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Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

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Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#21

Post by [deleted] »

gue5t wrote: post #15
5ilv3r wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would but I can't tell if it makes phone calls or not. They only talk about "matrix", which sounds like some kind of tor phone thing.

The copy could state more explicitly that it does work as a regular phone with your number and SIM, but it is explained under the section "A No-Carrier Phone?": The Librem 5 can be used in any of three ways: - With a cellular carrier provided phone number, data plan, and WiFi - With a cellular carrier data plan, and WiFi - With no carrier, and using only WiFi WiFi calling and VoIP calling will be able to be provided…

[deleted]

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#22

Post by blensor »

jakef wrote: post #14

Who would buy this thing? The phone doesn't look to be anything special, the name makes it sound low-end, there's zero brand recognition. The magnetic wireless accessory thing is irrelevant to vast majority of consumers, especially since Bluetooth has already solved that problem and works with any device. I can't imagine a scenario where someone is looking to buy a phone in the ~$700 range and chooses this.

I'm not sure we are talking about the same bluetooth here. I have yet to see a bluetooth device that just works (I am a non apple user, so I can't speak for IOS devices).

The worst example are my wireless headphones. When I get into the car the car radio tries to connect to my phone, so it stops the wireless headphone output. I then have to scroll through the menu and disconnect the car radio, which tries to reconnect after a while.

But that is not even the worst. If I have an audiobook playing while I connect the headphones the audio switches immediately to the headphones as soon as they are connected (which is the expected behavior). But if I start the audiobook after the headphones are connected it takes several minutes until I can actually hear something and I have not figured out a way to speed this up apart from disconnecting and reconnecting after I hit play.

I for one love my wired headsets, they just work. But I have to buy some new ones every other month because I regulary rip them when they get caught up in something.

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#23

Post by ovao »

khazhoux wrote: post #12
X86BSD wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep in mind Apple was in the same position before the iPhone. Remember what palm said about apple becoming a player in the mobile space? "PC guys are not just going to walk in here and.." And yet they did. How about the phone just sucks? And essential just really has no idea what people want?

Palm got upended because their product was not actually that great. It solved a need, for sure, but the core quality was not there. What is iPhone bad at? Where's the entry point for a disruptor?

One could argue that the iPhone is bad at 'openness', but that seems to be a non-factor or at least a negligible factor to at least some very large percentage of consumers.

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#24

Post by rrggrr »

Value. Early adopters recognize and act on it. This is how OnePlus succeeded with its first phone. No bloatware, great specs, fair price.

Essential is about $250 too expensive. It would have been enough if they had released a cheaper phone with the same specs, branding anonymity, and durability - less the attachments.

Value. Value. Value. This concept is key.

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#25

Post by allenbrunson »

khazhoux wrote: post #12
X86BSD wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keep in mind Apple was in the same position before the iPhone. Remember what palm said about apple becoming a player in the mobile space? "PC guys are not just going to walk in here and.." And yet they did. How about the phone just sucks? And essential just really has no idea what people want?

Palm got upended because their product was not actually that great. It solved a need, for sure, but the core quality was not there. What is iPhone bad at? Where's the entry point for a disruptor?

> What is iPhone bad at?

ecosystem lock-in, not allowing un-vetted apps to run, walled-garden approach to everything. based on comments i see here, some people are mad enough about this to avoid iPhones altogether.

that's where i'd start, if i were trying to launch a smartphone platform today.

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#26

Post by alexblumel »

gue5t wrote: post #11

The Essential phone does nothing fundamentally new. The Librem 5, on the other hand, will if it gets crowdfunded: it'll be the first phone to not lock its users into the shitty app store paradigm where you rely on the manufacturer for a max of 2-3 years of support/security-updates while renting siloed closed-source programs that sell your usage data and show you ads. The Librem 5 will run regular Linux that keeps wor…

Jesus Christ, HN and the creators of this (ugly, toy-like)phone seem to never get basic, rudimentary supply and demand in action that anybody running a business should already understand. People don't care about being tracked and they certainly don't care about running some obscure Linux distro on their damn phone. A million people showing dislike on how the market works won't magically change how it works.

People buy fast, sexy, bleeding edge smartphones with GREAT CAMERAS (not surprised the whole website decided to omit this, it's probably terrible). Companies that make these phones thrive (see: Apple, Samsung, etc. ) while companies that focus on things only a handful of programmers like (for free)wither away into obscurity, see: the Ouya, Firefox OS, opensolaris, etc.

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#27

Post by 5ilv3r »

gue5t wrote: post #15
5ilv3r wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would but I can't tell if it makes phone calls or not. They only talk about "matrix", which sounds like some kind of tor phone thing.

The copy could state more explicitly that it does work as a regular phone with your number and SIM, but it is explained under the section "A No-Carrier Phone?": The Librem 5 can be used in any of three ways: - With a cellular carrier provided phone number, data plan, and WiFi - With a cellular carrier data plan, and WiFi - With no carrier, and using only WiFi WiFi calling and VoIP calling will be able to be provided…

I gotta say, I agree with that alex dude's reply on the supply being out of touch. The focus is all on the wrong stuff. I've specced out my own phone to build from scratch and these are the requirements I came up with:

    Make and receive calls

    Send and receive text messages

    Wifi hotspot
If you put a goddamn rad camera on it, it would be a winner.

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#29

Post by lawrenceyan »

alexblumel wrote: post #26
gue5t wrote: post #11

The Essential phone does nothing fundamentally new. The Librem 5, on the other hand, will if it gets crowdfunded: it'll be the first phone to not lock its users into the shitty app store paradigm where you rely on the manufacturer for a max of 2-3 years of support/security-updates while renting siloed closed-source programs that sell your usage data and show you ads. The Librem 5 will run regular Linux that keeps wor…

Jesus Christ, HN and the creators of this (ugly, toy-like)phone seem to never get basic, rudimentary supply and demand in action that anybody running a business should already understand. People don't care about being tracked and they certainly don't care about running some obscure Linux distro on their damn phone. A million people showing dislike on how the market works won't magically change how it works. People bu…

Have you ever heard of the concept of niche targeting? I definitely recommend checking it out if you haven't. :)

Re: Essential has sold just 5,000 phones since launch

#30

Post by angryasian »

blensor wrote: post #22
jakef wrote: post #14

Who would buy this thing? The phone doesn't look to be anything special, the name makes it sound low-end, there's zero brand recognition. The magnetic wireless accessory thing is irrelevant to vast majority of consumers, especially since Bluetooth has already solved that problem and works with any device. I can't imagine a scenario where someone is looking to buy a phone in the ~$700 range and chooses this.

I'm not sure we are talking about the same bluetooth here. I have yet to see a bluetooth device that just works (I am a non apple user, so I can't speak for IOS devices). The worst example are my wireless headphones. When I get into the car the car radio tries to connect to my phone, so it stops the wireless headphone output. I then have to scroll through the menu and disconnect the car radio, which tries to reconnec…

You shouldn't be driving and wearing wireless headphones
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