<br>I agree with Kent, the fundamental functionality needs to be rock solid. OpenMoko isn't just representing "free phones", it also is representing (embedded) Linux. Before the consumer version is commercially advertised, we need things like calling, SMS, and contact management.
<br><br>On another note, since advertising is also very important, I feel ad development should begin soon, and not wait until we need it. See how it goes...I like the idea. Publish a *beta commercial. We'll watch it. :)
<br><br>Kyle<br><br><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/21/07, <b class="gmail_sendername"><a href="mailto:kent@songbird.com">kent@songbird.com</a></b> <<a href="mailto:kent@songbird.com">kent@songbird.com</a>> wrote:
</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">On Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 11:08:47AM +0200, Martin Straub wrote:<br>[...]<br>> Anyway, Openmoko seems to become well-known without further action =-O
<br>> The picture attached is from the weekend journal of a major Austrian<br>> newspaper ("Kurier").<br>><br>> The text basically says:<br>><br>> "The Openmoko platform is the basic element of a new series of mobile
<br>> phones utilizing open source software.<br>> Hence you can adapt the software to your needs. The first mobile phone<br>> of this series is the Neo1973 which can be ordered for EUR 220".<br>><br>> The price given is correct for Europe (w/o shipping).
<br>><br>> But I think before advertising there should be a product ready for the<br>> mass market, which obviously is not the case right now.<br>> I think we have some months left designing advertising campaigns.
<br><br>Yes indeed. At this point I'm beginning to seriously worry that there may be<br>too *much* publicity, not too little. Having our phone die because of a<br>backlash from unrealistic expectations would be a really bad thing.
<br><br>There is a *large* population of users who are sick to death of phone company<br>lock-in bullshit. Our phone doesn't need a lot of advertising to succeed.<br>It doesn't even need a "killer-app" -- what it really needs, at the
<br>beginning, is well-done basic cell phone functionality. The initial set of<br>applications should be simple and bullet-proof. Given the open framework,<br>other things will come in time, but when the first consumer reviews come in,
<br>it will be death if they say "great idea, but I can't make a phone call, and<br>the directory management was too awkward for me to figure out."<br><br>Kent<br><br><br>_______________________________________________
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