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Ubuntu Edge

indiegogo.com

311–320 of 390 posts

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#311
post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've ordered one too, because I really like the sound of a Phone OS based on Ubuntu, not controlled by the likes of Google and Apple, and with a UI based on HTML. The proposed UI and demo apps look nice, I like the idea of losing the chrome as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO7QbCqFY7Y It's going up quite fast, from 167k to 198k as I finish writing this, but I'm not sure if they'll make their target, just beca…

> based on Ubuntu, not controlled by the likes of Google and Apple, and with a UI based on HTML If you don't insist on the "Ubuntu" part, FirefoxOS offers everything you want, and is available on various devices right now: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/os/

How does this hardware compare to FirefoxOS' hardware offerings?

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#312
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have backed based on this theory if it was a Kickstarter project. Kickstarter uses Amazon and doesn't charge until the end of the drive. Indiegogo uses Paypal, and charges immediately, giving a refund if the drive fails. While both of these differences aren't quite showstoppers, they're enough that I didn't pull the trigger on something that seems highly unlikely to succeed. I wouldn't mind paying $600 for th…

You could withdraw the $600... I do appreciate you pointing this difference out though, because it does mean that folks will have $600 (or $830) tied up in this from day 1 and not from day 31.

One possible problem with withdraw later is that you're subjected to 2.5% conversion fee if you're not withdraw to US bank account. In the end some international user will need to pay PayPal about $15 to get refund.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#313
post #299

A bit late to the party on this post - I think the next shift we see in mobile will be anointing the phone as the arbiter of identity vs the current situation in which our desktop / laptop OS user loosely holds the title. I've previously expressed affinity for a future in which a device (smartphone) becomes a wallet for saving state, identity, data & applications all served by an OS that adapts based on operating env…

Sorry but I don't want any electronical mobile devices as my physical identity badge which includes my whole life. The dangers of that far outweigh the conviniences. You just wouldn't be able to stay anonymous anymore and everything about you would be up for grab by the government or some hackers. Also just imagine when your phone gets stolen. Your whole life in the hands of a stranger.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't get 1% interest risk free in a high-interest market, let alone the current one. If you try really hard you can get 1% a year without taking on risk. And you can't have any risk if you are going to be manufacturing phones with that money (sorry we don't have enough phones, we bet on Apple and their stock went down 20%).

US Government Treasury bonds have a 3.5% annual interest rate. I'm pretty sure that buying them does not require trying hard.

30-year bonds do, but they are not risk-free unless you hold them to maturity.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#315
post #67

This is the opposite of what I want. What I want is a hub device along the lines of a Huawei Mifi device that will share a 4g connection with numerous other devices using a low power hardware and software stack, perhaps the latest Bluetooth. Then I want my phone to be less powerful, to run most apps on the cloud and generally do little more than render things prettily. I want camera lenses, display surfaces, input de…

This was a strange post for me... just in the voting history.

It was upvoted like crazy, then downvoted like crazy, then upvoted again, and downvoted again.

It's come out very neutral, barely +1 or 0 now, but at the same time it's the most downvoted post I've ever made.

What is so objectionable about the post that merited the quantity of downvotes? And were the upvotes because other people agreed with the idea and also want this?

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#316
There might be some financial sense in backing this, whether you intend to use it or not. If it does not get funded, you get your money back. If it does get funded and made, you'll be an owner of a limited edition run of a beastly phone, whose resale value will probably be significantly higher than its current price.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What bond has that high of an interest rate? I am seeing 0.3% annual rates for US bonds right now. (And that is for 2 year bonds, not very good for 1-3 month lags)

Even if you only need the money for a year, there is no reason you can't buy 30 year bonds and sell them later. Short term treasury bonds get a much lower price because they are dominated by buyers that are obligated to buy them for some reason (they've even had negative interest rates in the past).

No, short term bonds get lower yield because they carry much less interest rate risk. There's no free lunch.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#318
I know this may seem silly, but just reading this little copy below the 'Contribute Now' button...made me chuckle:

This campaign will only receive funds if at least $32,000,000 is raised by Wed 21 Aug 11:59PM PT.

Oh...just $32M. Even though I read the $32,000,000 above and as of this posting they have already raised $3.2M, I am accustomed to seeing "this campaign will only receive funds if at least $50,000" or some other reasonable figure is there. Almost feels like an April's Fools.

Alas...I hope they achieve it - if nothing else for the history they will create....and the shockwaves it will send through the VC community.

Every time a crowd-sourced project passes some psychological barrier - say $1M, $2M, $5M, $10M it makes people perk up.

If they pass $2^5M....that will send shockwaves.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#319
post #311
post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> based on Ubuntu, not controlled by the likes of Google and Apple, and with a UI based on HTML If you don't insist on the "Ubuntu" part, FirefoxOS offers everything you want, and is available on various devices right now: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/os/

How does this hardware compare to FirefoxOS' hardware offerings?

This hardware looks like it blows everything else out of the water. So far, Firefox OS hardware offerings have been on the low-end.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#320
post #43

The $32 million fundraising goal might seem overly ambitious, but it's actually more realistic than it appears at first glance, because at $600+ per unit the campaign needs only around 50,000 buyers worldwide to be successful -- or a bit over 2% of Ubuntu's enthusiastic user base, which was estimated to be greater than 20 million in 2011.[1] PS. I just ordered one, as I LOVE the idea of an unlocked phone designed and…

One of the things that's interesting about the phone industry is that in general there's no equivalent of the special tech-focused PC platforms. So Ubuntu Edge is a way to unlock both a new software platform (Ubuntu phone) but also to bring forward a set of hardware technologies that won't be in the mainstream for a while. It's a really high target caused by how expensive these platforms are to manufacture. But if we…

They seem to aim for the high end, but on the other hand it seems still difficult to provide all-around desktop platform without Intel/AMD instruction set.

But if it is ARM and it still works, then it would still be a nice office platform.

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