ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Greg W <mttbrnsmls@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm arguing here that Canonical made a mistake by shunning the Edge as a phone-only device to begin the Ubuntu-Touch experience with.

Further, I think it is unwise on Canonical's part to "Abandon" the 
Edge as a Phone if the Indiegogo campaign for Edge-as-Convergence-Device is unsuccessful. Canonical doesn't even have the software for 
convergence yet. But they will soon have stable software for the phone.

I contributed to the campaign, but frankly if given the choice between:
1) Edge-Smartphone (that is thinner & lighter than the Convergence model)
2) Edge-Convergence device presently campaigning
I would have "bought" the Edge-Smartphone. Today, I'd rather have a thin/light "mini-Ubuntu" in my pocket than something thicker/heavier that can run an entire desktop.

Say the Edge-Convergence campaign is unsuccessful. Canonical should immediately do another Indiegogo for an Edge-Phone. 

Ubuntu Edge Smartphone: 
thinner, lighter device than Edge-Convergence device,
16GB storage, 
Corning Gorilla Glass, 
dual-core CPU, 
2GB RAM, 
stereo speakers,
standard battery tech
aluminum frame

Keep the price down (compared to the convergence model), get it in people's hands. Ubuntu and the Edge device will get more widespread exposure this way. Edge-Convergence is an esoteric "specialty" device that only financially well-to-do people can afford, which is not what Ubuntu and FLOSS software is supposed to be about! Open-Source advocates generally don't have a lot of money. Not only do I think it was unfair to run a "do-or-die" campaign for a "specialty" device, I think it unintentionally shunned many Ubuntu supporters and community members who desperately want an Ubuntu-Edge phone but not necessarily a more expensive convergence device. A good starting point for Canonical would have been to give us an Edge phone that can easily interface with the Ubuntu Desktop. Just to have a Phone that can plug-and-play with your Desktop is something to cheer about. To make matters worse, the excellent physical design of the Ubuntu-Edge is apparently going to be trashed if the campaign is unsuccessful. This is not right!

Canonical threw all the chips on the table for convergence, why? To win, you need to stay in the game and slowly accumulate wins, not bet it all on one hand. Offering a Phone first could have also served to "prove" the software/tech for the eventual convergence goal.

This email was written as constructive criticism in the hope that it helps Canonical succeed in getting Ubuntu Edge out to the public in some form. My preference today is for a thin/light Ubuntu-Edge-Phone.




From: estelar57@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 17:20:30 +0000
Subject: Re: [Ubuntu-phone] Ubuntu Edge (the Ubuntu handset)




Ubuntu Edge will miss $32m crowdfunding target if it keeps this pace, say researchers.
"Compared to the average Kickstarter, we can see that the Ubuntu Edge rose more sharply in the beginning and flatlined harder when entering the 'Dead Zone'," Waddell and Ligtenberg write. 
"This is further evidence that would-be backers are *turned-off* by Canonical's incremental pricing structure. As the price of securing a phone has ticked from $600 to the present value of $775, backing has slowed to a snail's pace."
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/02/ubuntu-edge-crowdfunding-prediction-miss

hmmm, this doesn't look good guys.
As you can see they need to find a way to offer perks back in the high demand 6xx to 725 price ranges.
What are a few ways they can offer a different perk in that price range ?
Well lets look at Samsung and HTC, they're both offering a similar device but with less bells and whistles.
i.e. A good Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S4 Mini comparison.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf9iU26AdV8
We gotta think smart like google did when they offered the nexus7 and it became so popular that Apple was forced to release the Ipad mini.
Well there are a few things that are nice to have, but may be getting in the way of offering something in the high demand price range:
So from the S4 mini example a phone perk in the 6xx to 725 could look like this:

-A not so powerful processor-A bit less ram-1 antenna-64gb hdd + some free online storage-Converged ubuntu (android optional; add like $25 more if you need this) ?

So not doing something fast would be leaving this "low hanging niche" unexploited. We need to leave those mental barriers behind when you want to break all records and have your campaign quoted for years to come. We should had been near 11M by now. The alternative would be to say goodbye to this project as of today, sadly...

 		 	   		  

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