toy. I was dismayed watching a video where a guy picked up a Jolla phone and started cursing at it because he couldn't figure out the various swipe combinations in less than 60 seconds. It was too complicated! It wasn't enough of a fun toy!

Yeah, the current state of mobile computing is just disheartening.