We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly • Hacker News Board

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#111

Post by mynegation » Tue, Feb 10, 2015, 6:53 PM UTC

bsbechtel wrote: post #62

amirmc wrote: post #61

He's asking for innovation in the wrong place. The OP conveniently ignores all the other mobile OSs out there such as Windows, Firefox, Ubuntu and also people like Fairphone. It's pretty lazy to just claim we need more, when what he really wants is one more (open) winner . I say that he's looking in the wrong place because to "democratize the mobile operating system" is to ignore a critical part of what makes mobile…

>>There should be no real reason I can't point my iOS device at my own infrastructure to co-ordinate sync, backup and sharing of all my stuff (instead of iCloud). I want this as much as you and everyone else who upvoted you, but the problem is there is no obvious business model in it. Sure, techies will pay (app.net?), but the general population doesn't care enough to put out money for this.

Ok, I am a techie, but I did pay for that kind of setup. I bought Synology NAS box and access my files, pictures, music, videos with Synology apps and couple of other apps built on open standards (WebDAV), sync my notes through WebDAV and so on. I am building another small Linux server to do things I cannot do on Synology, primarily back up of my social streams. This takes quite a bit of time and expertise and I would gladly pay my way through some parts of this setup.

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#112

Post by dlu » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 5:28 AM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #84

bsbechtel wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>There should be no real reason I can't point my iOS device at my own infrastructure to co-ordinate sync, backup and sharing of all my stuff (instead of iCloud). I want this as much as you and everyone else who upvoted you, but the problem is there is no obvious business model in it. Sure, techies will pay (app.net?), but the general population doesn't care enough to put out money for this.

Yeah, this is kind of a serious problem. People want to use popular, or at least well-advertised platforms. People also don't want to pay any money if they can help it. So we end up with advertising-funded spy-clouds and addiction-funded IAPs as dominant business models. What I'd like to see, and hardly anyone is talking about, is the cooperative model for this. Servers run by a community of interest; paid staff to m…

That sounds like a commune

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#113

Post by dlu » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 5:33 AM UTC

amirmc wrote: post #61

He's asking for innovation in the wrong place. The OP conveniently ignores all the other mobile OSs out there such as Windows, Firefox, Ubuntu and also people like Fairphone. It's pretty lazy to just claim we need more, when what he really wants is one more (open) winner . I say that he's looking in the wrong place because to "democratize the mobile operating system" is to ignore a critical part of what makes mobile…

> The OP conveniently ignores all the other mobile OSs out there such as Windows, Firefox, Ubuntu and also people like Fairphone. It's pretty lazy to just claim we need more, when what he really wants is one more (open) winner.

Yeah, I'm not clear how excited he'd be if Microsoft was a major player in mobile. I think if that were the case, we'd just get the same article but with 'triopoly' instead.

Also, did he say custom boot animations? I don't think that's what is holding us back... better examples would strengthen his argument

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#114

Post by newman314 » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 8:20 AM UTC

walterbell wrote: post #76

newman314 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really.

WebOS (or a variant) seems to be in LG TVs, http://www.cnet.com/news/hands-on-with-lgs-webos-smart-tv-is...

LuneOS is probably more applicable. http://pivotce.com/2014/09/01/official-release-of-luneos-and...

LG hasn't given me a TV to hack on =) so I have no idea how much things have changed under the hood. I liked the Samsung TVs till the recent overly invasive creepiness (mic, ads etc.) Maybe I'll get a LG next time.

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#115

Post by PaulHoule » Wed, Feb 11, 2015, 11:51 PM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #107

PaulHoule wrote: post #89

Huh? I thought he was talking about AT&T and Verizon.

My thought as well. And a vastly more interesting conversation to have. My sense is that with ubiquitous WiFi and IP based protocols, I can ditch my Smartphone for most uses, and with it the massive amounts of intrusion and data surveillance it represents. A small "feature phone" (with vastly superior battery performance) for general comms, and functioning as a modem in a pinch, with a tablet that's used in a cache-a…

He's a VC so he probably thinks that $10 a GB is cheap.

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#116

Post by throwawaymsft » Thu, Feb 12, 2015, 11:41 PM UTC

bko wrote: post #86

throwawaymsft wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. The thesis of this essay is that choice is unequivocally good for users, handset makers, everyone. Experience doesn't play that out. The experience of a curated, pruned garden vs. a wild west scammy bazaar isn't a good one for users. Here's what happens when you search facebook on Windows Store: http://imgur.com/QDHcpG0 Choice is great! You can "choose" to install a scam app or the official one. Incompetent OEMs…

I'm not sure when that screenshot was taken but its probably an exaggeration. Actual search results: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/search#q=facebook... You do have a point about a free for all. There was this great blog post about a month ago about someone installing the top 10 free downloads from download.com and the mayhem that ensues. http://www.howtogeek.com/198622/heres-what-happens-when-you-...

The screenshot was real, but from about a year ago. Maybe things have changed. Here's a blog post showing the cesspool that was search results less than a year ago:

http://www.fixedbyvonnie.com/2014/08/microsoft-windows-store...

Re: We Need to Break the Mobile Duopoly

#117

Post by throwawaymsft » Thu, Feb 12, 2015, 11:44 PM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #60

throwawaymsft wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. The thesis of this essay is that choice is unequivocally good for users, handset makers, everyone. Experience doesn't play that out. The experience of a curated, pruned garden vs. a wild west scammy bazaar isn't a good one for users. Here's what happens when you search facebook on Windows Store: http://imgur.com/QDHcpG0 Choice is great! You can "choose" to install a scam app or the official one. Incompetent OEMs…

That screenshot is more a product of bad UI design (no indication of the publisher?) than anything else. You can "choose" to install a scam app or the official one Those are not the only two categories of apps. This quote also comes to mind: "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

Even if the publisher is listed, Microsoft reviewers should be vetting logo infringement.

As a developer, sure, become root and install whatever you want. As grandma, just trying to install Facebook on her tablet, do not allow any mistakes. No junkware allowed.