Slashdotted

[Steve Mosher]

no i didnt upload that video. I relented today and got a youtube account
to upload my video, so I'm still fumbling around with youtube.


Kosa wrote:
> Thanks fo that.
> 
> Just a recomendation. I don't know know if you yourself (hope that's well 
> written since
> english is not my first language) upload that video, but I think it could be a 
> good idea to
> rename it so it includes "openmoko" on the title. It wuld be easier to find for 
> those who
> are not on the list, but have heard about OM.
> 
> Kosa
> 
> - Un mundo mejor es posible -
> 
> Steve Mosher escribió:
>> Thanks Anthony.
>>
>> For the sake of everyone who hasnt read my posts on this
>> or seen the video of seans speech. Let me say that your position
>> is the one we settled on. spend our resources on the FR and then
>> fund a modest project: project B. Put the GTA03 on hold
>> and find a way to involve the community more in its development.
>>
>> inlined below find an advanced copy of my official comments.
>> stuff I send to the press. As a side note on this, these official
>> comments grew out of posts I made here first. During sean's presentation
>> someone commented that our approach to open business was the most 
>> radical he had seen. It is. and it presents great challenges for all
>> of us.
>>
>> Seans video:
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFuwhPXYxxI&feature=PlayList&p=96FB31DA6E4012DA&index=1
>>
>> I'll have my video up in a bit, an interview.
>>
>> Here's the advance copy of my comments to the press.
>>
>>
>> During the last week Openmoko has had two great events. First the 
>> Embedded System Conference, ESC) and second, the OpenExpo in Bern. Those 
>> events could not have been more well timed for us because we had two 
>> major announcements to make: a thrust into the embedded systems market 
>> and the announcement of a new device, not a phone but an entirely new 
>> open device.
>> The launch into the embedded systems market is a case of the market 
>> finding the manufacturer. We designed the FreeRunner as an open phone. 
>> After it launched we started to receive requests from customers we never 
>> dreamed existed: Innovators who wanted to change the case or add in 
>> additional hardware. People who wanted to resell the phone with their 
>> software added. The collective creativity outside the company, dwarfed 
>> the creativity within the company. Our customers truly are an army of 
>> Davids. To seize this opportunity we decided to open up our CAD files, 
>> and open up our schematics. That way these new-found markets can develop 
>> for themselves products that we don’t have the resources to develop. So, 
>> over the next few months you’ll see us make a more focused effort in 
>> this market space. As a platform for embedded development, nothing 
>> compares to the FreeRunner: Open schematics; Open CAD; Open hardware; 
>> Open software.
>> 	At OpenExpo we had a keynote speech in the business track. This gave us 
>> the opportunity to explain some of the change in focus we’ve made in the 
>> past month. Our CEO Sean Moss-Pultz delivered the presentation and I’ll 
>> take some space here to explain in a bit more detail the background 
>> behind these exciting changes. Sean discussed three things:
>> 1. Our successes.
>> 2. Our mistakes.
>> 3. Our challenges
>> It’s vitally important when addressing the challenges of the future to 
>> assess and understand your past success. Openmoko launched its first 
>> developer phone in July of 07 and the FreeRunner shipped in July of 08. 
>> Sales tripled. Not only did we build a phone; we built a company and 
>> distribution network in the process. We also helped others build their 
>> own businesses around the FreeRunner. Our takeaway lessons were as 
>> follows: Open Products can be successful in the marketplace; being Open 
>> multiplies everyone’s business opportunities. For our mistakes we 
>> identified these: Open Product design is very hard as there is a 
>> tendency to make too many changes. Our culture is not authoritarian. We 
>> also tended to view hardware with a “software” mentality, as something 
>> that could be easily changed or patched.
>> Our challenge going forward is to seize the opportunity we see in the 
>> embedded space and push forward the cause of open hardware. And we had 
>> to make some choices about how to spend the balance of 2009. There were 
>> essentially three projects going on inside OpenMoko: ongoing support of 
