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Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

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Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#91
post #45

I don't quite get what's going on here. Is this an idea for a major commercial product or is it a quirky fun thing for the ubuntu community? The scale they're aiming for seems to imply the former. Usable as a desktop is a cool idea, but more of a "linux on your wristwatch" idea than one with real use. I mean, if you have a keyboard & monitor handy, how hard is it to have a PC too? Cheap micro desktops are coming out…

>Am I missing the point entirely? Is this all about Ubuntu mobile itself with android & ubuntu desktop as extras?

It's a phone! It's a computer! It's both!

More seriously, imagine a phone that is always a phone unless you want to make it a computer. Plug it into a TV/Monitor/glass and you have a full computer desktop.

I travel quite a bit. I have in my bag at the moment a laptop, a phone and a tablet. With this, I need just the phone.

I also used to work in an office. When I went home, I had a computer at home. If I never wanted to do anything, read an email or what not, I needed to VPN in or sync something. Things ALWAYS got out of sync. Now, I can just plug into a monitor and have my work system at home.

Or, say, you are a corporation. You have 10,000+ people. Assuming you are a normal corporation of that size, many of those people have phones AND computers/laptops. It is highly likely that a very large number of those people could get by with one device: a phone that is also a computer. Cost savings for those corporations would be huge.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#92
post #67

625 is sold out already. Any idea what the likely BOM cost to Ubuntu would be for this? http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Samsung-Galaxy-S... Suggests 400$ is achievable, which should leave them plenty of room for profit at 600 USD. Given the dropoff when the price goes up to 675 from 625 here: http://vertior.com:9000/ and the lack of marketing / distribution costs you'd think they'd do better just to leave…

We will not profit at all on this campaign.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#93
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The really huge question is what will the battery life be. A pocket-sized device which only has 3 hours of battery life is not going to be interesting to me.

What's Formula 1 without the constant refueling? ;-)

Since the 2010 season, F1 hasn't had any refueling during races.

Tires becoming useless after 15 laps is probably the better analogy.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#94
post #40

Well that decides it - I'm in. I'm excited about the possibility of a genuinely hand held, pocket sized device that I can hook up to behave like a full desktop. It's a format that has been tried before but the power/price ratio has never been favourable - this feels like the first real chance for it to work.

Just wondering what scenarios you foresee you using the desktop feature in? If your travelling there won't be a screen available unless you lug one around. In which case you might as well carry a laptop. At home and work you probably have a computer. I think it is an interesting concept but I don't quite see the practical use. Unless it had like a stand and a projector or something.

I hear there is a cool device called the Oculus Rift...

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#95
post #65

Selling out all the "limited" tiers still lands them $7 million short. I hope they make it (I backed the $600 tier), but I'm still doubtful.

I'd hope shuttleworth would step in and lay that 7 million down as a contingency action.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#96
post #40

Well that decides it - I'm in. I'm excited about the possibility of a genuinely hand held, pocket sized device that I can hook up to behave like a full desktop. It's a format that has been tried before but the power/price ratio has never been favourable - this feels like the first real chance for it to work.

Just wondering what scenarios you foresee you using the desktop feature in? If your travelling there won't be a screen available unless you lug one around. In which case you might as well carry a laptop. At home and work you probably have a computer. I think it is an interesting concept but I don't quite see the practical use. Unless it had like a stand and a projector or something.

If you build it, they will come

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#97
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder the same thing. But I would be really interested in trying a small Mac Air sized screen/keyboard shell that had a port that I could slide such a phone in to. Sort of a portable docking station.

So the shell would only work with the phone inside it? That doesn't seem very practical.

Why not? Right now, I basically always have my iPhone with me. Often, I also have an 11" Air with me. But there's a lot of redundancy between the two, I have to keep them in sync, and tether the phone to the Air when off WiFi. This sounds like a credible solution to eliminate that redundancy and it wouldn't mean carrying an extra device.

Honestly, I'd probably fund this project right now if they had a tablet or notebook docking accessory in the plan.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#98
post #65

Selling out all the "limited" tiers still lands them $7 million short. I hope they make it (I backed the $600 tier), but I'm still doubtful.

I'd hope shuttleworth would step in and lay that 7 million down as a contingency action.

Nope, I don't think that will ever happen, there is no incentive for him doing that. Mass production of 40-45K phones really need capital, and if he put 7 million, how he is going to avoid a loss, let alone profit.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#99
post #45

I don't quite get what's going on here. Is this an idea for a major commercial product or is it a quirky fun thing for the ubuntu community? The scale they're aiming for seems to imply the former. Usable as a desktop is a cool idea, but more of a "linux on your wristwatch" idea than one with real use. I mean, if you have a keyboard & monitor handy, how hard is it to have a PC too? Cheap micro desktops are coming out…

>Am I missing the point entirely? Is this all about Ubuntu mobile itself with android & ubuntu desktop as extras? It's a phone! It's a computer! It's both! More seriously, imagine a phone that is always a phone unless you want to make it a computer. Plug it into a TV/Monitor/glass and you have a full computer desktop. I travel quite a bit. I have in my bag at the moment a laptop, a phone and a tablet. With this, I ne…

"With this, I need just the phone."

You still need the keyboard and monitor, don't you?. If you are traveling, it would probably be best if they snapped together into a nice, book-like shape. Like a laptop, but with the computer conveniently removed?

Regarding money-saving at a 10,000 PC corporation.. really? First, they would have to use Ubuntu, and they use Windows. Second, its not really that much money. Even if this is free in the sense that they need to have a phone anyway, they still need the monitor & stuff. If they were happy with an ubuntu appliance PC, I'm sure they could get the computer part of the computer in micro computer form for $200 or so every 3-5 years if the saving was worth it. Most importantly, phones break, get lost or stolen.

I don't see it.

Re: Canonical adds a $625 and $675 UbuntuEdge reward level

#100
post #45

I don't quite get what's going on here. Is this an idea for a major commercial product or is it a quirky fun thing for the ubuntu community? The scale they're aiming for seems to imply the former. Usable as a desktop is a cool idea, but more of a "linux on your wristwatch" idea than one with real use. I mean, if you have a keyboard & monitor handy, how hard is it to have a PC too? Cheap micro desktops are coming out…

>Am I missing the point entirely? Is this all about Ubuntu mobile itself with android & ubuntu desktop as extras? It's a phone! It's a computer! It's both! More seriously, imagine a phone that is always a phone unless you want to make it a computer. Plug it into a TV/Monitor/glass and you have a full computer desktop. I travel quite a bit. I have in my bag at the moment a laptop, a phone and a tablet. With this, I ne…

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