Neither iPhone or OpenMoko are revolutionary

[Renaissance Man]

On 18 Jan 2007, at 12:57 am, Richard Franks wrote:

> I disagree - VoIP via WiFi is an obvious evolution rather than  
> revolutionary.

But you're looking at it from a geek's point of view instead of a  
typical end-user's point of view.

Anything that allows me to go from spending £45 plus a month on  
mobile communications to effectively zero, including talking to my  
parents who live on the other side of the planet, is revolutionary.

> I don't think it's a 'killer app' either - in the terms of the  
> phone manufacturer who is more likely to benefit from getting  
> 6-12months lead and market share in an unexploited but growing  
> market (Open Source Mobile Phones).

Killer app: "a computer program that is so useful or desirable that  
it proves the value of some underlying technology"

I couldn't think of a better example of a killer app than sticking a  
piece of software on a device that lets people speak to each other  
around the world effectively for free.

The revolution won't have people saying, oh man, I want one of those,  
because it's open source. They'll be saying, oh man, I want one of  
those because I can communicate with a mobile device for a pittance  
(open source will simply be one way of doing it).

Renaissance Man