what is the difference between openMoko and windows mobile based phones

[hank williams]

On 1/18/07, Andreas Kostyrka <andreas at kostyrka.org> wrote:
>
> * hank williams <hank777 at gmail.com> [070118 14:01]:
> >      Beside the point that an *average* user doesn't see the potential
> of
> >      open source on a mobile - what are your experiances and demands on
> >      a smart phone?
> >
> >      When you look at the devices that you know or use(d):
> >      - What does you miss most?
> >      - What does you hate most?
> >      - What does you like/used most?
> >
> >    well honestly my biggest issue with phones in general is not features
> but
> >    execution. The iPhone is a good example of executing  well on
> features
> >    that have been around  for years. My one concern with open source is
> that
> >    it is great at delivering features, but historically not great at UI.
> This
> >    is because big open source projects are often done by teams where
> everyone
> >    can do what they want. This tends to mean there is no singular
> unified
> >    design vision. This is fine for features for the most part because we
> can
> That's technically speaking an out-of-date vision of opensource
> develepment. I wouldn't consider KDE inconsistent. actually, one might
> argue that KDE does better then Windows based environments on this
> score.


uh... sure. I dont want to open a windows vs osx vs linux/kde debate here
so  i'll leave it at that.

>    all more or less agree on how to implement wifi or an encryption scheme
> or
> >    whatever. Or if we disagree we can implement five different ways as
> APIs
> >    and let the market decide. But good UI doesn't work that way.
> I guess you haven't used the embedded Linux UIs. They are more
> consistent then some commercial phones.


I dont know what this means.  What are you talking about... TiVo? Linux UIs
and open source UIs is not the same thing. Lots of people (like TiVo and
hundreds of other companies) build proprietary apps/UIs on top of linux.
That doesn't make them open source. And even if something is open source, if
its not done by an "open source committee" it will generally be better.

>
> >    So the iPhone has a design czar - jobs - and that means that forward
> >    thinking design gets done in a unified way. This issue may not effect
> nope. You are assuming that it will be executed well. nobody has seen
> an iphone for long enough to fool around with it.
>
> From seeing the details, the iPhone is something that not even my wife
> will want to have, everything that I've seen till now suggests that it
> will be a nice (smart)phone, but not necessarily nicer than better
> existing phones, with an iPod embedded.


Well, your mileage may vary, but obviously lots of people, press, analysts,
etc think its pretty significant. Perhaps it will just be one of many - only
time will tell. But somehow I doubt it. Slashdot has certainly gotten a lot
of humorous mileage out of the prediction that the iPod wasn't going
anywhere.

And it will put the carriers interests in front of the users interests.
>
> >    OpenMoko, at least in the beginning, since a private company is doing
> the
> >    design. But when the design process becomes public, the features and
> >    design by committee thing might be an issue.
>
> It's the Linux-will-fork story all over. Empirical evidence suggests
> that your fear won't happen.


Nope. I  don't have any fears and wasn't talking about forking. I am just
saying that often, too many cooks spoil the stew.

>
> >    But the bottom line is that my biggest problem with phones is that
> they
> >    are just not designed well. The pretty much all suck!
> Well, that's not helpful. Design a better, give hints, improvement
> ideas. It's hard to give you the perfect phone, because you don't
> specify what you want.


I'm not trying to help. I am not intending to be a phone designer. I was
asked a question, and so I am stating my honest opinion about phones.
Ideally, what I want is a good UI. This is of course, subjective, and so
there is no single answer. I can only say that the current phone marketplace
has not focused on UI at all. Motorola's UI is inexcusable. Palm apps look
the same as they did in 2000 - and still no multi-tasking. Windows mobile is
ugly, and looks like they tried to transplant a desktop into a phone. For me
to suggest specific fixes is a little like asking why I dont want to date a
pot bellied pig. You know, what if we put a little lipstick on it. wouldnt
it be good enough then? Phones need to be re-thought. Perhaps OpenMoko is a
solution - haven't seen a demo so I don't know - which is why I asked my
initial question. But since no one here other than Sean has seen it, perhaps
I wont get anything other than generic linux fan responses.

Hank
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