The Light Phone • Hacker News Board

Re: The Light Phone

#231

Post by sincerely » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:15 PM UTC

nradov wrote: post #101

mrspeaker wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's in the zeitgeist a bit now. Some people (I'm certainly one) are looking to unhook from their phones - get away from convenience and immediacy and... the internet in general (typing this from Emacs, so it seems more forgivable!). I know at least 5 people - a large percentage of my close network ;) - who would be interested in this device. I'm sure there's a big enough market for it if the execution is rig…

Your network isn't representative of the broader market. Only a tiny niche are actively looking to unhook. Sure plenty of people will claim they want to do so because they think they ought to. But they're not willing to pay actual money for it.

They raised like 4 million dollars in crowdfunding, so some people are clearly willing to pay for it.

Re: The Light Phone

#232

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:16 PM UTC

doovd wrote: post #179

arc4random wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re glossing away a lot of important details here with “phone that doesn’t do things”. So, I’m very much in the market for what the Light Phone 2 is going for: not a phone that doesn’t do anything but make calls and text, but a phone with “the essentials”. The problem is that not everyone who wants such a phone has the same set of essentials. The single biggest issue that I have with feature phones is that they la…

You're missing the point - having these "essentials" shouldn't cost 350

[deleted]

Re: The Light Phone

#233

Post by ollifi » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:17 PM UTC

Hamuko wrote: post #156

Do the makers think that there's a sizeable portion of people that hate their iPhones or Galaxies and want to spend $350 on a phone that doesn't do things? Doesn't do social media, doesn't do email, doesn't do news. Most consumers would at this point ask "What's the fucking point?" Smartphones are popular because people want to do the things that they enable. You probably need to live in some sort of a niche social c…

I would guess the high price is partly because there is not so much demand and they don't have the volume. It's a niche product. I think it makes sense to set the price way up and only target the people who really want this. Why does everything have to appeal to some abstract group of 'most cosumers'?

Re: The Light Phone

#234

Post by blunte » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:18 PM UTC

If I were going for a less is more phone, I would be much happier with a traditional "flip" or basic-functionality physical button phone. This will just be frustrating to use, because it sort of offers what you need, but with a cramped interface and likely painful interface obstacles.

Re: The Light Phone

#235

Post by criddell » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:20 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #114

It's like the world collectively decided to forget that basic feature phones and cheap prepaid plans have always existed and continue to exist.

Those phones typically look and feel cheap. There's a market for a higher quality version of those phones.

Re: The Light Phone

#236

Post by qrbLPHiKpiux » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:24 PM UTC

ollifi wrote: post #233

Hamuko wrote: post #156

Do the makers think that there's a sizeable portion of people that hate their iPhones or Galaxies and want to spend $350 on a phone that doesn't do things? Doesn't do social media, doesn't do email, doesn't do news. Most consumers would at this point ask "What's the fucking point?" Smartphones are popular because people want to do the things that they enable. You probably need to live in some sort of a niche social c…

I would guess the high price is partly because there is not so much demand and they don't have the volume. It's a niche product. I think it makes sense to set the price way up and only target the people who really want this. Why does everything have to appeal to some abstract group of 'most cosumers'?

The first part of solving a problem is admitting one has a problem. Just like alcoholics and addicts admit problems, the solutions (rehab, withdrawal medications) are expensive, maybe this is the same thing?

Re: The Light Phone

#237

Post by pwenzel » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

api wrote: post #3

I don't see maps mentioned. If it lacks that it lacks the largest killer app of smart phones.

There's supposed to be a Directions feature, but no details yet. If it interfaced with the Google Maps API I'd be pretty happy.

Re: The Light Phone

#238

Post by pwenzel » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:35 PM UTC

_hhff wrote: post #83

My team built the OS on a custom fork of Android ( https://www.sanctuary.computer ). I would say ask me anything but I’m in the middle of the Australian outback with virtually no mobile signal...! What I can say is that working with Eink is rudimentary - we had to build everything from a custom kernel driver all the way up to the view layouts and UX. We expected Eink would give us sophisticated SDKs, but unfortunatel…

Neat! Are you a person who can provide hints about how to the Directions feature is powered?

Re: The Light Phone

#239

Post by bityard » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:42 PM UTC

Hamuko wrote: post #156

Do the makers think that there's a sizeable portion of people that hate their iPhones or Galaxies and want to spend $350 on a phone that doesn't do things? Doesn't do social media, doesn't do email, doesn't do news. Most consumers would at this point ask "What's the fucking point?" Smartphones are popular because people want to do the things that they enable. You probably need to live in some sort of a niche social c…

Mark my words, "I don't even have Facebook" is going to be the new "I don't even have a TV" in 2020.

Re: The Light Phone

#240

Post by ekianjo » Sat, Jan 04, 2020, 2:46 PM UTC

jimthrow wrote: post #75

ekianjo wrote: post #69

You can do exactly that kind of things with your regular smartphone by not installing tons of apps that disturb you all the time. As far as I know the user is pretty much in control of what apps they choose to add.

No. Most android phones come with a ton of ininstallable apps that take up a huge amount of room

No. You can disable even the stuff that is installed by default - you can't erase them but once they are inactive they won't bother you anymore.