[maemo-users] Nokia: Linux Needs to Learn Business

[From: Steve Brown]

> OpenMoko is not a business, it's a non-profit research organization.
> The new phone, when it finally will cost $400 for a tri-band GSM
> phone, bluetooth, and GPS.  It will have no EDGE support; no 3G
> support.  Basic PDA functionality will be included out of the box, but
> not much else.
>
> Compared to what you can get, even ignoring the carrier subsidies,
> that's a pretty anemic feature set.  Sure, open source developers will
> buy the phone, but do you really think OpenMoko will be a commercial
> success given its price and feature set?
>
> Obviously, commercial success is not the point of the OpenMoko
> project.  But to attack Nokia because they aren't following in
> OpenMoko's footsteps is also missing the point.
>
>                                                        - Ted


Where did you get this information of OpenMoko being a non-profit? I'm
definitely willing to pay more for the 1st open phone. I don't think it's an
anemic feature set, if you'll remember the original iPhone also lacked those
things. Granted it did come out much sooner, but the technology was
available. My point is, people still bought it, and paid a hefty price. I
have no idea if OM will be a commercial success, it prob won't be because no
one knows about it. Even people on this list, an open source handheld
community, don't know about it. But commercial success, from my point of
view, seems to come mainly from marketing, not so much small differences in
tech specs.

I do think short-term compromises need to be made and communication never
hurt. But many companies are buried in the old way of doing things, and that
isn't going to change without a fight or without a company taking the
initial risk. I was just initially shocked, because it at first seemed like
Jaaksi was rolling over and was perfectly ok with these devices being locked
down like cars indefinitely. That was my misunderstanding.

-Steve
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