>> FreeRunner; Development of a follow on phone, the GTA03; and development 
>> of project “B”. From a resources standpoint we could pick any two. Given 
>> the traction we see in the embedded space and given our passionate 
>> commitment to current FreeRunner owners and developers it was easy to 
>> pick that project. Nine months after launching FreeRunner with 
>> tremendous support from the community the product is coming into its own 
>> with a diverse set of distributions that run on it, from android to 
>> debian.  Then comes the choice between project “B” and the GTA03.
>> There were two paths:
>> A: Fulfill our promises on FreeRunner and launch GTA03
>> B: Fulfill our promises on FreeRunner and  launch project B.
>> We will talk more about project B in the coming months, but these 
>> salient facts guided our decisions:
>> 1. GTA03 was in constant flux as a design.
>> 2. GTA03 schedule was consequently always slipping.
>> 3. The resources required for GTA03 are 3X those required for Project B.
>> 4. OM doesn’t have 3X resources
>>
>> So, we picked plan B. Focus on supporting the FreeRunner and launching 
>> the more modest project, project B. That decision entailed putting GTA03 
>> on hold and rethinking how we do that product and that business in a 
>> better way: learning from our mistakes and building on our success. It 
>> also meant restructuring engineering and sales and marketing.
>> Now comes the question, what about GTA03? how do we get there? And when? 
>> and what is it?
>> First, we attend to the issues that still remain with the FreeRunner. 
>> Second we complete project B. When we've done that, then we get to eat 
>> dessert. Essentially, we agreed with the case made by users on our 
>> community list. They asked us: ”How do expect us to buy a GTA03 when the 
>> FreeRunner is not yet consumer ready?” We also listened to our 
>> distribution partners. They wanted to know how they could continue to 
>> sell the FreeRunner when the GTA03 was “just around the corner.” And 
>> finally, we listened to our engineers. Since all of our sales are to 
>> people who understand engineering, their opinion about market viability 
>> is very important to us.
>> All of those arguments said the GTA03 as defined made no sense. As it 
>> was defined, it is dead. So how do we get to a new GTA03? Two 
>> requirements: continue to improve the FreeRunner; deliver on project B. 
>> What is GTA03 and when do we get there? There are a number of 
>> independent volunteer efforts out working at defining the GTA03 and 
>> working at refining or revolutionizing the business model to make it 
>> possible. Going forward we are going to open those efforts entirely. Our 
>> community has consistently asked for a voice in the up-front design 
>> decisions, so we will build a mechanism to try to make that happen. 
>> Again, whenever we see a challenge or an opportunity our first reaction 
>> is to rely on our strength. The community. They have never let us down.
>> Specifically what can the community do to help with this challenge and 
>> seize the opportunities we are presented with?
>> 1. Move FreeRunner code upstream.
>> 2. Stay involved or get involved.
>> 3. Continue work on applications and distributions
>> 4. Buy a FreeRunner.
>> 5. Get involved in GTA03 discussions. The mailing list will appear on 
>> Openmoko.org in the forthcoming days.
>>
>>
>>
>> Anthony Clearn wrote:
>>   
>>> Perhaps one of the positives which could be taken from this is that it allows a rethink. One question in my mind was why the need to produce GTA03 when GTA02 was getting better? I hadn't time to follow GTA03 as like many people, I see, I have a fair few emails to read. I once heard someone say most businesses fail as they try to be perfect (something like the waterfall, I suppose). So could things move on with just a GTA02 (not forgetting GTA01, but concentrating on the latest product) or does the project really need 03 / plan B? I suppose having a camera, 3G, etc would have been good, but isn't the fact that the phone is open the big selling point? I know it is for me.
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards, 
>>> A.
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Openmoko community mailing list
>>> community at lists.openmoko.org
>>> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>>>     
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Openmoko community mailing list
>> community at lists.openmoko.org
>> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>>