Sean's Aim...

Jon Phillips jon at rejon.org
Mon Jan 22 09:13:49 CET 2007


On Sun, 2007-01-21 at 23:55 +0000, Justyn Butler wrote:
> I agree that something, anything, that will help me justify upgrading
> my phone every six months is needed. In my case I particularly feel
> the need for 3G but I want to get building right now, on v1.
> 
> I'd personally settle for a minor discount on the next version for so
> called "early adopters". But then I don't know what profit margin FIC
> is selling these things at. 
> 
> Justyn

It is cool that Sean is an honest guy and I believe that the project has
good intention.

The one thing this list can do is figure out the clear aims/goals of the
community. Please help do this on the temp wiki:

http://www.linuxtogo.org/gowiki/OpenMoko/Community

I think good sections would be Mission/Goal (1 sentence) and then also
ways people can get involved.

Jon

> On 21/01/07, Steve Grevemeyer <seg at tsmservices.com> wrote:
>         > It would be nice to know if Sean's aim is
>         > 1. to satisfy his and our need for open source toys like Neo
>         > or
>         > 2. to earn money like almost everybody on this planet while
>         exploiting
>         geeks like us to achieve his goal :-) 
>         >
>         > I bet the second will prove as true...
>         >
>         > Milan
>         
>         
>         The great thing about a free and open platform is that these
>         two aims
>         are NOT mutually exclusive!
>         
>         Frankly, I can't wait for one of these things -- and I hope
>         that Sean 
>         and FIC make so much money they get compared to Microsoft!
>         
>         It costs a ton of money to design, test, and build
>         hardware.  It costs
>         even MORE for software. :)
>         
>         The open approach dramatically reduces this cost, improves the
>         product, 
>         and increases the overall profitability to the manufacturer.
>         And just
>         WAIT until the as-yet-unimagined killer app shows up!
>         
>         Anyone who thinks these devices are going to be cheap needs to
>         wake up.
>         (I'll avoid the banal "free as in beer" vs "free as in
>         speech" 
>         converstation) What these devices need to be is
>         "affordable".  $350 w/
>         accessories?  That is actually CHEAP.  My Treo cost more then
>         that
>         base, then I had to buy accessories!
>         
>         The one idea I did see in the last couple of days that I think
>         NEED to 
>         get some serious attention is that of an upgrade path for
>         developers.
>         
>         I have zero problem with the cost of the device or its
>         capabilities for
>         Rev1.  The old "Don't worry, be crappy" philosophy is perfect.
>         That and 
>         "churn, baby, churn".  Upgrade the unit continuously.
>         
>         The problem is that it gets REALLY expensive to try to keep
>         up.  Need a
>         way to recycle the units.
>         
>         I'll throw out the following (going to need asbestos underwear
>         for the 
>         flames THIS will generate):
>         
>         a) a formal developers program. Maybe modeled on the M$
>         partner
>         program.  A small yearly fee and formal registration.  Not
>         that
>         developers are riff-raff or anything but motivation is a huge
>         portion 
>         of this kind of development.
>         
>         b) Formal developers get first crack at new hardware.  This
>         concept is
>         already being espoused -- I just think that it will need to be
>         formalized at some point.
>         
>         c) An Upgrade path to 
>         facilitate continued development.  Basically, when the new
>         version
>         comes out I send the old one back along with a "reasonable"
>         upgrade fee
>         and I get the new model.
>         
>         
>         Benefits to the Developer: 
>         - access to the newest, best hardware
>         - preservation of investment $
>         - credit and recognition within the community
>         
>         Benefits to FIC:
>         - information on active developers
>         - targeted audience for feedback/evaluation.  I like open
>         forums but sometime you 
>         need things a bit more focused.   - Beta-test system!  Both
>         for FIC and
>         for the community in general.
>         
>         Of course, I'll get the obvious "what about all the developers
>         that get
>         excluded since they don't/won't/can't spend the money". 
>         
>         The advantage of a formal program is that it is very easy to
>         create an
>         "informal" program.  FIC/Some Vendor/Somebody can easily
>         "sponsor" a
>         developer.  I.e. Somebody buys one of these units and shows
>         they they 
>         rock, someone can step up and help them out.  I've already
>         seen stuff
>         about "getting units in the hand of select developers"...
>         
>         The single hardest think in open source development is
>         "keeping the eye 
>         on the ball".  Everyone has their own pet thing, and ensuring
>         that the
>         overall project is not derailed by a single aspect is
>         incredibly hard.
>         I think the recent thread regarding WiFi is an excellent
>         example. 
>         
>         The communities biggest challenge will be getting applications
>         done and
>         fielded at the best possible rate. "Someone" is going to have
>         to take a
>         lead role and try to identify the applications that have the
>         biggest 
>         need from the myriad of great ideas.  A little focus goes a
>         long way in
>         getting things DONE.
>         
>         Well, I've babbled enough for now.  :)
>         
>         -seg
>         Steve Grevemeyer
>         
>         
>         
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> 
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-- 
Jon Phillips

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